My research focuses on second-language speech and communication, and is aimed at understanding how foreign accent, L2 prosody, and non-verbal language affect intelligibility in interactions with or between second-language speakers. I’m particularly interested in investigating how speakers’ use of non-native speech and non-verbal language in the L2 leads to pragmatic failure. I’m also interested in public speaking and in developing teaching methods for speaking in public based on research on human communication and non-verbal language. I have carried out extensive research investigating the acoustic, perceptual and aerodynamic characteristics of sound patterns in a variety of languages as part of a goal to explore variation in speech and its relation to linguistic sound change.

I'm currently working with Arianna Notaro on a project investigating the effects of non-verbal language on intercultural communication, and with Qiang Feng on the acquisition of Italian by native Mandarin Chinese speakers.