Alexander L. Francis B.A. (UIUC), M.A. and Ph.D. (Chicago).
Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. Alex received his Ph.D. in 1999 through the dual-degree program in Linguistics and Psychology at the University of Chicago. His primary research interest concerns the psychophysical effects of learning to attend to unfamiliar acoustic cues, for example when learning a new language, using a cochlear implant, or listening to synthetic speech. His goal is to relate these effects to research on auditory neurophysiology and language acquisition in order to better understand the interaction of perceptual and linguistic experience with neural development. His current research focuses on aspects of Cantonese tone perception by native speakers, non-native listeners, and children and adults with cochlear implants.