Mark VanDam

Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences

Physical address: Health Sciences Building, Room 125S 412 East Spokane Falls Blvd Spokane, WA 99202	Mailing address: Dept. Speech & Hearing Sciences PO Box 1495 Spokane, WA 99210-1495	↑ click pic for more pics
Speech and Language Lab: Health Sciences Building, Room 141 412 East Spokane Falls Blvd Spokane, WA 99202 e-mail: mark.vanDam_at__wsu__dot__edu office phone: 509.358.7599 lab phone: 509.358.7612

Vita

Assistant Professor (2012-present) Washington State University, Spokane, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Research Associate (2009-2012) Boys Town National Research Hospital, Center for Childhood Deafness
Postdoc (2007-2009) Boys Town National Research Hospital, Center for Childhood Deafness
PhD (2007) Indiana University, Linguistics
MA (2003) Indiana University, Linguistics
BA (1999) Calvin College, English and German

curriculum vitae (December, 2012) [ PDF (67KB) ]

Academic Work

VanDam, M., Ambrose, S. E., Moeller, M. P. (2012). Quantity of parental language in the home environments of hard-of-hearing two-year olds. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 17(4), 402-420. doi:10.1093/deafed/ens025 [ Oxford Journals abstract ] [ MDLinx link ]

VanDam, M., Silbert, N. H., & Moeller, M. P. (2012, October). Effects of age, hearing loss, and phonological neighborhood density on children's perceptual confusions. Poster presented at the 164th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Kansas City, MO. Abstract in JASA 132: 2076 [ PDF (38KB)]

Xu, D., VanDam, M., Gilkerson, J., Ambrose, S. E., Moeller, M. P., Richards, J. (2012, June). Phonetic development analysis using an automated approach. Talk presented at the AG Bell 2012 Convention, Scottsdale, AZ.

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2012, June). Relationships between language input, television exposure, and the language development of toddlers with hearing loss. Paper presented at the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.

VanDam, M. (2012, February). Cognitive, social, and linguistic development in preschoolers and toddlers. Invited talk at Washington State University, Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Spokane, WA.

VanDam, M. (2012, February). Machine assessment of linguistic development in children with special needs. Invited talk at the University of Toledo, Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science, and Human Service, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Toledo, OH.

VanDam, M. (2012, February). Automatic assessment of speech and language development in hard of hearing children and other special populations. Invited talk at the University of Tennessee, College of Allied Health Science, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, Knoxville, TN.

VanDam, M. (2012, February). Speech and language development in special populations: Automatic analyses of large-scale, naturalistic, acoustic data. Invited talk at the University of Georgia, College of Education, Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education, Athens, GA.

VanDam, M. (2012, February). New approaches to cognitive development in hard of hearing children. Invited talk at Florida State University, School of Communication Science and Disorders, Tallahassee, FL.

VanDam, M. (2012, January). Automatic analysis of real-world speech and language data with special populations. Invited talk at Oklahoma State University, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Stillwater, OK.

VanDam, M. (2011, November). Consumers guide to LENA: Comments and recommendations from expert users: Automatic speech and language analysis of children who are hard of hearing. Invited talk at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, San Diego, CA.

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2011, November). The impact of exposure to talk and television on language development of toddlers with hearing loss. Poster presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, San Diego, CA. [ PDF (378KB)]

VanDam, M., Ide-Helvie, D., & Moeller, M. P. (2011). Point vowel duration in children with hearing aids and cochlear implants at 4 and 5 years of age. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 25(8): 689-704. [ HTML link, full text and free]

Moeller, M.P., Bass-Ringdahl, S., Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Tomblin, J.B. (2011). Understanding Communication Outcomes: New Tools and Insights. In R. C. Seewald & J. M. Bamford (Eds.), A Sound Foundation Through Early Amplification 2010: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference (pp. 245-260). Stafa, Switzerland: Phonak AG Immediate Proceedings Ltd.

Moeller, M.P., VanDam, M., & Ambrose, S. (2011, September). Measuring outcomes in children with hearing loss: New tools and insights. Invited presentation at the 2011 Nebraska Speech Language Hearing Association Fall Convention, Kearney, NE.

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2011, June). Automated analysis of the language abilities and auditory-linguistic environments of children with hearing loss. Poster presented at the Symposium on Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI. [ PDF (183KB)]

VanDam, M. (2011, May). Automatic acoustic-phonetic analyses of thousands of hours of conversational speech in hard of hearing children. Talk presented at the 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, WA. Abstract in JASA 129: 2596 [ PDF (42KB)]

VanDam, M., Silbert, N. H., & Moeller, M. P. (2011, May). Repetition of words from dense and sparse phonological neighborhoods in children with hearing loss and normal hearing. Poster presented at the 161st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Seattle, WA. Abstract in JASA 129: 2626. Abstract:[ PDF (37KB)] Poster:[ PDF (284KB)]

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2011, April). The role of talk in outcomes of children who are hard of hearing. Poster presented at the Second LENA Users Conference, Denver, CO. [ PDF (846KB) ].

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2011, April). Use of AVA measures with young children who are hard of hearing. Poster presented at the Second LENA Users Conference, Denver, CO. [ PDF (341KB) ].

VanDam, M., McMurray, B., Ambrose, S.E., Moeller, M. P., & Tomblin, J. B. (2011, April). Auditory Ability and Language Development: Quantitative Assessments of Input, Output, and Outcomes in Hard-of-Hearing Children. Talk presented at the 2011 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

VanDam, M., Moeller, M. P., & Tomblin, B. (2010, November). Analyses of fundamental frequency in infants and preschoolers with hearing loss. Poster presented at the 160th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. [ PDF (632KB) ]. Abstract in JASA 128(4:2): 2459 [ PDF (44KB)]

VanDam, M., Ide-Helvie, D., & Moeller, M. P. (2010, November). Duration of point vowels in four- and five year olds with hearing aids and cochlear implants. Talk presented at the 160th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Abstract in JASA 128(4:2): 2426 [ PDF (42KB)]

Ambrose, S. E., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2010, November). The role of talk in outcomes for children with hearing loss. Roundtable discussion: LENA technology: Expand research and clinical application in child language, Philadelphia, PA. [Preconference meeting prior to 2010 ASHA meeting.] [ PDF (424KB)]

VanDam, M. (2010, April). Speech development of children with hearing loss from whole-day recordings. Invited Presentation to the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

VanDam, M. (2010, April). Using LENA to examine development of children with hearing loss. Poster presented at the First LENA Users Conference, Denver, CO. [ PDF (119KB) ].

VanDam, M., & Silbert, N. (2010, April). A Bayesian model of voice-onset time production. Poster presented at the 159th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Baltimore, MD. [ PDF (144KB) ]. Abstract in JASA 126(4:2): 2182 [ PDF (44KB)]

VanDam, M. (2010, April). Prosody of children with mild to severe hearing loss. Talk presented at the International Child Phonology Conference, Memphis, TN. [ PDF (719KB) ].

Smith, N. A., VanDam, M., & Moeller, M. P. (2009, October). Gaze distribution patters for audiovisual speech stimuli in preschool children without hearing loss. Poster presented at the 158th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, San Antonio, TX. [ PDF (340KB) ]. Abstract in JASA 126(4:2): 2300-2301 [ PDF (56KB)]

VanDam, M., Silbert, N. H., & Port, R. F. (2009, October). Fine-grained control of VOT production, lexical usage-frequency, and phrasal context. Poster presented at the 158th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, San Antonio, TX. [ PDF (162KB) ]. Abstract in JASA 126(4:2): 2182 [ PDF (43KB)]

VanDam, M. (2009, July). Word learning and fine phonetic detail in the linguistic development of hearing impaired children. Invited talk presented at the BTNRH/CU-KUMC-IOWA Auditory Research Conference, Omaha, NE.

Smith, N., & VanDam, M. (2009, July). Development of visual fixation patterns for audiovisual speech. Invited talk presented at the BTNRH/CU-KUMC-IOWA Auditory Research Conference, Omaha, NE.

VanDam, M. (2009, June). Vowel duration in hearing impaired children at four- and five-years old. Invited talk presented at the University of Louisville Summer Linguistics Lecture Series, Louisville, KY.

VanDam, M., & Port, R. F. (2009). Phonetic experience with specific words affects categorical perception of those words. Poster presented at the 157th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Portland, OR. [ PDF (<1MB) ]. Abstract in JASA 125(4): 2655 [ PDF ]

VanDam, M. (2009, March). Development of linguistic duration in hearing impaired children. Invited talk presented at the University of Iowa, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Iowa City, IA. [ PDF (1.4MB) ]

VanDam, M., Smith, N. A., Ide Helvie, D., & Moeller, M. P. (2008, November). Development of temporal and spectral characteristics in the speech of hearing impaired children. Poster presented at the 156th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Miami, FL. [ PDF (<1MB) ] Abstract in JASA 124(4): 2555 [ PDF (<1MB) ]

VanDam, M., Ide-Helvie, D., Smith, N. A., & Moeller, M. P. (2008, June). Early identification of hearing loss improves temporal properties of children's speech. Poster presented at the 2008 Child Phonology Conference, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. [ PDF (9MB) ]

VanDam, M. (2008, May). Economy and invariance are unjustified assumptions in formal phonology. Talk presented at the Fifth North American Phonology Conference (NAPhC5), Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. [ PDF ]

VanDam, M. (2007). Plasticity of Phonological Categories. Unpublished Indiana University doctoral dissertation. [ PDF ] [ ABSTRACT ] from The LINGUIST List

VanDam, M. (2006, January). Acoustic measurement of temporal characteristics of American English speech. Invited talk, Department of Modern Languages, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN.

VanDam, M & Port, R. F. (2005). VOT is shorter in high frequency words. Poster presented at the 149th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Vancouver, BC, Canada. [ PDF ] [ PPT ] Abstract in JASA 117(4): 2623 [ PDF ].

VanDam, M. (2004). Word final coda typology. Journal of Universal Language 5(1): 119-148. [ preprint PDF, photocopied PDF ]

VanDam, M. (2004). Review: Kreidler. (2004). The Pronunciation of English: A Course Book, Second Edition. The Linguist List, available at www.linguistlist.org or Here .

VanDam, M. (2003). Voice onset time of American English stops with prosodic correlates. Poster presented at the 145th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Nashville, TN. [ PDF ] Abstract in JASA 113(4): 2328 [ PDF ]

VanDam, M. (2003). On the phonological structure of /i/-suffixed English nicknames. In Stephen Grimes and Ken deJong (eds.) IULC Working Papers Online, Vol 3 (2003), article 03-01: 1-30. [ PDF ]

Research Interests

I am interested in how experience and use of speech affect language development in children with hearing loss.

More broadly, my expertise lies in phonetics, speech production and perception, phonology, linguistic theory, language development, childhood deafness, and quantitative design/methods.

Courses Taught

Washington State Univeristy and Eastern Washington University: Research Methods (graduate), Speech Science (undergraduate)
Metropolitan Community College (Omaha, NE): English Composition
Indiana University: Language and Religion [HTML], Introduction to the Study of Language [link], Freedom of Speech in the US [PDF]
University of Wisconsin-Madison: English Phonology [ PDF ], English Language Variation in the US [ PDF ]

Miscellaneous other things

Developmental Reading Group (Boys Town)

Here is an unordered list of courses I've learned from as a student. Some are from Indiana University, the Linguistic Society of America's Summer Institute (at Michigan State University), and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

See some Pics, or click the mug at the top.

See some pics of Auggie May or Annie.

Project SoO, which is no longer updated because we moved.