Biography

• BA in Linguistics at Newcastle University from 2009 – 2012
• MSc in Developmental Linguistics at University of Edinburgh from 2012 – 2013
• MA in Social Research at University of York from 2017-2018
• PhD in Applied Linguistics at University of York from 2018-present

My research focuses on the influence of literacy experience and exposure to written language on phonological development and spoken language processing during second language acquisition. I am particularly interested in the acquisition of new writing systems and first-time literacy in adulthood, with a focus on migration contexts. My research also explores the benefits of mixed methods approaches in the context of psycholinguistics, as well as addressing issues around including underrepresented language learners in research.

I have over ten years’ experience as an English language teacher, where I have gained experience teaching all ages and stages in Spain, the UK and Jordan. I have experience in both Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), the latter of which focused on supporting pre-entry learners with limited or interrupted formal education.  

In addition to my 1+3 ESRC funded PhD position, I was awarded six months of intensive Arabic language training in Jordan and a 3-month UKRI policy internship at the House of Lords Library, UK Parliament.

Research

Visual distinction or distraction: The influence of written input on encoding difficult phonological contrasts for L1 Arabic learners of L2 English 

Research investigating the relationship between orthography and second language (L2) phonology has grown considerably over the past 20 years in both size and complexity (Hayes-Harb & Barrios, 2021). This is unsurprising given the ubiquity of written language as a foundation for adult language acquisition. However, only a few studies have explored the influence of L2 written input across writing systems (Han & Kim, 2017; Hayes-Harb & Cheng, 2016; Showalter & Hayes-Harb, 2013), and participants are rarely invited to reflect on the way written input influences their acquisition of the phonological form of new words. The present study seeks to investigate the extent to which different forms of written input influences the lexical encoding of difficult L2 phonological contrasts by Adult L1 Arabic-speakers during novel word learning.

Supervisor(s)

Prof. Leah Roberts and Prof. Sam Hellmuth

Publications

Shepperd, L, Wall, T. & Dalderop, K. (2023, March 1) Presenting the new, crowdsourced LESLLA research database [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.leslla.org/blog/2023/3/1/new-blog-presenting-the-new-crowdsourced-database

Shepperd, L. (2022). Including underrepresented language learners in SLA research: A case study and considerations for internet-based methods. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 100031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2022.100031.

Shepperd, L. (2021). House of Lords Library: Louise Shepperd. UK Parliament. https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/authors/louise-shepperd/

Presentation

‘Visual distinction or distraction: The influence of written input on learning difficult sounds for adult L1 Arabic learners of L2 English’, Multilingual Education: Creating effective learning environments, 3 February 2023, Benghazi University, Libya. (Webinar) 

‘Visual distinction or distraction: Lexically encoding difficult L2 phonological contrasts with orthographic input’, Psycholinguistics@York, 1 November 2022, University of York. (Oral presentation)

‘Understanding and applying concepts of vulnerability in research’, Education Research Group, 21 October 2022, University of York. (Webinar)

‘Influence of written input on lexical encoding of phonological contrasts: L1 Arabic learners of L2 English’, Architectures and Mechanisms of Language Processing (AMLaP), 7-9 September 2022, York. (Poster)

‘Opportunities and barriers when including underrepresented groups in online psycholinguistic research’, British Association of Applied Linguists (BAAL), 1-3 September 2022, Belfast. (Oral presentation)

‘Ode to Code: An autoethnographic poetic exploration of L2 literacy acquisition’, Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA), 4-6 September 2018, Palermo. (Oral presentation)

‘Influence of orthographic input on phonological representations of nonnative nonassimilable contrasts: Adult L1 English speakers’ acquisition of Zulu click consonants’, European Second Language Association (EuroSLA), 3-6 September 2014, York; and Olomouc Linguistics Colloquium (Olinco), 5-7 June 2014, Olomouc. (Oral presentation)

Teaching experience

Associate Lecturer (Leeds Beckett University, 2021-present)

Educational Psychology BA module: Understanding Research

Graduate Teaching Assistant (University of York, 2018-present)

Linguistics BA module: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology

Psychology in Education MSc module: Research Methods for Psychology in Education

Module Convenor (University of York, 2020)

Linguistics BA module: Teaching English as a Foreign Language 1

Departmental roles

Ethics Committee PGR Student Representative from 2021 to present