Ph.D. in Linguistics
Thesis Title: "Place Oppositions in English Coronal Obstruents: An Ultrasound Study"
Simon Gonzalez
Computational Linguist
- The Australian National University
- simon.gonzalez@anu.edu.au
PROFESSIONAL FOCUS
I am a data scientist with wide expertise in data processing, machine learning, and statistical modelling. My work focused on the analysis of complex data applied to speech research and policy making. I make strong use of programming languages, mainly R, to create effective and accurate processes for data extraction, analysis and visualisation.
EDUCATION
BA Honours in Modern Languages
CUM LAUDE distinction
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
R, Shiny (java web-based apps), SAS, Python, SQL, Praat, and MatLab, in order of proficiency
MACHINE LEARNING AND ALGORITHMS
Design of new models and algorithms for machine learning projects
DATA MODELLING AND EVALUATION
Data analysis and interpretation
SIGNAL PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
Speech and text processing for analysis
CORPORA & DATA SETS
Creation and maintenance of corpora and data sets
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING
Entity, organisation and location recognition, text processing and classification
SPEECH DATA MODELLING
Acoustic and statistical modelling of speech data, dynamic vowel modelling
FORCED-ALIGNMENT
Automatic alignment of audio and transcription files; Implementation, testing, and enhancing of forced-alignment at the word and phonemic level
ACOUSTIC PHONETICS
Signal processing, visualization and analysis of speech data, waveform and spectrogram analysis, acoustic-articulatory correlates
SOCIO-PHONETICS
Data collection, data annotation, data analysis, phonetic variation, speaker variability, intra-speaker variation
LABORATORY PHONOLOGY
Tongue ultrasound analysis, articulatory phonology, English coronal obstruents
WEB-APPS DEVELOPED
Digital Transport
2021PRESENT
Awarded Three Honourable Mentions in the GovHack 2021 Competition
Finance HUB
2021PRESENT
Real-time and accurate finance data (Stocks, Forex and Crypto)
Easy Journal
2021PRESENT
Where searching news articles is made simple
World English Accent App
2021PRESENT
Interface to listen to accented English across the world
Succer Hub
2021PRESENT
A small visualisation hub for great soccer matches.
TTCOVID19AU
20202020
Twitter Tracker of COVID19 in Australia
World Language Features
2020PRESENT
Language features across the world
Australia Speaks
2020PRESENT
Australian Speakers and Social Correlations
Australian Incidents Viewer
2019PRESENT
Transport-related accidents across Australia
Australian Flight Viewer
2019PRESENT
Flight history from Australian ports to international ones.
World Twitter Trends
2019PRESENT
Live visualisation of the top 5 Twitter trends in the world
Vowel Map
2018PRESENT
Visualisation of acoustic data using networks
Sociolinguistics Computational Tools
2018PRESENT
Tools for managing, wrangling, and visualising linguistic data
Data visualisation
2017PRESENT
Visualisation of user input data
WORK EXPERIENCE
Australian Government, Department of Defence
AUG/2021Present
Research Officer
Implementing Machine Learning Algorithms to assist in program policy making
Creating statistical models for analysis in evidential analysis
Assisting in the implementation of advanced computational tools in program research
Evaluation Officer
Building Machine Learning Algorithms to assist in program policy making
Creating statistical models for analysis in evidential analysis
Assisting in the implementation of advanced computational tools in evaluations projects
The Australian National University, Australia
Dec/2019Oct/2020
Research Officer and Casual Academic
Building the main R Shiny App for analysis
Applying Natural Language Processing to text and audio files
Managing Large Speech Corpus
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Writing R algorithms and packages to facilitate annotation, analysis, and output of conversational natural speech
Developing computational analysis tools to assist research on large speech corpora
Griffith University, Australia
20142016
Research Assistant
Building solid methods for delivering high-quality, cost-efficient programming solutions and tools for acoustic analysis.
Creating and managing of online applications for data analysis and presentation.
Griffith University, University of Melbourne
July 2016August 2016
Research Assistant
Extracting acoustic features for linguistic analysis
Modelling acoustic data
Managing large corpora for analysis
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
The Australian National University, Australia
Aug 2018Nov 2018
Sessional Lecturer
Griffith University, Australia
Jul 2015Oct 2015
Sessional Academic
University of Newcastle, Australia
Jul 2012Dec 2013
Casual Academic
National Experimental University Simon Rodriguez, Venezuela
Mar 2010Sep 2010
Instructor
PUBLICATIONS
Simon Gonzalez
To Appear2021
Gridlines approach for dynamic analysis in speech ultrasound data: a multimodal app
Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology
Grama, James, Catherine E. Travis, & Simon Gonzalez
Accepted2021
Ethnolectal variation ov(er) time: A real-time study of word-final (er) in Australian English
Australian Journal of Linguistics
Grama, James, Catherine E. Travis, & Simon Gonzalez
To Appear
Ethnic variation in real time: Change in Australian English diphthongs
Tenth International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 10)
Gonzalez, Simon, JamesGrama, & Catherine E. Travis
2020
Comparing the performance of major forced aligners used in sociophonetic research
Linguistics Vanguard
Barth, Danielle, James Grama, Simon Gonzalez, & Catherine E. Travis
2020
Opening the door to forced alignment for minority languages
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics
Oliver Niebuhr, Simon Gonzalez
2019
Do Sound Segments Contribute to Sounding Charismatic? Evidence from a Case Study of Steve Jobs’ and Mark Zuckerberg’s Vowel Spaces
International Journal of Acoustics and Variation
Gerard Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
2019
An acoustic analysis of short front vowel realizations in the conversational style of young English speakers from Western Australia
ICPhS 2019, Melbourne, Australia
James Grama, Catherine Travis & Simon Gonzalez
2019
Initiation, progression, and conditioning of the short-front vowel shift in Australia
ICPhS 2019, Melbourne, Australia
Chloè Diskin, Debbie Loakes, Rosey Billington, Hywel Stoakes, Simon Gonzalez & Sam Kirkham
2019
The /el/-/ael/ merger in Australian English: Acoustic and articulatory insights
ICPhS 2019, Melbourne, Australia
Gonzalez, S., Travis, C., Grama, J., Barth, D. & Ananthanarayan, S.
2018
Recursive forced alignment: A test on a minority language
Speech Science and Technology, Sydney, Australia
Gonzalez, S.
2018
Acoustic Characteristics of Pre-Aspiration in Australian English
Speech Science and Technology, Sydney, Australia
Docherty, G., Foulkes, P., Gonzalez, S., & Mitchell, N.
2018
Missed Connections at the Junction of Sociolinguistics and Speech Processing
Topics in Cognitive Science
Docherty, G., Gonzalez, S., & Mitchell, N.
2015
Static vs Dynamic Perspectives on the Realization of Vowel Nucleii in West Australian English
ICPhS 2015, Glasgow, Scotland
Simon Gonzalez
2009
La ciencia de un arte
In Hočevar, Drina (ed.) Piedra de Toque (Touch Stone), Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela.
REFEREED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Catherine Travis, James Grama & Simon Gonzalez
February 2020
Chinese Australian English?: Testing for ethnolectal features
New ways of Analyzing Variation Asia-Pacific 6, Singapore
Chloé Diskin, Deborah Loakes, Rosey Billington, Simon Gonzalez, Ben Volchok & Josh Clothier
October2019
Sociophonetic variability in the /el/-/ael/ merger in Australian (Melbourne) English: Comparing wordlist and conversational data
New Ways of Analyzing Variation 48, Oregon USA, October 2019
Elena Sheard, Catherine Travis, James Grama & Simon Gonzalez
July2019
Using ethnic orientation to circumscribe the Chinese-Australian speech community in Sydney
Forum on Englishes in Australia, Melbourne
Chloé Diskin, Deborah Loakes, Rosey Billington, Simon Gonzalez & Ben Volchok
July2019
Sociophonetic variability in the /el/-/æl/ merger in Melbourne English: Comparing wordlist and sociolinguistic interviews
Forum on Englishes in Australia, Melbourne
James Grama, Catherine Travis & Simon Gonzalez
July2019
The role of ethnolectal variation in language change: A real-time study of vowels in Sydney English
International Conference on Historical Linguistics
Catherine Travis, James Grama & Simon Gonzalez
June2019
The role of ethnolects in variation and change: Vowels in Sydney English
International Conference on Language Variation in Europe
Catherine Travis, James Grama & Simon Gonzalez
December2018
Ethnolectal variation ov(er) time
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Adelaide
Simon Gonzalez, Catherine Travis, James Grama, Danielle Barth, Sunkulp Ananthanarayan
October2018
Opening the door for forced-alignment to minority languages
New Ways of Analyzing Variation 47 (NWAV47), New York
Simon Gonzalez & Gerry Docherty
July2018
Enough is enough: measuring the stabilisation point of uncorrected forced-aligned data in sociolinguistic corpora
SocioPhoAus Workshop 2, Brisbane
James Grama, Simon Gonzalez & Catherine Travis
July2018
Insights from spontaneous speech for the characterisation of vocalic change over time in Sydney
SocioPhoAus Workshop 2, Brisbane
Gerry Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
July2018
Social and contextual influences on variability in the realisation of vowels in conversations between young people from
SocioPhoAus Workshop 2, Brisbane
James Grama, Simon Gonzalez & Catherine Travis
June2018
Ethnolectal variation in word-final (er) in Australian English: Minority communities as leaders in language change
Sociolinguistics Symposium 22, Auckland
Simon Gonzalez, James Grama &Catherine Travis
February2018
Comparing forced aligners for sociolinguistics
NWAV-AP, Brisbane
Catherine Travis, Simon Gonzalez & James Grama
December2017
General Extenders over time in Sydney English: From or something to and stuff
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Sydney
James Grama, Catherine Travis & Simon Gonzalez
November2017
Class, gender and ethnicity in Sydney: Revisiting social conditioning in 1970s Australia
New Ways of Analyzing Variation 46 (NWAV47), Madison
Gerard Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
July2016
A dynamic perspective on sociophonetic variability in the realisation of vowels in Australian English
Laboratory Phonology 15 Satellite Workshop, Ithaca, NY
Gerard Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
June2016
A study of the realisation of word-medial and word-final pre-pausal (t) in the conversational speech of young people from Perth
SocioPhoAus Workshop 1, Brisbane
Gerard Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
June2016
Variability in the realisation of vowels in the conversational speech of young people from Perth
SocioPhoAus Workshop 1, Brisbane
Gerry Docherty, Simon Gonzalez & Nathaniel Mitchell
December2015
The realisation of vowels in conversations by speakers of West AusE
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Parramatta
Simon Gonzalez, Gerry Docherty & Nathaniel Mitchell
October2015
Social and phonological dimensions of /l/ vocalisation in West Australian English
New Ways of Analyzing Variation 44 (NWAV44), Toronto
Gerry Docherty, Simon Gonzalez & Nathaniel Mitchell
August2015
Static vs dynamic perspectives on the realisation of vowel nuclei in West Australian English
18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Glasgow
Gerry Docherty, Simon Gonzalez & Nathaniel Mitchell
December2014
Variability in the realisation of vowels in West Australian English
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Newcastle
Simon Gonzalez, Mark Harvey, Katherine Demuth & Susan Lin
October2013
Articulatory variation in English coronal obstruents: An ultrasound study
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Melbourne
Simon Gonzalez
December2011
Consonantal Space-Compensation Processes: an approach to understanding phonemic adjustments in world sound systems
Australian Linguistic Society Conference, Canberra
Simon Gonzalez
August2008
Correlation of Linguistic and Literary Forms in Poetry: an Approach to Literary Linguistics
6th National Conference on Literature and Linguistics, The Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico
Simon Gonzalez
May2008
Linguistic and Literary Forms: An approach to Linguistics and Literature
National Conference of Teachers and Researchers in Linguistics, FUNDAENDIL, Merida, Venezuela
CONFERENCE POSTERS
Simon Gonzalez, James Grama, Catherine Travis & Saliha Muradoglu
February2019
Enhancing forced-alignment in minority languages
CoEDL Fest 2019, Western Sydney University, Australia
James Grama, Catherine Travis & Simon Gonzalez
February2019
Initiation, progression and conditioning: Short front vowels in Australian English
CoEDL Fest 2019, Western Sydney University, Australia
James Grama, Simon Gonzalez & Catherine Travis
December2018
Phonological conditioning in rotation of short-front vowels in Australian English
Seventeenth Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Sydney
Simon Gonzalez, James Grama & Catherine Travis
February2018
Comparing the accuracy of forced-aligners for sociolinguistic research
CoEDL Fest 2018, University of Melbourne, Australia
Simon Gonzalez, James Grama & Catherine Travis
February2018
CoEDL Vowel Mates!: Integrating phonetic measurements and network analysis in vowel visualizations.
CoEDL Fest 2018, University of Melbourne, Australia
Sasha Wilmoth & Simon Gonzalez
February2018
Glossing a CHAT corpus: a ‘Shiny’ new interactive tool
CoEDL Fest 2018, University of Melbourne, Australia
Simon Gonzalez, James Grama & Catherine Travis
February2017
Hypothesis testing automation in the sociophonetic analysis of vowel variation
CoEDL Fest 2017, University of Queensland, Australia
Gerard Docherty, Simon Gonzalez, Nathaniel Mitchell & Paul Foulkes
December2016
Sociophonetic variability in the realization of /t/ in West Australian English
Australasian International Speech Science and Technology Conference, Sydney
Simon Gonzalez, Mark Harvey & Michael Proctor
July2014
Posterior cavity and aperture distance oppositions in English coronal fricatives
14th Laboratory Phonology Conference, Tokyo
Simon Gonzalez, Mark Harvey, Katherine Demuth & Susan Lin
November2013
Segment Constants and Speaker Constants in English Coronal Obstruents
Ultrafest VI, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
Simon Gonzalez, Mark Harvey & Katherine Demuth
December2012
The duration of English coronal obstruent segment types
14th Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Sydney
SEMINAR PRESENTATIONS
Simon Gonzalez
April2021
Hybrid Methods in Programs Evaluation Research
Department of Education, Skills and Employment
James Grama & Simon Gonzalez
September2018
Expanding the study of linguistic variation through forced alignment
Linguistics Seminar, Macquarie University, Australia
James Grama, Simon Gonzalez & Catherine Travis
September2018
Expanding the study of linguistic variation through forced-alignment for major and minority languages
Linguistics Seminar, The Australian National University, Australia
Travis, Catherine, Grama, James, González, Simón, Johnstone, Cale
September2017
Language, variation, change, ‘n that: General Extenders in Sydney English
MARCS Speech and Language Seminar, University of Western Sydney, Australia
Simon Gonzalez
March2016
Methods on dynamic analysis of vowel realisations
Linguistics Seminar, University of Melbourne, Australia
Simon Gonzalez
March2016
Socio-phonetic methods for analysing vowel realisations: challenges and advantages of current approaches
Linguistics Seminar, University of Newcastle, Australia
Simon Gonzalez
October2015
Taming the Tongue: when phonological theory meets articulatory evidence
Research Seminar Series, Griffith University, Australia
Simon Gonzalez
December2013
Articulatory variation in English coronal obstruents: An ultrasound study
Speech Pathology Research Symposium, University of Newcastle, Australia
Simon Gonzalez
September2013
Articulatory variation in English coronal obstruents: An ultrasound study
Linguistics Seminar, University of Newcastle, Australia
WORKSHOPS
Simon Gonzalez & James Grama
September2018
Keeping up to date with forced-alignment: the Montreal Forced-Aligner
Forced-alignment Workshop, Macquarie University, Australia
Chloé Diskin, Debbie Loakes, Rosey Billington, Simon Gonzalez & Sam Kirkham
May2018
Ultrasound tongue imaging in production and perception: implications for second language and second dialect acquisition
Ultrasound Workshop, The University of Melbourne
Simon Gonzalez
May2007
Teaching Literature, Essential for Foreign Language Teaching and Training
Human Sciences and their Impact on Social Transformation, The University of Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela
GRANTS AND FUNDING
Lead Investigator
2020
CoDirectS: A Collective Directory of Speech Databases
International Association for Forensic and Acoustics
Lead Investigator
2019
An acoustic description of the vocalic space of Venezuelan Spanish
International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics
Lead Investigator
20182019
Forced-alignment protocols for minority languages
Transdisciplinary and Innovation Grant, CoEDL
Collaborator
2018
Ultrasound tongue imaging in production and perception (Lead investigator: Dr Chloé Diskin - The University of Melbourne)
Transdisciplinary and Innovation Grant, CoEDL
Collaborator
2016
Analysis tools for large speech corpora (Lead investigator: Professor Gerard Docherty - Griffith University)
Transdisciplinary and Innovation Grant, CoEDL
Recipient
20112014
Postgraduate Research Scholarship (UNIPRS)
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Recipient
20112014
Postgraduate Research Scholarship
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Recipient
2008
Scholarship Internship to carry out a Thesis Research Project Development
Universidad de Los Andes, Venezuela
SUPERVISION AND ADVISORY ROLES
Ph.D. Advisory Panel Member
20192020
Ph.D. Candidate Project: Development of a feasible CAPT system to help foreign language learners improve pronunciation
The Australian National University
Ph.D. Advisory Panel Member
20192020
Ph.D. Candidate Project: Building and Analysing Datasets: Speech Recognition for Indonesian Language Classrooms and Resources
The Australian National University
Ph.D. Advisory Panel Member
20192020
Ph.D. Candidate Projec: A Finite-State approach to Nen verbal morphology
The Australian National University
Project Supervisor
20182019
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Transdisciplinary Innovation Grant Forced-alignment protocols for minority languages
The Australian National University
Project Advisor
20182019
ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Summer Scholar position focussing on automated natural language processing
The Australian National University
Project Supervisor
20172018
Developing tools for analysis and visualisation of Sociolinguistic data
The Australian National University
EXPERT CONSULTATION
Masters Student
2019
Project: A Comparison of Machine Learning Algorithms and Native Speaker Perceptual Frameworks in the Discrimination of Phonemic Contrasts
The Australian National University
Ph.D. Candidate
2019
Project: L2 acquisition of interface properties: Case of Japanese wa and ga
The Australian National University
Honours Student
2019
Project: An acoustic analysis of fricatives in Light Warlpiri
The Australian National University
Summer Scholar Student
2019
Project: Investigating a century of variation and change in Sydney English
The Australian National University
Summer Scholar Students
2019
Project: An acoustic analysis of Light Warlpiri
The Australian National University
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Manuscript reviewer
Manuscript reviewer
Manuscript reviewer
Manuscript reviewer
COURSES AND SEMINARS ATTENDANCE
An Introduction to Mixed Methods research Design, Australian Consortium for Social & Political research Inc.
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Part 1: An Introduction, Australian Consortium for Social & Political research Inc.
Introduction to Software Engineering 1, School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Newcastle, Australia
Statistics for the Sciences, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle, Australia
Introduction to Procedural Programming, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Australia
Introduction to Engineering Computations, School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, Australia
LANGUAGES
Spanish - Native
English – Fluent
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