Melissa Redford

Melissa Redford is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Oregon's College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on suprasegmental sound patterns, speech planning and production, and child language acquisition. She leads the Spoken Language Research Laboratories (SLRL) at the University of Oregon, where she investigates the developmental aspects of speech motor control and prosodic structure.

• University: University of Oregon
• School: College of Arts and Sciences
• Department: Department of Linguistics
• Email: redford@uoregon.edu

Dr. Redford's research program aims to develop a psychologically-plausible and biologically-sensible framework for understanding spoken language production. Key areas include the acquisition of articulatory timing skills, the relationship between phrase-level representations and planning processes, and the coordination of language and breathing during speaking. Her work challenges existing theories by emphasizing the developmental structuring of linguistic representations.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals ongoing focus on prosodic development, coarticulation, and speech motor control across child and adult speech. Themes include the role of cognitive load in speech production, cross-linguistic rhythm acquisition, and the integration of acoustic theories with perceptual and motor processes. She employs methods ranging from computational modeling to audiovisual speech analysis.

As an advisor, Dr. Redford oversees graduate student research in the Department of Linguistics. She also contributes to the University of Oregon's academic community through her leadership of the Spoken Language Research Laboratories, which employs interdisciplinary approaches to studying speech production and perception.