A cross-linguistic investigation of lexical stress using corpus analyses, behavioural testing and computational modelling. Some languages exhibit variable patterns of emphasis or 'lexical stress' across words ('ZEbra' v 'girAFFE'). This research will provide a more precise understanding of the role of lexical stress in language processing. This will assist educators/clinicians working with normally developing children and those with developmental delays as well as educators/students in second-l ....A cross-linguistic investigation of lexical stress using corpus analyses, behavioural testing and computational modelling. Some languages exhibit variable patterns of emphasis or 'lexical stress' across words ('ZEbra' v 'girAFFE'). This research will provide a more precise understanding of the role of lexical stress in language processing. This will assist educators/clinicians working with normally developing children and those with developmental delays as well as educators/students in second-language learning. It will also lead to improved automatic speech recognition/synthesis - used in commercial applications such as phone banking, edutainment/epistemic computer games and communication devices (speech-to-text dictation systems for those with limited mobility and text-to-speech systems for those unable to speak). Undertaken in collaboration with a high-profile research lab in the UK this project will maintain Australia's competitive edge in cognitive science.Read moreRead less
Novel hybrid agricultural-byproduct/synthetic materials. The French partners have developed a method of converting low-value agricultural by-products into commodity plastics; however, the results are too water-sensitive to be useful. This project is to develop the science for grafting water-resistant moieties to this product, using mechanistically-based techniques developed by the Sydney group. The outcome would be technology for making useful materials from agricultural by-products that are cur ....Novel hybrid agricultural-byproduct/synthetic materials. The French partners have developed a method of converting low-value agricultural by-products into commodity plastics; however, the results are too water-sensitive to be useful. This project is to develop the science for grafting water-resistant moieties to this product, using mechanistically-based techniques developed by the Sydney group. The outcome would be technology for making useful materials from agricultural by-products that are currently of very low value in Australia.Read moreRead less