/ˈmæθjuː ˈpeɪʃəns/ CV

Phonetics · Second language acquisition · Multilingualism

Matthew Patience

I study how people learn a new language, how language learning develops over time, why development varies so much across individuals, and how we can use technology to make language learning more effective.

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Position
Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Spanish, Florida State University
Program
Director, Spanish Basic Language Program
PhD
Hispanic Linguistics, University of Toronto
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My name, [ˈmæθju ˈpʰeɪʃəns], with word and segment tiers. Synthesized for illustration, not recorded.

Research

Three current projects

My research sits where second language acquisition meets psycholinguistics, applied linguistics, and the speech sciences.

Development Abilities & skills Training Pronunciation

Pronunciation Development

How does pronunciation develop, and how can we teach it more effectively?

This research looks at pronunciation from three angles:

  • Development: Spanish pronunciation development over three semesters of study
  • Skills: the roles of cognitive measures, auditory acuity, and speech motor skill, in learners of Spanish and of Hul’q’umi’num’
  • Pronunciation Training: Spanish pronunciation training methods delivered with online asynchronous tools
  • Spanish
  • Hul’q’umi’num’
L1 L2 L3 new language

Multilingual acquisition

How do the languages you already speak shape the next one?

My current project investigates trilingual German–English–Spanish speakers learning an artificial language I created. Earlier work examined how L1 Mandarin–L2 English speakers acquire L3 Spanish and L3 French.

  • German
  • English
  • Spanish
  • Mandarin
  • French
¿Qué hiciste ayer? AI avatar Fui a la playa. Learner

AI and language learning

Can conversation practice with AI conversation agents improve spoken Spanish?

I am studying how conversations with AI agents, which give learners automated feedback, can help students improve their oral production in Spanish.

  • Spanish

Languages in my research

  • EspañolSpanish
  • EnglishEnglish
  • FrançaisFrench
  • 普通话Mandarin
  • DeutschGerman
  • Hul’q’umi’num’Hul’q’umi’num’
  • ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦInuktitut
  • ArtificialA language I created for an acquisition study

Publications

Selected publications

Peer-reviewed work on second and third language speech, cross-linguistic influence, and prosody.

  1. AcceptedApplied Psycholinguistics

    From markedness to motor control: Evaluating articulatory complexity and its relation to articulatory difficulty

    Patience, M.

  2. 2025Second Language Research

    Assessing L1 Mandarin and L2 English influence on the L3 production of French obstruent coda voicing

    Patience, M., Qian, W., & Steele, J. · 42(3), 423–448

  3. 2023Language and Speech

    Relative difficulty in the acquisition of the phonetic parameters of obstruent coda voicing: Evidence from Mandarin-speaking learners of French

    Patience, M., & Steele, J. · 66(3), 625–651

  4. 2022Languages

    The role of task complexity and dominant articulatory routines in the acquisition of L3 Spanish

    Patience, M., & Qian, W. · 7(2), 1–26

  5. 2020Gradus

    The perception and comprehension of L2 English sentence types: Cross-linguistic influence and task effects

    Patience, M., Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. · 5(1), 71–98

  6. 2018Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2018

    Initial prosodic cues in statements vs. questions

    Patience, M., Marasco, O., Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. · 463–467

All publications (16)

Journal articles

  • AcceptedPatience, M. From markedness to motor control: Evaluating articulatory complexity and its relation to articulatory difficulty. Applied Psycholinguistics.
  • 2025Patience, M., Qian, W., & Steele, J. Assessing L1 Mandarin and L2 English influence on the L3 production of French obstruent coda voicing. Second Language Research, 42(3), 423–448.
  • 2023Patience, M., & Steele, J. Relative difficulty in the acquisition of the phonetic parameters of obstruent coda voicing: Evidence from Mandarin-speaking learners of French. Language and Speech, 66(3), 625–651.
  • 2022Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Patience, M., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. Perception and production of sentence types by Inuktitut-English bilinguals. Languages, 7(3), 1–26.
  • 2022Patience, M., & Qian, W. The role of task complexity and dominant articulatory routines in the acquisition of L3 Spanish. Languages, 7(2), 1–26.
  • 2020Patience, M., Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. The perception and comprehension of L2 English sentence types: Cross-linguistic influence and task effects. Gradus, 5(1), 71–98.
  • 2020Radu, M., Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Patience, M., Pérez-Leroux, A. T., & Tararova, O. The perception and interpretation of sentence types by L1 Spanish–L2 English speakers. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 10(4), 499–529.
  • 2019Patience, M. An analysis of global and local crosslinguistic influence in L1 Mandarin-L2 English learners of L3 Spanish. Estudos da Língua(gem), 17(2), 187–208.
  • 2018Patience, M. Acquisition of the tap-trill contrast by L1 Mandarin-L2 English-L3 Spanish speakers. Languages, 3(4), 1–34.
  • 2018Patience, M. Relative difficulty in the L2 acquisition of the Spanish dorsal fricative. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 2(1), 1–11.

Book chapter

  • 2016Klassen, G., & Patience, M. Stressed clitics in Argentine Spanish: Which way does the clitic lean? In A. Cuza, L. Czerwionka, & D. Olson (Eds.), Inquiries in Hispanic Linguistics: From theory to empirical evidence (pp. 149–170). John Benjamins.

Conference proceedings

  • 2018Patience, M., Marasco, O., Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. Initial prosodic cues in statements vs. questions. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2018, 463–467.
  • 2018Colantoni, L., Johns, A., Klassen, G., Patience, M., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. L1 influence and task effects in the realization of sentence types by Inuktitut-English sequential bilinguals. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2018, 932–936.
  • 2016Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Patience, M., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. Task-effects in the L2 perception and production of English sentence types by L1 Spanish speakers. Proceedings of Speech Prosody 2016, 11–15.
  • 2015Colantoni, L., Klassen, G., Patience, M., Radu, M., & Tararova, O. Increasing context: L2 production of English intonation by L1 Mandarin and L1 Spanish speakers. Proceedings of the 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. University of Glasgow.

Other publications

  • 2013Patience, M. La adquisición de la negación en español por hablantes de inglés y la naturaleza de las gramáticas de interlengua. In D. Rozotto (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Ontario Chapter (pp. 63–82). Lugar Común Editorial.

Teaching and leadership

Leading Spanish language teaching at Florida State

Since 2024 I have directed the Spanish Basic Language Program in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. I design, evaluate, and implement changes to the beginning and intermediate Spanish curriculum, and support the instructors who teach it.

I also supervise graduate students and mentor undergraduate research assistants on my projects.

1,300students in the program each semester
25teaching faculty and graduate student instructors

Recent courses

  • Introduction to Language, Language Learning, and Language InstructionGraduate
  • Acquisition of Spanish PhonologyGraduate
  • SociolinguisticsUndergraduate
  • The Science of Speech: Experimental Approaches to Production and PerceptionUndergraduate

I also previously taught a range of linguistics and Spanish courses at the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University, Brock University, and the University of Toronto, including Acoustic Phonetics, Physiology of Speech Production, and Contrastive Linguistics.

Talks

Recent conference presentations

  1. Sep 2026 Poznań, Poland

    An investigation of phonological crosslinguistic influence in bilingual and trilingual learners of an artificial language14th International Conference on Third Language Acquisition and Multilingualism

  2. Jan 2026 Reading, UK

    Evaluating L1 German and L2 English influence in the acquisition of L3 Spanish consonantsV Bilingualism in the Hispanic and Lusophone World Conference

  3. Oct 2025 Madrid, Spain

    Examining phonological transfer at the initial state of learning an artificial languageL3 Workshop, 9th Workshop on Multilingual Acquisition, Processing, and Use

  4. Apr 2025 Toronto, Canada

    Examining initial state transfer: Evidence from L1 German–L2 English–L3 Spanish speakers learning an artificial languageNew Sounds 2025

    The role of underlying articulatory and perceptual skills in the acquisition of Hul’q’umi’num’ pronunciationNew Sounds 2025, with S. Bird

  5. Sep 2024 Tartu, Estonia

    Evaluating the effectiveness of asynchronous online pronunciation training in SpanishInternational Symposium on Applied Phonetics (ISAPh 2024), with S. Bird

The full list of presentations and invited talks is in my CV.

Academic Background

From Toronto to Tallahassee

  1. 2012 · 2022 Toronto

    MA and PhD in Hispanic Linguistics, University of Toronto. Dissertation: Articulatory Difficulty in L2 Spanish.

  2. 2022–2023 Victoria

    Assistant Professor (Limited Term) and SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Victoria.

  3. 2024 Münster

    Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Department of English, University of Münster.

  4. 2024–present Tallahassee

    Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Spanish, Florida State University.

Selected Fellowships and awards

  • 2024Alexander von Humboldt Research FellowshipAlexander von Humboldt Foundation
  • 2022–2023Postdoctoral FellowshipSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • 2025First Year Assistant Professor GrantFlorida State University
  • 2014–2017Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate ScholarshipSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • 2022Student Achievement AwardCanadian Linguistic Association
  • 2015Early Career Research AwardInternational Symposium on Monolingual and Bilingual Speech, University of Crete