It’s been a busy couple of weeks lately, but I have just submitted a mammoth paper (along with my colleagues Prof Catherine Travis and Dr James Grama at the ANU) about the use of sociolinguistic data and analysis to inform dialect coaching of Australian English. This is part of my work on the Sydney Speaks project, funded by the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language. Sydney Speaks examines dialectal variation across different ethnic communities of Sydney, based on a unique corpus of audio recordings from the 1970s and the 2010s. Happy that the paper has now been submitted for review, and we will wait to see if it is accepted for publication!
In other news, this week I also finished an introductory course in Alexander Technique with Barbara Robertson, run through the HubStudio. The Hub is a great place in Sydney for performers to train, and frequently runs short courses in voice.
The Alexander Technique aims to give speakers greater awareness of the alignment of their head, neck, and torso, allowing for a more grounded voice and confident speech. It extends into other ergonomic spheres, such as postural alignment while working at a desk, and the way you stand while speaking (think of those important presentations, or auditions!). Barbara Robertson is a highly trained Alexander Technique specialist, so be sure to check out her services here.