About me
Hi! I'm Emma (she/her). I am a third year PhD student in the Department of Linguistics at Northwestern University.
My primary interests are in sociophonetics and sociolinguistics— I want to know how we convey and interpret social meaning through language. Some areas in sociolinguistics I am particularly interested in include the race and place intersection, Asian American communities' linguistic practices, and mixed race individuals' speech.
I just completed my Qualifying Project, which was a case study investigating contextual variation in a mixed Asian and white Chicagoan's production of the TRAP vowel, a feature shown to index Chicago place identity. I am advised by Annette D'Onofrio.
In my free time, I enjoy knitting, baking, and exploring national parks.
Research projects
My Qualifying Project was a case study on a mixed Asian and white Chicagoan and investigated their production of the TRAP vowel across two interviews and three self-recorded conversations. I am also involved with the Chicagoland Language Project, which investigates language and life in the Chicago area.
I attend the research meetings for the groups Sociogroup, LingMechLab, and Phonatics, and I am a frequent attendee/guest of the Experimental Meaning Group.
Contact Me
You can email me at ekwilkinson[at]u[dot]northwestern[dot]edu