Joan A. Sereno


Joan A. Sereno
  • Professor, Department of Linguistics
  • Division Director, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Department of Linguistics

Contact Info

Blake Hall, 425
Lawrence
1541 Lilac Lane
Lawrence, KS 66045

Biography

My area of expertise is psycholinguistics. My particular approach is to seek converging evidence from language comprehension and language production, with the ultimate goal of relating these data to specific brain processes. My current research focuses on language learning, specifically the training and learning of non-native language contrasts. I teach a variety of courses in language and mind, psychology of language, second language acquisition, and research methods.

Education

B.S. in Psychology, Northern Illinois University, 1982, Dekalb, IL
B.A. in Philosophy, Northern Illinois University, 1982, Dekalb, IL
M.A. in Linguistics, Brown University, 1986, Providence, RI
Ph.D. in Linguistics, Brown University, 1988, Providence, RI

Research

  • Psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic investigations of language structure
  • Second language acquisition
  • Speech perception
  • Acoustic phonetics
  • Spoken word recognition

Teaching

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Language processing

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations

Sereno, J. A. (2017, February). Vibrations to representations: Issues in speech processing. Invited talk at the 42nd Annual Interdisciplinary Conference (AIC), Sereno Symposium, Breckenridge, Colorado.

Chien, Y.-F., Fiorentino, R., Yang, X., & Sereno, J. A. (2016, December). Surface phonetic or underlying phonological representations: A mismatch negativity study of Mandarin tone assimilation. 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Acoustic Society of Japan (5th Joint Meeting), Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hannah, B., Wang, Y., Jongman, A., & Sereno, J. A. (2016, December). Cross-modal association between auditory and visual-spatial information in Mandarin tone perception. 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Acoustic Society of Japan (5th Joint Meeting), Honolulu, Hawaii.



Jongman, A., Qin, Z., Zhang, J., & Sereno, J. A. (2016, December). Just noticeable differences for pitch height and pitch contour for Chinese and American listeners. 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Acoustic Society of Japan (5th Joint Meeting), Honolulu, Hawaii.

Leung, K., Wang, Y., Redmon, C., Jongman, A., & Sereno, J. A. (2016, December). Cross-linguistic perception of clearly spoken English tense and lax vowels based on auditory, visual, and auditory-visual information. 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and the Acoustic Society of Japan (5th Joint Meeting), Honolulu, Hawaii.

Chien, Y.-F., Sereno, J. A., & Zhang, J. (2016, May). Priming the Representation of Taiwanese Tone Sandhi Words. Paper to be presented at the Fifth International Symposium on the Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2016), Buffalo, New York.

Sereno, J. A. (2016, April). Observing underlying and surface representations in tone sandhi. Invited talk, University of Oxford, Workshop on (Morpho)-phonological Processing, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Minai, U., Gustafson, K., Fiorentino, R., Jongman, A., & Sereno, J. A. (2015, October). Assessing pre-natal rhythm-based discrimination of language by fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG). Presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Neurobiology of Language (SNL), Chicago, Illinois.

Leung, K., Jongman, A., Wang, Y., & Sereno, J. A. (2015, August). Acoustic characteristics of clearly spoken English tense and lax vowels. Presented at the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Sereno, J. A., Lee, H., & Jongman, A. (2015, August). Effects of speaking rate and context on the production of Mandarin tone. Presented at the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Tang, L., Hannah, B., Jongman, A., Sereno, J. A., Wang, Y., & Hamarneh, G. (2015, August). Examining visible articulatory features in clear and conversational speech. Presented at the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

Chien, Y.-F., & Sereno, J. (2014, October). The representation of Tone 3 sandhi words in Mandarin: A psycholinguistic study. Presented at the 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Indianapolis, Indiana. Proceedings.

Nakata, K., & Sereno, J. (2014, October). Perception of sound symbolism in mimetic stimuli: The voicing contrast in Japanese and English. Presented at the 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Indianapolis, Indiana.

Sereno, J. (2013, September). Perception of foreign-accented speech. Presented at the 5th annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching (PSLLT) Conference,, Ames, IA.

Herd, W., Fiorentino, R., & Sereno, J. A. (2012, October). High variability training increases mismatch negativity responses to L2 contrasts. Presented at the 164th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Kansas City, MO.

Sereno, J. A., & Lee, H. (2012, October). Lexical tone in Mandarin spoken word processing. Presented at the 164th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), Kansas City, MO.

Herd, W., Fiorentino, R., Jongman, A., & Sereno, J. A. (2012, March). Changes in MMN responses in English learners of Spanish as a result of training. Presented at the 6th Conference on Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its Clinical and Scientific Applications, New York, NY.

Awards & Honors

Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Re-accreditation Self Study Committee, University of Kansas (2013 - 2015)

Faculty Fellow for Faculty Development, Mary Lee Hummert, KU Provost’s Office (2013 - 2014)

Senior Administrative Fellow, Provost Office, University of Kansas (2013 - 2014)

Visiting Professor MARCS Institute, University of Western Sydney, Australia (Spring 2013)

Gene A. Budig Teaching Professor Award in Social and Behavioral Sciences (2011 - 2012)

Outstanding College Alumni Award, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Northern Illinois University (2009)

William T. Kemper Foundation Fellowship for Teaching Excellence (2006)

Visiting Scientist, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany (Summer 2006)

Visiting Scientist, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany (Summer 2005)

Undergraduate Teacher Appreciation Award, Center for Teaching Excellence (2002)

Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (1999 - 2002)

Invited Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (MPI) (Summer 2002)

Invited Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (MPI) (Summer 2001)

PEW Fellowship Program in Undergraduate Science Education, PEW Fellowship (1995)

German Science Foundation Fellowship (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), German Science Foundation (1990)

Brown University Tuition Scholarship, Brown University (1985 - 1987)

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Fellowship (1985 - 1987)

National Science Fellowship (NSF) Graduate Fellowship (1982 - 1985)

Northern Illinois University Academic Achievement Award, Northern Illinois University (1977 - 1981)

Northern Illinois University Alumni Association Scholarship (full tuition), Northern Illinois University (1977 - 1978)

Grants & Other Funded Activity

Sereno, J. (Co-Principal), Jongman, A. (Co-Principal) & Zhang, J. (Co-Principal). The role of variability in speech categorization. University of Kansas $5,168 (2015 - 2016).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal) & Martinez-Garcia, M. (Principal). Graduate Research Consultant (GRC) award for Linguistics 110 (Language and Mind). Center for Undergraduate Research, $500 (Fall 2015).

Sereno, J. A. (Co-Principal) & Jongman, A. (Co-Principal). Evaluating student learning and program curriculum through Capstone Courses (Linguistics 420 and Linguistics 421). Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) $5,000 (2014 - 2015).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal) & Martinez-Garcia, M. (Principal). Graduate Research Consultant (GRC) award for Linguistics 435 (Psycholinguistics). Center for Undergraduate Research, $500 (Spring 2015).

Sereno, J. A. (Co-Principal), Minai, U. (Co-Principal), Fiorentino, R. (Co-Principal) & Jongman, A. (Co-Principal). Pre-birth assessment of language ability: A fetal MEG study. Frontiers Pilot and Collaborative Studies Funding Program (NIH) $30,000 (2013 - 2014).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). The contribution of speaking rate, talker, and coarticulation to lexical tone processing: Effects of language background and training. National Science Foundation, Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences, Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences $284,641 (2009 - 2012).

Sereno, J. A. The contribution of speaking rate and talker to lexical tone processing. University of Kansas General Research Fund $9,731 (2009 - 2010).

Jongman, A. (Principal), & Sereno, J. A. Acoustic and perceptual correlates of emphasis in Arabic. 0518969, National Science Foundation, Faculty Associate $230,000 (2005 - 2007).

Sereno, J. A. Native language influence on native and non-native perception. University of Kansas General Research Fund $1,603 (2006 - 2007).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). William T. Kemper Foundation Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. William T. Kemper Foundation $5,000 (2006). Teaching and Advising at the Freshman-Sophomore Level

Sereno, J. A. Training with Linguistic Contrasts. University of Kansas General Research Fund $8,669 (2002 - 2003).

Rice (Co-Principal), Sereno, J. A. (Co-Principal), Jongman (Co-Principal), & Atchley (Co-Principal). Evaluation of the perceptual and neurological processing abilities of children with grammatical limitations. KU Research Development Fund $47,400 (1999 - 2000).

Agah (Co-Principal), Brown (Co-Principal), Gauch (Co-Principal), Jongman (Co-Principal), Schreiber (Co-Principal), Sereno, J. A. (Co-Principal), & Speer (Co-Principal). Cognitive Robotics Project. KU Research Development Fund $61,548 (1999 - 2000).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Processing of German Inflectional Morphology. Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship $24,500 (1999 - 2002).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Acquiring a Second Language: Perception of Mandarin Tone. KU New Faculty General Research Fund Program $9,994 (2000).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Behavioral Investigations of Nouns and Verbs. National Science Foundation NSF POWRE Award $49,981 (1998 - 1999).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Phonetic Priming. Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Dutch NSF) $15,000 (1998 - 1999).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Lexical Organization of Inflectional Structure. PEW Fellowship Program in Undergraduate Science Education $7,000 (1995).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). The Processing of Inflectional Structure: Nouns and Verbs in English. President's Council of Cornell Women Research Grant $5,000 (1993 - 1994).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). German Science Foundation Fellowship. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (1990).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Graduate Fellowship. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Fellowship (1985 - 1987).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). University Scholarship. Brown University Scholarship (1985 - 1987).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Fellowship. National Science Foundation (1982 - 1985).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Academic Achievement Award, Northern Illinois University. Northern Illinois University (1977 - 1981).

Sereno, J. A. (Principal). Northern Illinois University Alumni Association Scholarship (full tuition). Northern Illinois University (1977 - 1978).

Memberships

2009-present,   Professor, Linguistics Department, University of Kansas

2016-present,   Department Chair, Linguistics Department, University of Kansas

2004-2016,   Associate Chair of Linguistics, Linguistics Department, University of Kansas

2002-2009,   Associate Professor, Linguistics Department, University of Kansas

2000-2002,   Assistant Professor, Linguistics Department, University of Kansas

1999-2000,   Assistant Professor (Linguistics Department) and Research Associate (Ermal Garinger Academic Resource Center), KU.

1997-1999,   Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept. of Modern Languages, Cornell University

1996-1997,   Visiting Assistant Professor and Director of Noyes Lodge Language Center, Dept. Modern Languages, Cornell University

1995-1996,   Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages, Cornell University

1992-1995,   Acting Assistant Professor, Joint Appointment in Psychology and Modern Languages & Linguistics, Cornell University

1991-1992,   Visiting Fellow, Psychology Department and Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Cornell University.

1990-1991,   National Institutes of Health (NIH) Postdoctoral Research, Linguistics, UCLA.

1988-1991,   Scientific Research Staff, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.

1987-1988,   Adjunct Professor of Linguistics, Washington University in St. Louis.

1987-1988,   Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Central Institute for the Deaf, St. Louis.