/ˈmæθjuː ˈpeɪʃəns/ CV

Phonetics · Second language speech · Multilingualism

Matthew Patience

I study how people learn to hear and produce the sounds of a new language, and why some learners find it easier than others.

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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
Spectrogram · 0–6000 Hz · wideband Point to a segment to identify it
My name, [ˈmæθju ˈpʰeɪʃəns], with word and segment tiers. Synthesized for illustration, not recorded.

Research

Three questions behind my work

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

Auditory processing Speech motor skill L2 speech

Individual differences

Why do some learners master a new sound system faster than others?

I examine how underlying auditory processing and speech motor skills shape pronunciation learning, and whether learners with different skill profiles benefit from different kinds of training. This includes developing and testing asynchronous online Spanish pronunciation training.

  • 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 follows trilingual German–English–Spanish speakers as they learn 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
Vocabulary Pronunciation Sem 1 Sem 2 Sem 3

Longitudinal development

How do vocabulary and pronunciation grow during the first semesters of study?

A study tracking vocabulary size and pronunciation across three semesters of Spanish, and the roles of working memory, inhibitory control, and other learner factors.

  • Spanish

Languages in my research

  • EspañolSpanish
  • EnglishEnglish
  • FrançaisFrench
  • 普通话Mandarin
  • DeutschGerman
  • Hul’q’umi’num’Coast Salish
  • ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᑦInuktitut
  • ArtificialA language I created for a learning study

Publications

Selected publications

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

  1. 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. · Advance online publication

  2. 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

  3. 2022Languages

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

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

  4. 2018Journal of the European Second Language Association

    Relative difficulty in the L2 acquisition of the Spanish dorsal fricative

    Patience, M. · 2(1), 1–11

All publications (15)

Journal articles

  • 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. Advance online publication.
  • 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 and teaching assistants who teach it.

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

1,500students in the program each semester
28instructors and teaching assistants

Courses at Florida State

  • Introduction to Language, Language Learning, and Language InstructionGraduate
  • Acquisition of Spanish PhonologyGraduate
  • SociolinguisticsUndergraduate

Previously taught 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 presentations

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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.

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 · 2025 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.

Fellowships and awards

  • 2024, 2025Alexander 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
  • 2014–2019Junior FellowMassey College, University of Toronto