Note from the Editor-in-Chief

For the 2024 issue of The Spoken Word

This is our ninth issue of The Spoken Word—a number that I could not have conceived of when I first launched this modest research digest in the fall of 2018. Sadly, this is also the final issue that I will be Editor-in-Chief for. Although I will miss it immensely, I am also incredibly proud to pass the baton over to Portia Washington, who I know will steer The Spoken Word into new heights.

The Spoken Word was born out of a simple realization—people are curious about language science. The vast majority of the people that participate in research experiments want to know why we study what we do, what we want to find out, and the final results. Their curiosity is often one of the strongest motivating factors in why they choose to donate their time and gracefully suffer through the boredom and repetition of most of our experiments. Researchers, then, need to meet that curiosity and return what we’ve learned to the people that were indispensable in learning it. Without our participants, we would know very little about the mind and brain. The Spoken Word seeks to bridge the gap between research and all the curious folks out there that want to know more about language, speech, aphasia, and the rest of the kitchen sink.

All of the articles in The Spoken Word are written by a passionate group of undergraduate research assistants who are eager to tackle complex topics in the field of speech, language, and hearing science. For example, this issue has an article about representation in research and how science still has work to do to include everyone’s voices. We also have multiple articles on how to support people living with aphasia with specific focus on the experiences of caregivers—an often-neglected group of people that deserve our attention. Our writers spend a year honing their skills and drafting their final articles, and the result of their effort is evident in the quality of the work I am proud to deliver to you, our readers. Although I say it every year, this issue is one of our best. I hope you can come away with a new perspective on the intricacies of speech and language, and also know that many people care about helping people regain language after it is lost.

We are a community united in a common purpose—to know more about ourselves and work together to support those in need.

Best,

Hannah Mechtenberg, Editor-in-Chief and creator of The Spoken Word