Since its establishment in 2010, ALPS has been expanded and enhanced, and is now home to a range of advanced technologies and tools. The lab has a strong focus on laboratory phonology, the study of articulation, acoustics, and perception of the sounds of human language.
However, its affiliation with the Faculty of Education of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano provides a strong academic framework for conducting projects in related fields of research. A great emphasis is, in fact, given to projects in the field of sociophonetics, the study of how language varies according to social factors, such as age, gender, and region.
The Laboratory
The laboratory is an advanced research facility that has been designed for the study of speech production and perception.
This state-of-the-art facility is equipped with a range of advanced technologies and tools, which are aimed at providing researchers, postdocs and PhD students with the necessary resources to conduct research in the field.
The experimental area of the laboratory is housed in a soundproof booth, which has been designed to minimize any external interference and ensure optimal recording conditions. Within the booth, researchers have access to two ultrasound systems, which are essential foracoustic and articulatory analysis. Additionally, the facility features probe-stabilization helmets, which are used to measure the position and orientation of the ultrasound probes.
The Research
Research at ALPS focuses on the variation of language sounds: their internal articulatory and acoustic characteristics, their distributional properties and how they are used to convey social information.
Research in the lab covers a range of themes and methods in speech production and perception: social networks and sound variation, bilingual speech, articulation and perception of rhotics, consonant clusters, quantitative modelling of ultrasound tongue imaging data, laryngeal contrasts.
The Members
The laboratory is primarily used by researchers, postdocs, and PhD students of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. With its advanced technology, research tools, and expert support staff, the laboratory is a valuable asset for researchers in the field of speech production and perception.