Professor of Speech Science, Queen Margaret University, Scotland,
Director, Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language (CASL) Research Centre.
My surname is pronounced /ˈskɔbe/ or /ˈskɔbɪ/.
My preferred gender is male, so please use 3rd person masculine or gender-neutral pronouns.
My PhD was in theoretical phonology and how the diagrammatic descriptions of phonological patterns could be formalised (i.e. implemented computationally) but my research career has been characterised by methodological and empirical research. My primary focus throughout has been the interface(s) between PHONETICS (speech systems in specific languages, and the more general issue of how humans can use their vocal tracts to convey languages orally) and PHONOLOGY (systems of how speech sounds efficiently discriminate different words and prosodies in human languages).
I explore these interfaces with an eye to the value of individual variation, and not just the typological differences that exist between standardised forms of each language. I have examined speech articulation in child language acquisition, in adults undertaking experimental speech tasks and varying their speech subconsciously to reflect social meaning, and in the diagnostic and therapeutic context of the Speech Therapy clinic. This has required methodological advances in instrumentation and analysis, and it has been a joy to benefit from collaborations with engineers, speech and language therapists, and linguists (not least those with expertise in sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics). Indeed, it has been a particular privilege to learn from my colleagues and students at Queen Margaret University about speech sound disorders, and to orientate my activity towards blue skies or esoteric topics which nevertheless are able to facilitate applied research into clinical remediation.
I am keen to support academic colleagues to explore entrepreneurial and socially-relevant ramifications of their research, to engage and inform the public outwith academia about the joys of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and to counter myths around language and speech.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland