Seth Wiener
Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition and Chinese Studies
Director of Graduate Studies
- POS 341L
- 412-268-5279
Department of Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
4980 Margaret Morrison St
Posner Hall 341
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Education
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
M.A., The Ohio State University
B.A., Boston University
Bio
Seth Wiener grew up in small Indiana and Ohio towns, and by kindergarten, he knew that he would become an astronaut. By high school, his goal evolved to programmer–astronaut. So in his first semester of college, he took an astronomy class, a programming class, a calculus class and a Chinese language class. His plan held until two years later, when he studied abroad in China and saw the stars from Inner Mongolia. His time in China completely changed his life, and from that moment on, Dr. Wiener knew that he wanted to study languages and linguistics.
He ended up spending several years in mainland China and Taiwan and traveling throughout Asia. He returned to The Ohio State University to get his Ph.D. with the hope to one day inspire other students in the same way that his teachers inspired him. In graduate school, Dr. Wiener trained in linguistic theory, East Asian languages, psycholinguistic methods, and data analysis and statistics.
In 2015, Dr. Wiener moved to Pittsburgh and established the Language Acquisition, Processing and Pedagogy (LAPP) Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, in which graduate and undergraduate students help carry out experimental linguistics research. The LAPP Lab also aims to develop real-world pedagogical innovations for language instructors and learners. At CMU, Dr. Wiener teaches a variety of courses on second language acquisition, Chinese language and research methods. Despite all this, he still has not heard from NASA.
Areas of Interest
- Second language acquisition
- Psycholinguistics
- Speech perception and production
- Chinese linguistics
- Data analysis and visualization
Courses Taught
- 82-888/82-387 Introduction to Linguistic Data Analysis Using R
- 82-286 'Crazy' Linguistically Rich Asian Languages
- 82-888/82-388 Second Language Speech
- 99-520 Experiential Learning through Projects: Language in the time of COVID-19
Selected Awards & Honors
- Simon Initiative Seed Grant, Carnegie Mellon University
- Innovative Models for Undergraduate Research Faculty Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University, 2020-21
- National Institutes of Health Research Grant, 2019
- Language Learning Early Career Research Grant, 2019
Selected Community, University & Professional Service
- Academic Review Board, Carnegie Mellon University
- Associate Editor, Applied Psycholinguistics
- Editorial Board Member, Chinese as a Second Language
Selected Publications
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- Bramlett, A. A. & Wiener, S. (In press). The Art of Wrangling: Working with Web-based Visual World Paradigm Eye-tracking Data in Language Research. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism.
Bramlett, A. A., & Wiener, S. (2025). Individual differences modulate prediction of Italian words based on lexical stress: a close replication and LASSO extension of Sulpizio and McQueen (2012). Journal of Cultural Cognitive Science, 9, 55–81. - Brown, B., Tusmagambet, B., Rahming, V., Tu, C.-Y., DeSalvo, M. B., & Wiener, S. (2023). Searching for the “native” speaker: A preregistered conceptual replication and extension of Reid, Trofimovich, and O’Brien (2019). Applied Psycholinguistics, 44, 475-494.
- Wang, X., Lee, C.-Y., & Wiener, S. (2023). Non-native disadvantage in spoken word recognition is due to lexical knowledge and not type/level of noise. Speech Communication, 149, 29-37.
- Wiener, S., Murphy, T. K., & Holt, L. L. (In press). Incidental nonspeech auditory learning scaffolds phonetic, category, and word learning in a foreign language classroom. Language Learning.
- Bramlett, A. A. & Wiener, S. (In press). The Art of Wrangling: Working with Web-based Visual World Paradigm Eye-tracking Data in Language Research. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism.