Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Bruce L. Smith, Ph.D.

Bruce SmithFaculty Position

Department Chair and Professor

Contact Information

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Social & Behavioral Sciences Building, Rm 1201
390 South 1530 East

Salt Lake City, Utah, 84112-0252

Phone: (801) 585-6783
Fax: (801) 581-7955
Email: Bruce.Smith@hsc.utah.edu

Professional Interests

General phonetics, experimental phonetics, acoustic aspects of speech production, phonological development, and phonological disorders.

Current Research

Dr. Smith's research focuses on acoustic characteristics of speech production by normal adults, non-native (L2) speakers of English, and typically-developing children. He utilizes acoustic measures, such as duration and temporal variability, as a means for assessing issues pertaining to speech production performance by these groups. Current studies are examining various acoustic parameters produced by native English-speaking adults and adult speakers of other languages (e.g., German and Mandarin) learning English as a second language to determine how various temporal properties may contribute to L2 speakers' accents.

Representative Publications

  • Bent, T., Bradlow, A. R., & Smith, B. L. (2007). Phonemic errors in different word positions and their effects on intelligibility of non-native speech: All's well that begins well. In M. J. Munro and O-S Bohn (Eds.) Festschrift for James Emil Flege, pp. 331-347. John Benjamins: Amsterdam.

  • Smith, B. L., McGregor, K. K.,& DeMille, D. (2006) Phonological development in lexically-precocious two-year-olds. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27, 355-375.

  • Smith, B. L. (2002). Effects of speaking rate on temporal patterns of English. Phonetica, 59, 232-44.

  • Smith, B. L. (2000). Variations in temporal patterns of speech production among speakers of English. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 108, 2438-2442.

  • Smith, B. L., & Kenney, M. K. (1999). A longitudinal study of the development of temporal properties of speech production: Data from four children. Phonetica, 56, 73-102. 

  • Smith, B. L., & Kenney, M. K. (1998). An assessment of several acoustic parameters in children's speech production development: Longitudinal data. Journal of Phonetics, 26, 95-108.

  • Brown-Sweeney, S., & Smith, B. L. (1997). The development of speech production abilities in children with Down syndrome. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 11, 345-362.

  • Smith, B. L., Kenney, M. K., & Hussain, S. (1996). A longitudinal investigation of duration and temporal variability in children's speech production. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 99, 2344-2349. 

  • Smith, B. L., & Stoel-Gammon, C. (1996). A quantitative analysis of reduplicated and variegated babbling in vocalizations by Down syndrome infants. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 10, 119-129.

  • Smith, B. L. (1995). Variability of lip and jaw movements in the speech of children and adults. Phonetica, 52, 307-316.

  • Smith, B. L. (1994). Effects of experimental manipulations and intrinsic contrasts on relationships between duration and temporal variability in children's and adults' speech. Journal of Phonetics, 22, 155-175.

  • Smith, B. L., & Kenny, M. K. (1994). Variability control in speech production tasks performed by adults and children. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 96, 699-705. 

  • Smith, B. L. (1992). Relationships between duration and temporal variability in children's speech. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 91, 2165-2174.

Recent Presentations

  • Smith, B. L., & Hayes-Harb, R. (2007). Individual differences in the production and perception of the voicing contrast by native and non-native speakers of English. Poster presented at the Acoustical Society of America, Park City, Utah. 

  • Hayes-Harb, R., Smith, B. L., Bent, T., & Bradlow, A. R. (2006). Relationships between the intelligibility and acoustic properties of native English and Mandarin-accented English. Poster presented at the Acoustical Societies of America and Japan, 2006.

  • Smith, B. L., DeMille, D., Roberts, A., Bradlow, A. R., & Bent, T. (2005). Devoicing in word-final voiced stop targets produced by native and non-native speakers of English. Paper presented at the Workshop on Second Language Speech Learning sponsored by the Acoustical Society of America and the Canadian Acoustical Association, Vancouver, Canada. 

  • Smith, B. L., McGregor, K., & Demille, D. (2004). Phonological development in lexically-precocious two-year-olds. 

  • Smith, B. L., Bradlow, A. R., & Bent, T. (2003). Production and perception of temporal contrasts in foreign-accented English. In M. J. Sole, D. Recasens, & J. Romero (Eds.), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain, Pp. 519-522.