Xizi Danielle Deng (邓西子)

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Linguistics at Simon Fraser University, where I conduct research at the Language and Brain Lab and the Language Learning and Development Lab, mentored by Dr. Henny Yeung and Dr.Yue Wang. My research broadly integrates L2 speech perception and production, psycholinguistics, acoustic phonetics, spoken word recognition in contexts using eye-tracking techniques, and audio-visual processing (specifically, how perceivers’ looking patterns at a talking face reflect their processing of various types of speech information). My PhD dissertation investigates how L2 English learners cope with acoustic-phonetic variability, particularly in the context of adapting to non-native English accents across different speech contexts. I explore the mechanisms underlying their divergent perceptual adaptation patterns compared to native English speakers and examine various factors that facilitate or hinder successful adaptation, including talker and listener proficiency, the degree of sound merger, perceptual flexibility shaped by the developmental state of L2 phonemes, and integrative skills in sentence processing.

The inspiration for my dissertation comes from my own experience as a first-generation Chinese immigrant in Canada’s multilingual environment. I noticed that members of my community frequently struggled to understand “non-standard” English spoken by immigrants from other linguistic backgrounds—speech that neither matched the classroom English we had learned in our home countries nor resembled the Chinese-accented English we were more familiar with. Through this research, I aim to contribute to a better understanding of how to facilitate effective communication across diverse communities, rather than reinforcing the expectation that all non-native speakers must conform to a native accent, even when they have achieved high speech intelligibiity.

Beyond these research fields, I also explore the role of non-linguistic factors, such as musical abilities, in L2 learning—particularly in the acquisition of prosodic features like lexical stress.

Outside of research, I am passionate about teaching Linguistics to undergraduate students and English to ESL learners. I also enjoy reading and writing science fiction novels and am a sci-fi movie enthusiast. I occasionally perform stand-up comedy in Chinese in downtown Vancouver.