Congratulations are in order for Melanie Turner, a third-year student majoring in Speech Pathology/Audiology and Spanish Linguistics/Philology, who received one of 46 Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards for summer 2018.
In her project, Melanie will study two sets of vocal quality terms commonly used among singers: dark/light and back/front. Previous research suggests that these terms may have similar meanings, possibly making them difficult to internalize and reproduce. This redundancy may be particularly challenging for singers who receive instruction from different teachers, coaches, or speech pathologists. If a singer gets a voice disorder, the ambiguity may also make it difficult to learn new therapeutic voice qualities and retain said vocal qualities upon their return to singing. Melanie's study will attempt to identify if any acoustic, aerodynamic, physiological, and/or perceptual differences exist between productions of these voice qualities, with the end goal of standardizing terminology in order to more effectively assist or treat singers and patients.
¡Felicidades, Melanie!
Interested in conducting your own research? Click here to learn more about thematic concentrations in the Spanish major; click "Grants & Awards" for a list of fellowships to support undergraduate research. Additional sources of funding from the university, national agencies, and international research centers are listed through the Center for Undergraduate Excellence. Information about the interdisciplinary program in Linguistics is available here.