Professor Neidle taught courses in general linguistics and French linguistics. Her research interests include syntactic theory and the syntactic structure of American Sign Language (ASL).
Professor Neidle is the Director of the American Sign Language Linguistic Research Project (ASLLRP). Funding from the NSF supports linguistic research on the syntactic structure of ASL, development of computational tools (including SignStream®, a MacOS application) to facilitate analysis of signed language and gesture, and collaborative research with computer scientists interested in the problem of sign language recognition. Through our National Center for Sign Language and Gesture Resources, several different types of experimental resources and analyzed data are made publicly available.
New software releases: We have recently released: (1) a new Java version of SignStream® (version 3.4.0 released in June 2022), for linguistic annotation and analysis of video data; and (2) a new version (v. 2) of our Web-based Data Access Interface (DAI 2). Both of these tools include substantially expanded functionality relative to the previous versions and allow access to a large new collection of linguistically annotated American Sign Language (ASL) data, the ASLLRP SignStream® 3 Corpus. DAI 2 also provides access to our new ASLLRP Sign Bank.
Development of publicly shared annotation software for visual language (SignStream®), and linguistically annotated video data (our Sign Bank and Data Access Interface); and
Applications of this research to benefit the Deaf community and ASL users and learners.
LINGUISTIC INTERESTS
Syntax
and syntactic theories, with a focus on American Sign
Language, Russian, and French
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Director, American Sign Language Linguistic Research Project (ASLLRP), a collaborative project encompassing the following subprojects
funded by grants from the National
Science Foundation:
A new Mac OS Java version of SignStream®, for linguistic annotation and analysis of video data, was released in July 2020. There is also a new version of our Web-based Data Access Interface (DAI 2). Both of these tools include substantially expanded functionality relative to the previous versions, and the DAI 2 allows access to a large new collection of linguistically annotated American Sign Language (ASL) data.
NSF funded projects over the years that have partially supported this research:
Investigation
of the syntactic structure of ASL, with particular
emphasis on the hierarchical representation
of functional categories and on the manual and
non-manual expressions of grammatical information.
Development
of a computer program designed to facilitate
linguistic analysis of video-based language
data; SignStream allows simultaneous access
to raw video data and to representations of
those data in linguistically useful formats
and is distributed on a non-profit basis to
students, educators, and researchers.
Essential
Tools for Computational Research on Visual-Gestural
Language Data
Collaboration
with Stan Sclaroff in Computer Science at BU.
This
project involves a Java reimplementation of
SignStream to include tools for efficient data
entry of fine-grained phonological information
and integration of information provided by computer
algorithms, among other new features. Machine
vision-based algorithms for semi-automation
of several aspects of the transcription process
will also be developed.
Collaboration
between Boston University (the ASLLRP and Stan
Sclaroff's Image and Video Computing Group)
and Rutgers University (Dimitris Metaxas).
The
goal of this project is to make available several
different types of experimental resources and
analyzed data to facilitate linguistic and computational
research on signed languages and the gestural
components of spoken languages.
Pattern
Discovery in Signed Languages and Gestural Communication
Collaboration
with Margrit Betke, George Kollios, and Stan Sclaroff
in Computer Science at BU.
Pattern
analysis algorithms are being developed for
discovery of the co-occurrence, overlap, relative
timing, frequency, and magnitude of non-manual
gestures in ASL.
ITR-Collaborative Research: Advances in recognition and interpretation of human motion: An Integrated Approach to ASL Recognition
Collaboration with Dimitris Metaxas, Ahmed Elgammal and Vladimir Pavlovic (Rutgers University) and Christian Vogler (Gallaudet University)
This project focuses on integration of information (which is linguistically essential) from both the manual and non-manual channels for purposes of computer-based sign language recognition.
Collaboration with Stan Sclaroff (BU Computer Science) and Vassilis Athitsos (University of Texas at Arlington)
One goal of the research is development of a "look-up" capability, whereby a signer can produce a sign in front of a camera, or identify a sign in a video, and have the computer identify which sign it is. One application of this technology would be an interface for a multi-media sign language dictionary.
Collaboration among Boston University (C. Neidle, S. Sclaroff), Rutgers University (D. Metaxas), Gallaudet University (B. Bahan, C. Vogler) and U. Texas Arlington (V. Athitsos)
Carol
Neidle (1988) The Role of Case in Russian Syntax. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Carol Neidle (1982) "Case Agreement in Russian." Chapter
6 in J. Bresnan (ed), The Mental Representation of
Grammatical Relations. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Joyce
Friedman and Carol Neidle (1986) Phonological Analysis
for French Dictation: Preliminaries to an Intelligent
Tutoring System. Boston University Computer Science
Technical Report #86-004, April 1986.
Current position: Lecturer and Postgraduate Coursework Coordinator, Department of Linguistics at the University
of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Previously, she held a tenured position as Associate Professor at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa,
where she founded the first academic program on South African Sign Language in the country.
Current position: Research Assistant Professor of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine
Previous position: Assistant Professor, Department of English, Beit Berl Academic College, Kfar Sabba, Israel
Professor and Previously Head of Division, Dept.of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University
of Hong Kong.
Previously Director, Aphasia, dyslexia and dysgraphia laboratory.
MacLaughlin,
D. (1995). Language Acquisition and the Subset Principle. The Linguistic Review, 12, 143-191.
MacLaughlin,
D. (1998). The acquisition of the morphosyntax of
English reflexives by non-native speakers. In M.-L.
Beck, ed., Morphology and its interfaces in second
language knowledge (pp. 195-226). Philadelphia:
John Benjamins.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND AND CURRENT AFFILIATIONS
Academic Affiliations
Professor Emerita of Linguistics, with an Extension of Service appointment, Boston University,
Boston, MA (2023- )
Professor of French and Linguistics, Boston University,
Boston, MA (2001-2023)
Associate
Professor of French and Linguistics, Department of
Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures, Boston University,
Boston, MA (1987-2001).
Assistant Professor of French and
Linguistics, Department of Modern Foreign Languages
and Literatures, Boston University (1982-1987).
Chair of the Linguistics Department [created 7/1/18] (2018-2020)
Director of the Linguistics Program (2001-2018)
Director,
Ph.D. Program in Applied Linguistics, Boston University
(1988-1994).
Faculty
Advisor for the Boston University Conference on Language
Development (1988-1994).
Faculty
Member, Middlebury College French School, Summers
of 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8844-9085
