Published Work

Journal Articles:

Kremin, L.V., Alves, J., *Orena, A.J., Polka, L. & Byers-Heinlein, K. (2021). Code-switching in parents’ everyday speech to bilingual infants, Journal of Child Language, 1-27. [doi: 10.1017/S03050009210000118]

Liu, Y., Polka, L., *Masapollo, M., & Menard, L. (2021). Disentangling the role of formant proximity and stimulus prototypicality in adult vowel perception, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America – Express Letters 1, 015201 (2021). [https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0003041]

Byers-Heinlein, K., L. Polka and others. (2021). A multi-lab study of bilingual infants: Exploring the preference for infant-directed speech. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1) 4(1) 1-30. [doi: 10.1177/2515245920974622]

ManyBabies Consortium with Polka, L. and 148 co-authors. (2020). Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed speech preference [Registered Report]. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245919900809]

Ballinger, S, Brouillard, Ahooja, A. Kircher, R. Polka, L., Byers-Heinlein, K. (2020) Intersections of official and family language policy in Quebec, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. [https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2020.1752699]

Orena, A.J., Byers-Heinlein, K. & Polka, L. (2020). What do bilingual infants actually hear? Evaluating measures of speech input to bilingual-learning 10-month-olds, Developmental Science. [doi: 10.1111/desc.12901]

McFarland, D., Fortin, A. & Polka, L. (2019). Physiological measures of mother-infant interactional synchrony, Developmental Psychobiology, 1-12. [doi: 10.1002/dev21913]

Zhao, C.T., *Masapollo, M., Polka, L. Ménard, L. & Kuhl, P (2019). Effects of Formant Proximity on the Neural Encoding of Vowels: Evidence from the Auditory Frequency-Following Response, Brain and Language, 194, 77-83. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2019.05.002]

Orena, A.J., & Polka, L. (2019). Monolingual and bilingual infants’ word segmentation in an intermixed dual-language task, Infancy, 1-20. [doi: 10.1111/infa.12296]

Orena, A.J., Theodore, R. & Polka, L. (2019). Identifying bilingual talkers after a language switch: Language experience matters, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America- Express Letters. [doi.org/10.1121/1.5097735]

Orena, A.J., Byers-Heinlein, K. & Polka, L. (2019). Reliability of the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) in a French-English bilingual speech context, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Science, 1-10. [https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0342]

Polka, L. & Nazzi, T (2018). Interacting processes and developmental biases allow learners to crack the “what” code and the “who” code in spoken language. Applied Psycholinguistics,39:4, 757-761. (invited commentary)

Nazzi, T. & Polka, L. (2018). The consonant bias in word learning is not determined by position within the word: Evidence from vowel-initial words, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 174:103-111. [doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2018.05.011]

Masapollo, M., Polka, L. & Ménard, L., *Franklin, L., Tiede, M. & Morgan, J. (2018). Asymmetries in visual vowel perception: The roles of oral-facial kinematics, orientation and configuration, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xhp0000518]

Masapollo, M., Polka, L. & Ménard, L. (2017). A universal bias in adult vowel perception – by ear or by eye, Cognition, 166, 358-370. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.06.001]

Masapollo, M., Polka, L., *Molnar, M. & Ménard, L. (2017). Directional asymmetries reveal a universal bias in adult vowel perception, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 141 (4) 2857- 2869. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4981006]

Nam, Y, & Polka, L. (2016) The phonetic landscape in infant consonant perception is an uneven terrain, Cognition, 155, 56-66. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.06.005]

Polka, L, Orena, A., Sundara, M. & Worrall, J. (2016) Segmenting words from fluent speech during infancy – challenges and opportunities in a bilingual context, Developmental Science, 1-14. [doi: 10.1111/desc.12419]

Kadam, M.A., Orena, AJ., Theodore, R.M. & Polka, L. (2016) Reading ability influences native and non-native voice recognition, even for unimpaired readers, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 139 (1), EL6-12. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4937488]

Polka, L., Bohn, O-S. & Weiss, D.J. (2015). Commentary: Kriengwatana, B., Escudero, P. & ten Cate, C. Revisiting vocal perception in non-human animals: a review of vowel discrimination, speaker voice recognition, and speaker normalization, Frontiers in Psychology 6: 941. [doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.0094]

Orena, A.J., Theodore, R. & Polka, L. (2015) Language exposure facilitates talker learning prior to language comprehension, even in adults, Cognition, 143, 36-40. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2015.06.002]

Masapollo, M, Polka, L. & Menard, L. (2015) When infants talk infants listen: Pre-babbling infants prefer listening to speech with infant vocal properties, Developmental Science, pp 1–11. [doi: 10.1111/desc.12298]

Polka, L, Masapollo, M, & Menard (2014). Who’s talking now? Infant perception of vowels with infant vocal properties, Psychological Science, 25 (7), 1448-1456. [doi: 10.1177/0956797614533571]

Bohn, O-S, & Polka, L. (2014). Fast phonetic learning in very young infants: what it shows and what it doesn’t show, Frontiers in Psychology, Language Sciences, volume 5:511. [doi: 10.3389/ fpsyg.2014.00511]

Molnar, M., Baum, S., Polka, L. & Steinhauer, K. (2013). Learning two languages from birth shapes the pre-attentive processing of speech: Electrophysiological correlates of vowel discrimination in monolinguals and simultaneous bilinguals, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 17 (3) 526-541. [doi: 10.1017/S136672891300062X].

Nazzi, T., Mersad, K., Sundara, M., Iakimova, G., & Polka, L. (2013). Early word segmentation in infants acquiring Parisian French: task-dependent and dialect-specific aspects, Journal of Child Language, 1-34. [doi: 10.1017/S0305000913000111]

Nazzi,T., Goyet, L., Sundara, M. & Polka, L. (2012). Différences linguistiques

Et dialectales dans la mise en place des procédures de segmentation de la parole. Enfance, 127-146. [doi: 10.4074/S0013754512002017]

Polka, L. & Sundara, M, (2012). Word segmentation in monolingual infants acquiring Canadian English and Canadian French: Native language, cross-language, and cross-dialect comparisons, Infancy, 17(2), 198-232. [doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2011.00075.x]

Best, C., Bradlow, A., Guion, S. & Polka, L. (2011). Using the lens of phonetic experience to resolve phonological forms, Journal of Phonetics, 39 (4), 453-455. [doi: 10.1016/j.wocn.2011.08.006]

Polka, L. & Bohn, O-S. (2011). Natural Referent Vowel (NRV) framework: An emerging view of early phonetic development, Journal of Phonetics, 39(4), 467-478. [doi: 10.1016/j.wocn.2010.08.007]

Mattock, K, Polka, L, & Rvachew, S., & Krehm, M. (2010) The first steps in word learning are easier when the shoes fit: Comparing monolingual and bilingual infants, Developmental Science, 13:1 229-243. [doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2009.00891.x]

Shahnaz, N. Bork, L., Polka, L. Longridge, N., Westerberg, B., Bell, D. (2009). Energy reflectance (ER) and tympanometry in normal and otosclerotic ears, Ear and Hearing, 30, 219-233.

Shahnaz, N., Miranda, T. & Polka, L. (2008) Multi-frequency tympanometry in neonatal intensive care unit & well babies, Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 19 (5), 392-418.

Rvachew, S. Alhaidary, A. Mattock, K. & Polka, L. (2008), Emergence of corner vowels in the babble produced by infants exposed to Canadian English or Canadian French, Journal of Phonetics, 36, 564-577. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2008.02.001]

Polka, L., Rvachew, S. & Molnar, M. (2008). Speech perception by 6-to 8-month-olds in the presence of distracting sound, Infancy, 13 (5) 421-439. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/15250000802329297]

Sundara, M., Polka, L. & Molnar, M. (2008) Development of coronal stop perception: Bilingual infants keep pace with their monolingual peers, Cognition, 108, 232-242. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.013]

Sundara, S. & Polka, L. (2008) Discrimination of coronal stops by bilingual adults: The timing and nature of language interaction, Cognition, 106, 234-258. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.01.011]

Mattock, K., Molnar, M., Polka, L. & Burnham, D. (2008). The developmental time course of lexical tone perception in the first year of life, Cognition, 106, 1367-1381. [doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.002]

Ravchew, S., Mattock, K., Polka, L. & Menard, L. (2006). Developmental and cross-linguistic variation in the infant vowel space: The case of Canadian English and Canadian French, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 120, 2250-2259.

Sundara, Polka & Baum (2006) Production of coronal stops by simultaneous bilingual adults, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 9, 97-114.

Ilari, B And Polka, L. (2006) Music cognition in early infancy: Infant’s preferences and long-term memory for Ravel, International Journal of Music Education, 24, 7-20.

Sundara, M. Polka, L. & Genesee, F. (2006) Language experience facilitates discrimination of /d – ð/ in monolingual and bilingual acquisition of English, Cognition, 100, 369-388.

Polka, L, & Rvachew, S. (2005) The impact of otitis media with effusion on infant phonetic perception, Infancy 8 (2), 101-117.

Ilari, B. & Polka, L. (2005) Infants’ preferences for musical timbre and texture: A report from two experiments, Early Childhood Connections, 11 (1), 29-30.

Polka, L. & Bohn, O-S. (2003) Asymmetries in vowel perception, Speech Communication, 41, 221-231.

Shahnaz, N. & Polka, L. (2002) Distinguishing normal from otosclerotic ears: The effect of probe tone frequency on static immittance, Journal of

the American Academy of Audiology, 13, 345-355.

Bohn, O-S. & Polka, L. (2001). Target spectral, dynamic spectral and temporal cues in infant perception of German vowels, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 110, 504-515

Polka, L., Colontonio, C. & Sundara, M. (2001). A cross-language comparison of /d/-/ð/ perception: Evidence for a new developmental pattern, Journal of Acoustical Society of America, 109, 2190-2201.

Werker. J.F., Polka, L. & Pegg, J. (1997). The conditioned headturn procedure as a method for testing infant speech perception, Early Development and Parenting, 6, 171-178.

Shahnaz, N. & Polka, L. (1997). Standard and multifrequency tympanometry in normal and otosclerotic ears, Ear and Hearing, 18, 326-341.

Polka, L. & Bohn, O-S. (1996). A cross-language comparison of vowel perception in English-learning and German-learning infants, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 100, 577-592.

Polka, L. (1995). Linguistic influences in adult perception of non-native vowel contrasts, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 97, 1286-1296.

Orme, M. A. & Polka, L. (1994). Infant dependence on acoustic cue redundancy: Discrimination of the word-final voicing contrast, /t/-/d/, Canadian Acoustics 22, 131-132.

Polka, L. & Werker, J.F. (1994) Developmental changes in perception of non-native vowel contrasts, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 20, 421-435.

Werker, J.F. & Polka, L. (1993). Developmental changes in speech perception: New challenges and new directions, Journal of Phonetics 21, 83-101.

Polka, L. (1992). Characterizing the influence of native language experience in adult speech perception, Perception and Psychophysics 52, 37-52.

Polka, L. (1991) Cross-language speech perception in adults: Phonemic, phonetic, and acoustic contributions, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 89, 2961-2977.

Underbakke, M., Polka, L., Gottfried, T. L. & Strange, W. (1988). Trading relations in the perception of /r/ and /l/ by Japanese learners of

English, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 84, 90-100.

Strange, W., Polka, L., & Dittmann, S. (1986). Training intraphonemic discrimination of /r/-/l/, Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 24, 419-422.

Polka, L. & Strange, W. (1985). Perceptual equivalence of acoustic cues that differentiate /r/ and /l/, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

78, 1187-1197.

Book Chapters:

Polka, L. *Ruan, Y. & *Masapollo, M. (2019). Understanding vowel perception biases – it’s time to take a meta-analytic approach, In A Sound Approach to Language Matters. In Honor of Ocke-Schwen Bohn. Anne Mette Nyvad, Michaela Hejná, Anders Højen, Anna Bothe Jespersen & Mette Hjortshøj Sørensen (Editors); Dept. of English - School of Communication and Culture - Aarhus University, Aarhus (Open Access e-book at AU Library, © The author(s)).

Polka, L, Rvachew, s. & *Mattock, K. (2007). Experiential influences on speech perception and production during infancy. E. Hoff & M. Shatz (Eds.) Handbook of Child Language, Oxford: Blackwell.

Werker, J. F., Shi, R., *Desjardins, R., Pegg, J. E., Polka, L., & *Patterson, M. (1998). Three methods for testing infant speech perception In A. M.

Slater (Ed). Perceptual Development: Visual, Auditory, and Speech Perception in Infancy. London: UCL Press pp. 389-420.

Werker, J.F., Lloyd, V., Pegg, J., & Polka, L. (1996). Putting the baby in the bootstraps: Toward a more complete understanding of the role of input in infant speech processing In J. Morgan & K. Demuth (Eds.) Signal to Syntax: Bootstrapping from Speech to Grammar in Early Acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 427-447.

Polka, L., Jusczyk, P.J., & Rvachew, S. (1995). Methods for studying speech perception in infants and children, In W. Strange (Ed.) Speech

Perception and Linguistic Experience: Issues in Cross-Language Speech Research. Timonium, MD: York Press, pp. 49-89.

Jenkins, J., Strange, W. & Polka, L. (1995). Not everyone can tell a 'rock' from a 'lock': Assessing individual differences in speech perception. In

R.V. Dawis & D. Lubinski (Eds.) Assessing Individual Differences in Human Behavior: New Concepts, Methods and Findings Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, pp. 297-325.

Werker, J.F. & Polka, L. (1993). The ontogeny and developmental significance of language-specific phonetic perception. In B. de Boysson-Bardies, S.

de Schonen, P. Jusczyk, P McNeilage, & J. Morton. (Eds.) Developmental Neurocognition: Speech and Face Processing in the First Year of Life. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp 275-288.

Conference Proceedings:

Polka, L., Bohn, O.-S., & Kuhl, P. (2008). Encomium for Winifred Strange,

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 24, 2539-2540.

Mattock, K., Rvachew, S., & Polka, L. (2005). Cross-linguistic influences on infant babbling.

Proceedings of the Canadian Acoustical Association Meeting, London, Ontario, October 12-14, 2005.

Polka, L. & Sundara, M. (2003). Word segmentation in monolingual and bilingual infant learners of English and French.

Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain, 1021-1024.

Escudero , P. & Polka, L. (2003). A cross-language study of vowel categorization and vowel acoustics: Canadian English versus Canadian French. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Barcelona, Spain, 861-864

Polka, L. (1995). Developmental patterns in infant speech perception.

Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden, vol. 2, 148-155.

Bohn, O-S. & Polka, L (1995). What defines vowel identity in prelingual infants?

Proceedings of the XIIIth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Stockholm, Sweden , vol. 1, 130-133.

School of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Published Work

Invited Papers: