Paulina Bounds
Assistant Professor of Linguistics
RESEARCH PROJECTS
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Perceptual
Maps
Perceptual Maps
I am working on a multistage, collaborative research project with Dr. Jacqueline Hettel to create an online platform to allow respondents to fill in perceptual maps (that reflect what speakers think of others’ speech, for example how Midwesterners perceive Southern speech). So far, we have completed the first two stages of the research. First, we have asked respondents to give us their ideas about "perfect maps." Based on those results, we created five maps with different features on them to see what the noise-to-signal ratio is based on various kinds of information given on the maps. As our results show, the state lines and interstates seem to influence the shape of the perception and topographical information giving us the highest signal ratio.
Multimodal Prezi Rubric
I am working on a multistage, collaborative research project with Lindsey Harding to create a multimodal rubric for essays created with the use Prezi software designed for dynamic presentations. So far, we have researched the role the Prezi canvas plays in the creation of student essays and what the space offers students. As our research indicates, the essays created in Prezi make coherence a visual element, which helps demystify an argument’s organization for students and invites students to use visual elements to make their coherence stronger. Moreover, we involved our students in the process of rubric creation and asked them to reflect on the process. As our results indicate, the recursive relationship between the rubric and reflection foster the transfer of knowledge. In the next stage of our project we are developing a multimodal rubric for Prezi essays.
Teaching Research
I am interested in researching teaching methods that I use in my classroom as an intersection of my linguistic and composition expertise. I have investigated the role that the recordings of informants from the Linguistic Atlas Project played in my composition classes. The results show that they were able to make strong connections between the real stories they heard and the view of the South they saw in the literature they read. This way, they were able to come up with a view of the South composed out of multiple perspectives. In another class, I asked the students to use simple corpus linguistic methods in their analysis of song lyrics. Through this practice, they were able to add more evidence and make stronger connections.
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Multimodal
Prezi
Rubric
Teaching
Research