Yukari Hirata

BA, University of Tsukuba
MA, University of Tsukuba
PhD, University of Chicago

Lecturer, University of Chicago; instructor, Davenport & Bettendorf high schools, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Japanese, phonetics, language acquisition

Second language acquisition, computer-assisted training for the acquisition of second language speech, acoustic analysis of native and non-native speakers' speech

To learn a bit about second-language learning and instruction, visit Colgate's Center for Language and Brain. Check out the video below to learn how the center promotes the psychological and social benefit of learning a foreign language.

[Asterisks below indicate Colgate students.]

• *Zheng, A., Hirata, Y., and Kelly, S. (2018) “Exploring the effects of imitating hand gestures and head nods on L1 and L2 Mandarin tone production.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 61, pp. 2179-2195.
• Tsukada, K., Cox, F., Hajek, J. and Hirata, Y. (2017) “Non-native Japanese learners’ perception of consonant length in Japanese and Italian.” Second Language Research 33(4), pp. 1-22.
• Kelly, S., *Bailey, A., & Hirata, Y. (2017). Metaphoric gestures facilitate perception of intonation more than length in auditory judgments of non-native phonemic contrasts. Collabra: Psychology, 3(1), 7.
• *Siciliano, R., Hirata, Y., & Kelly, S. D. (2016). Electrical stimulation over left inferior frontal gyrus disrupts hand gesture’s role in foreign vocabulary learning. Educational Neuroscience, 1, 1-12.
• Hirata, Y. (2015) “L2 phonetics and phonology.” In H. Kubozono, Phonetics & Phonology Volume: The Handbook of Japanese Language and Linguistics, pp. 719-762. De Gruyter Mouton: Berlin.
• Amano, S. and Hirata, Y. (2015) “Perception and production of singleton and geminate stops in Japanese: Implications for the theory of acoustic invariance.” Phonetica, Vol. 72, No. 1, pp. 43-60.
• Hirata, Y., Kelly, S. D., *Huang, J., and *Manansala, M. (2014) “Effects of hand gestures on auditory learning of second-language vowel length contrasts.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 57, pp. 2090-2101. [Project supported by National Science Foundation (NSF).]
• Kelly, S. D., Hirata, Y., *Manansala, M., and *Huang, J. (2014) “Exploring the role of hand gestures in learning novel phoneme contrasts and vocabulary in a second language.” Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 5 (July), Article 673, pp. 1-11. Supported by NSF.
• Tsukada, K., Hirata, Y., and Roengpitya, R. (2014) “Cross-language perception of Japanese vowel length contrasts: Comparison of listeners from different first language (L1) backgrounds.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 57 (June), pp. 805-814.
• Hirata, Y. (2013) “Suprasegmentals: Rhythm.” In Carol A. Chapelle (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics, pp. 1-6. Blackwell Publishing.
• Hirata, Y. and Amano, S. (2012) “Production of single and geminate stops in Japanese three- and four-mora Japanese words.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Vol. 132, No. 3, pp. 1614-1625.
• Amano, S. and Hirata, Y. (2010) “Perception and production boundaries between single and geminate stops in Japanese.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 128, No. 4, pp. 2049-2058.
• Hirata, Y. and Kelly, S. (2010) “Effects of lips and hands on auditory learning of second-language speech sounds.” Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 298-310. Project supported by Colgate’s Picker Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, 2007-2009.
• Hirata, Y. (2009) “Factors affecting the perception of Japanese moraic rhythm by second language learners.” Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 33-43.
• Hirata, Y. and Tsukada, K. (2009) “Effects of speaking rate and vowel length on formant frequency displacement in Japanese.” Phonetica, Vol. 66, pp. 129-149.
• Hirata, Y., *Whitehurst, E., and *Cullings, E. (2007) “Training native English speakers to identify Japanese vowel length contrast with sentences at varied speaking rates.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 121, No. 6, pp. 3837-3845. Project supported by National Science Foundation (NSF), 2004-2007.
• Hirata, Y. (2007) “Durational variability and invariance in Japanese stop quantity distinction: Roles of adjacent vowels.” Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 9-22.
• Hirata, Y. (2006) “Why second language learners of Japanese need to learn difficult minute sounds in connected speech.” In James Dean Brown and Kimi Kondo-Brown (eds), Perspectives on Teaching Connected Speech to Second Language Speakers (pp. 231-243). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, National Foreign Language Resource Center.
• Hirata, Y. and *Whiton, J. (2005) “Effects of speaking rate on the single/geminate stop distinction in Japanese.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 118, No. 3, pp. 1647-1660. American Institute of Physics.
• Hirata, Y. and Lambacher, S. G. (2004) “Role of word-external contexts in native speakers’ identification of vowel length in Japanese.” Phonetica, Vol. 61, pp. 177-200. S. Karger Medical and Scientific Publishers.
• Hirata, Y. (2004) “Training native English speakers to perceive Japanese length contrasts in word versus sentence contexts.” Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 116, No. 4, pp. 2384-2394. American Institute of Physics.
• Hirata, Y. (2004) “Effects of speaking rate on the vowel length distinction in Japanese.” Journal of Phonetics, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 565-589. Elsevier Ltd.
• Hirata, Y. (2004) “Computer assisted pronunciation training for native English speakers learning Japanese pitch and durational contrasts.” Computer Assisted Language Learning, Vol. 17, No. 3-4, pp. 357-376. Taylor & Francis Publishers.
• Hirata, Y. (1990) “Perception of geminated stops in Japanese word and sentence levels.” The Phonetic Society of Japan, No. 194, pp. 23-28.
• Hirata, Y. (1990) “Perception of geminated stops in Japanese word and sentence levels by English-speaking learners of Japanese language.” The Phonetic Society of Japan, No. 195, pp. 4-10.

• National Science Foundation Grant, :RUI (Research in Undergraduate Institutions): Effects of hand gesture on auditory and vocabulary learning of a second language" (with Spencer Kelly), 2011-2014
• Grant from the Picker Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies in the Science and Mathematics, Colgate University (with Spencer Kelly), 2007-2009
• Mellon Sabbatical Enhancement Grant, Research Council of Colgate University, 2007-2008
• National Science Foundation Grant, "RUI : Effects of speaking rate on native English speakers’ acquisition of Japanese vowel length contrast" (Principal Investigator), 2004-2007
• Freeman Foundation Student/Faculty Research Initiative, Asian Studies Program, 2005-2006. Project title: "Perception of Kagoshima dialect in various regions of Japan"
• Picker Research Fellowship, Colgate University, 2002-2003
• Japan Foundation Grant, Japanese-Language Teaching Materials Program, April 2000
• Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning for creating training programs for learners of Japanese, 1997-1999
• Linguistic Society of America, LSA Summer Linguistic Institute, Cornell University, 1997