Amelia Becker
Postdoctoral Associate
Dr. Amelia Becker is a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her research focuses on the linguistics of American Sign Language, with a particular interest in phonetics, phonology, iconicity, and how these properties interact with one another. She is currently studying how deaf children with hearing, nonsigning caregivers learn American Sign Language signs.
Dr. Becker’s experience includes teaching linguistics courses at Princeton, Georgetown, and Gallaudet Universities, as well as an industry internship in AI translation between American Sign Language and English. She has also contributed to ASL Signbank, an online database developed to support research on American Sign Language in various fields.
pronouns: she/her
Recent News
Education
PhD, Linguistics, Georgetown University
MA, Linguistics, Gallaudet University
BA, Linguistics and English Literature, William & Mary
Selected Presentations
Becker, A. (2025, January). Mechanisms of early vocabulary acquisition under variability [Paper presentation]. Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Becker, A., Baese-Berk, M., Sehyr, Z., & Caselli, N. (2024, November). Automated measurement of centralization in sign language [Poster presentation]. Psychonomic Society 65th Annual Meeting, New York, NY.