Home Department: Linguistics
Area of Specialization: Linguistic Dimensions of L2 Learning
Please visit http://www.andywedel.com/ for more about Dr. Wedel's work. The bulk of his research explores sources and ramifications for two opposing tendencies evident in language change: a tendency toward pattern-coherence, and a tendency to preserve semantically relevant contrasts. Computational simulation is his method of choice to explore the interactions of these factors in pattern formation in language. Dr. Wedel's work also integrates evidence from laboratory experiments and corpus data to investigate these issues. In addition, he is interested in the interaction of internal and external factors on language learning, production and processing, and how that interaction shapes trajectories of sound system change over time. As a model system, he focuses on biases exerted by the lexicon on the phonological system.
Specifically, he investigates how apparent utterance-level biases supporting accurate, yet cost-effective communication of lexical information influence phonetic form, and how these consistent, usage-driven shifts in phonetic form shape the long-term evolution of the sound system. To investigate linkages between usage and long term change, he uses multiple complementary methodologies, including computational simulation, statistical studies of patterns in diachronic change, corpus studies of natural language usage, and laboratory experimentation.
Research interests: Phonology, Self-Organization, Computational Phonology, Turkish