Professor
Contact Information
GUG 415 E
Office Hours
F 12ː30-1ː30 and By appointment (in-person or online)
Biography
PhD 1999, University of Michigan
Curriculum Vitae
(264.35 KB)
Prof. Wassink is the Director of the Sociolinguistics Laboratory, and professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Washington. Her research interests lie in sociolinguistics (the study of language in its various social contexts, the relationships between language and social network structure, language attitudes and the outcomes of language and dialect contact) and phonetics (the study of the acoustic properties of spoken language, perception, and physiological aspects of human speech). One of Prof. Wassink’s principal languages of study is Jamaican Creole. When she is in Jamaica conducting fieldwork, her home base is the University of the West Indies.
Research
Selected Research
- Fridland, Beckford Wassink, Kendall & Evans (eds.). (2017) Speech in the Western States Volume 2. Publication of the American Dialect Society (PADS) 77:1.
- Fridland, V., Kendall, T., Evans, B., & Wassink, A. B. (2016). Speech of the Western States. Vol. 1, The Coastal States. Publication of the American Dialect Society, 101.
- Meghan Oxley. "Southern, Texan, or Both?: Southernness and Identity in Deer Park, Texas." Diss. U of Washington, 2015.Adviser: Alicia Beckford Wassink
- Alicia Wassink, PI. English in the Pacific Northwest Study.
Research Advised
- Kirby Conrod. "Pronouns Raising and Emerging." Diss. U of Washington, 2019.
- Meghan Oxley. "Southern, Texan, or Both?: Southernness and Identity in Deer Park, Texas." Diss. U of Washington, 2015.
- Freeman, V. (2014). Bag, beg, bagel: Prevelar raising and merger in Pacific Northwest English. University of Washington Working Papers in Linguistics, 32.
- Amy Busch. "Multilingual Influence and Style Shift in the Speech of Rachel Jeantel." Honors Thesis, U of Washington, 2013/2014.
- Samantha Sanches. "Social Connectedness of Japanese-Americans in the Pacific Northwest: A Sociolinguistic Case." Honors Thesis, U of Washington, 2013/2014.
- Rachel Elizabeth Schirra. "Attitudes Toward Korean-Accented and Korean American English." MA Thesis. U of Washington, 2012.
- Squizzero, R. (2009). Effects of Style and Gender on Fronting and Raising of /æ/ and /ε/ before /g/ in Seattle English (Bachelors Thesis). University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
- Meghan Oxley. "(ay) Monophthongization in Deer Park, Texas." MA Thesis. U of Washington, 2009.
- Jeffrey Stevenson. "The Sociolinguistic Variables of Chilean Voseo." Diss. U of Washington, 2007.
- Jay Waltmunson. "The relative degree of difficulty of L2 Spanish /d, t/, trill and tap by L1 English speakers: Auditory and acoustic methods of defining pronunciation accuracy." Diss. U of Washington, 2005.
- Mary K. FitzMorris. (in progress). "Documenting the historical and ongoing productivity of Seattle Ladino phonology, morphology, and syntax." Doctoral dissertation, University of Washington.
Courses Taught
Autumn 2025
Winter 2025
Autumn 2024
Spring 2024
Winter 2024
Autumn 2023
Winter 2023
Autumn 2022
Resources & Related Links
Affiliations
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