Speech-Language Pathology
Contact Information
- COMPASS Lab: slpresearch@steu.edu
- Dr. Isabelle Barriere: ibarriere@steu.edu
- Dr. Mengyang Qiu: mqiu@steu.edu
- Dr. Kim Sabourin: ksabourin@steu.edu
- Dr. Siena Sun: ssun@steu.edu
COMPASS Lab
Communication, Optimization, Multilingualism, Patient Education, AI & Speech Science
The COMPASS Lab brings together research in speech-language pathology, language and cognitive sciences, and artificial intelligence to better understand human communication and improve educational and clinical practices.
Our research spans multilingualism and language development, speech and swallowing disorders, semantic memory and cognitive aging, clinical education, and applications of AI in language assessment and healthcare. We combine theoretical, experimental, computational, and clinical approaches to address questions about communication across the lifespan.
The lab is a collaborative effort among Dr. Kim Sabourin, Dr. Isabelle Barrière, Dr. Siena Sun, and Dr. Mengyang Qiu. Together, we aim to connect research with clinical practice and education, with an emphasis on culturally responsive, evidence-based approaches that serve individuals and families from diverse backgrounds.
Research Areas
Language, Cognition, and Development
- Theoretical and Cross-Linguistic Approaches to Language Acquisition, Processing, and Representation (Dr. Isabelle Barrière)
- Multilingualism, Multidialectalism, and Cultural Responsiveness (Dr. Isabelle Barrière)
- History of Cognitive Science and Communication Sciences and Disorders (Dr. Isabelle Barrière)
- Semantic Memory Organization and Retrieval Across Aging (Dr. Mengyang Qiu)
- Cognitive Modeling and Human–AI Alignment (Dr. Mengyang Qiu)
Clinical Research and Practice
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Speech Sound, Feeding, and Swallowing Disorders (Dr. Siena Sun)
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Stuttering and Other Fluency Disorders (Dr. Kim Sabourin)
- Family-Centered Care, Mentorship, and Translational Research (Dr. Kim Sabourin and Dr. Siena Sun)
Artificial Intelligence and Computational Applications
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Natural Language Processing for Language Assessment (Dr. Mengyang Qiu)
- AI-Enhanced Education and Clinical Practice (Dr. Siena Sun and Dr. Mengyang Qiu)
Publications and Presentations
Underlined names indicate students from our program.
- Park, J., & Qiu, M. (2027). Chinese grammatical error correction: A methodological guide to datasets, taxonomy, evaluation, and systems. Springer.
- Barrière, I., Nissenbaum, J., & Lafontant, M. (2026). Reciprocal empowerment to re-humanize language sciences: The first two cycles of the NSF-REU Intersection of Linguistics, Language and Culture. Perspectives on Undergraduate Research & Mentoring, 14(2), 1–12.
- Guo, Y., Guo, M., Su, J., Yang, Z., Zhu, M., Li, H., Qiu, M., & Liu, S. S. (2026). Bias in large language models: Origin, evaluation, and mitigation. Electronics, 15(9), Article 1824.
- Lakshmanan, U., & Barrière, I. (2026). Editorial: Acquisition, processing, and maintenance of a new language: Crosslinguistic perspectives on sequential bi/multilingualism. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 20, Article 1964936.
- Manes, J. L., Rohl, A. H., Qiu, M., Stipancic, K. L., Corcos, D. M., Patterson, C. G., Greenlee, J. D. W., & Tjaden, K. (2026). Paired-comparison versus cross-sectional approaches for assessing longitudinal speech change in Parkinson's disease following deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 35(5), 2243-2261.
- Qiu, M., Brisebois, Z., & Sun, S. (2026). Can LLMs simulate human behavioral variability? A case study in the phonemic fluency task. Proceedings of the 15th Workshop on Cognitive Modeling and Computational Linguistics, 250–263.
- Qiu, M., Wang, I. X., Nguyen, T. M., Huang, Z., Gu, Y., Gao, Q., Li, Z., Liu, S., & Park, J. (2026). Automated writing evaluation with corrective feedback. Proceedings of the 2026 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Education (ICAIE), 142-146.
- Mehl, T., MacRoy-Higgins, M., Shafer, V. & Barrière, I. (2026, November). Directives in the Maternal Input to Children with Typical and Delayed Language Development. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Indianapolis, IN.
- Sun, S., Qiu, M., & NassrElgrgawi, S. (2026, November). A network-based landscape review of the application of artificial intelligence in speech sound disorders. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Virtual.
- Sun, S., Qiu, M., Sabourin, K., & Azevedo, R. (2026, November). AI-enhanced asynchronous instruction in undergraduate CSD education: A pilot study. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Virtual.
- Kezerian, W., Jeannot-Fourcaud, B., Barrière, I., & Govain, R. (2026, October). Complementizer kè Variation in Guadeloupean Creole: Experimental Judgments and Spontaneous Speech. 17th International Colloquium of Creole Studies, Université des Antilles, Faculté Jean Bernabé, Schœlcher, Fort-de-France, Martinique.
- Kezerian, W., Jeannot-Fourcaud, B., Barrière, I., & Govain, R. (2026, October). Complementizer Variation in Guadeloupean Creole: An Empirical and Experimental Approach. 54th New Ways of Analyzing Variation (NWAV 54), Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
- Qiu, M., Sun, S., & NassrElgrgawi, S. (2026, May). Bridging disciplines in AI for aphasia research: A network analysis of publication abstracts across CS and non-CS venues. 55th Clinical Aphasiology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
- NassrElgrgawi, S. (2026, April). Is AI ready for SLP? SEU Interdisciplinary Research Symposium, Morristown, NJ.
- Sun, S., Qiu, M., & NassrElgrgawi, S. (2026, April). How is AI being used across communication disorders? A review of the research. Annual Convention of the New Jersey Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Iselin, NJ.
- Kezerian, W., Jeannot-Fourcaud, B., Barrière, I., & Govain, R. (2026, January). Relative Attachment: Long-distance PP adjunct attachment in Guadeloupean Creole. Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics Winter Meeting 2026, in conjunction with the Linguistic Society of America 2026 Winter Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
- Mehl, T., MacRoy-Higgins, M., Shafer, V. & Barrière, I. (2025, November). Morphology in the Input to Late-Talking Toddlers. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, D.C.
- Kezerian, W., Tselioudis, V., Jeannot-Fourcaud, B., Barrière, I., & Govain, R. (2025, September). The role of kè in Guadeloupean Creole complementation: A comparative syntactic analysis. Syntax of the World's Languages X, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.