--- title: "Nigel Ward — author profile and papers · Dialogue systems" description: "Nigel Ward, The University of Texas at El Paso: 4 papers on Elamur Research (2000–2026), h-index 22 — affiliations, topics, co-authors and…" canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/" --- [Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/) [home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [authors](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/) / Nigel Ward # Nigel Ward Nigel Ward has 4 papers in our library, in 2000–2026, most of them on [Dialogue systems](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/dialogue-systems/), [English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/), [Speech & spoken language](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/speech/); often with [Oliver Niebuhr](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/oliver-niebuhr/). 4 papers in our library · 2000–2026 [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/A5023755358) · [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8283-6279) · [**h-index 22**](https://openalex.org/authors/A5023755358) · [172 works](https://openalex.org/works?filter=author.id:A5023755358) · [2,139 citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=author.id:A5023755358&sort=cited_by_count:desc) OpenAlex, 2026-10-14 [📄 4 works in our library](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/#papers) · [🔗 Cited 5 times in our library](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/cited-by/) · [2 more in our library without a page yet](#also) · [⭐ Paper Stars ranking: #9502](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/paper-stars/page/96/#star-9502) The profile is the library's match of the name; two people with one name are not always told apart. Elsewhere: [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=search_authors&mauthors=Nigel+Ward) · [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/search?q=Nigel+Ward) · [dblp](https://dblp.org/search?q=Nigel+Ward) · [ACL Anthology](https://aclanthology.org/search/?q=Nigel+Ward) ## Affiliations [🎓**The University of Texas at El Paso** El Paso · United States 2003–2025 · 61 papers*current*](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/the-university-of-texas-at-el-paso/) · [🤝**Association for Computing Machinery** New York · United States 2006–2016 · 26 papers](https://ror.org/03wsadn68) · [🎓**The University of Tokyo** Tokyo · Japan 1992–2007 · 20 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/the-university-of-tokyo/) · [🎓**University of California, Berkeley** Berkeley · United States 1987–1992 · 4 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/university-of-california-berkeley/) · [🎓**The University of Queensland** Brisbane · Australia 2002–2015 · 3 papersEmployment](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/the-university-of-queensland/) · [🎓**Kyoto University** Kyoto · Japan 2016–2017 · 2 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/universities/kyoto-university/) From the bylines of their papers (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14), ORCID and Wikidata; institutions on papers are matched by machine. 5 more institutions on single bylines are not listed. ## Fields, topics and concepts Of its works in our library, with the number of works on each. 📚 Shelves 8 The field of science this work belongs to (OpenAlex fields).[Arts and Humanities · 4 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/) · [Experimental and Cognitive Psychology · 4 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/psychology/experimental-and-cognitive-psychology/) · [Language and Linguistics · 4 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/arts-and-humanities/language-and-linguistics/) · [Psychology · 4 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/psychology/) · [Artificial Intelligence · 2 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/) · [Computer Science · 2 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/) · [Medicine · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/medicine/) · [Physiology · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/medicine/physiology/) 🧭 Topics 3 Research subjects and languages the work is about.[Speech & spoken language · 1 work](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/speech/) · [Dialogue systems · 2 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/dialogue-systems/) · [English · 2 works](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/english/) ## Works by year ### 2020s [**2026** 1 paper](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/year/2026/) · [**2024** 2 papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/year/2024/) ### 2000s [**2000** 1 paper](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/year/2000/) ## Papers The most cited first (OpenAlex and our library). 1. **[Issues in the Transcription of English Conversational Grunts](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2000-issues-transcription-english-conversational-grunts/)** *(2000 · 10 citations)* Short non-lexical sounds such as uh-huh, um, mm and oh turn up constantly in spoken English, yet no transcription convention captures them both reliably and usefully. 2. **[Which Prosodic Features Matter Most for Pragmatics?](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2024-which-prosodic-features-matter-most/)** *(2024 · 4 citations)* The paper asks which kinds of prosodic features carry the most pragmatic information in spoken dialog, where pragmatics covers things like enthusiasm, topic shifts, turn yielding and criticism. 3. **[Tools for Estimating the Perceived Level of Phonetic Reduction](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2026-tools-estimating-perceived-level-phonetic/)** *(2026)* Phonetic reduction, meaning less careful articulation, is frequent in casual conversation and helps signal pragmatic functions such as holding the turn or positive assessment. 4. **[Topics in the Study of the Pragmatic Functions of Phonetic Reduction in Dialog](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2024-topics-study-pragmatic-functions-phonetic/)** *(2024)* Speakers in conversation often articulate less carefully, but this phonetic reduction has rarely been studied in dialog, either acoustically or for what it signals. ## All works 6 works of theirs in our library, the most cited first; 4 with a page here, the others link their original until we summarise them. 1. **[Issues in the Transcription of English Conversational Grunts](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2000-issues-transcription-english-conversational-grunts/) [Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue (SIGDIAL)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/sigdial/)**Nigel Ward*2000 · 10 citations* 2. **[Which Prosodic Features Matter Most for Pragmatics?](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2024-which-prosodic-features-matter-most/) [IEEE International Conference on Acoustics Speech and Signal Processing](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/ieee-international-conference-on-acoustics-speech-and-signal-processing/)**Nigel G. Ward, Divette Marco, Olac Fuentes*2024 · 4 citations* 3. **[A Collection of Pragmatic-Similarity Judgments over Spoken Dialog Utterances ↗](https://aclanthology.org/2024.lrec-main.14/) Proceedings of the 2024 Joint International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-COLING 2024) · no summary yet**Nigel Ward, Divette Marco*2024 · 2 citations* 4. **[Tools for Estimating the Perceived Level of Phonetic Reduction](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2026-tools-estimating-perceived-level-phonetic/) [Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lrec/)**Nigel Ward, Javier Vazquez, Emma (Danny) R. Boushka, et al.*2026* 5. **[Spoken language interaction with robots: Recommendations for future research ↗](https://doi.org/10.17615/v2v2-ha84) Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · no summary yet**Raymond J. Mooney et al.*2025* 6. [**Topics in the Study of the Pragmatic Functions of Phonetic Reduction in Dialog arXiv:2405.01376**Nigel G. Ward, Carlos A. Ortega*2024*](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/ward-2024-topics-study-pragmatic-functions-phonetic/) ## Co-authors here 1 co-author with a page, the most papers together first. - [Oliver Niebuhr](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/oliver-niebuhr/) ## Venues Where their works here were published, the most works first, with the editions of those that have a page. - [IEEE International Conference on Acoustics Speech and Signal Processing](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/ieee-international-conference-on-acoustics-speech-and-signal-processing/): [IEEE International Conference on Acoustics Speech and Signal Processing 2024](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/ieee-international-conference-on-acoustics-speech-and-signal-processing/2024/) - [Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lrec/): [LREC 2026](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/lrec/2026/) - [Annual Meeting of the Special Interest Group on Discourse and Dialogue (SIGDIAL)](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/sigdial/): [SIGDIAL 2000](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/sigdial/2000/) - Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) - Proceedings of the 2024 Joint International Conference on Computational Linguistics, Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-COLING 2024) ## Cited by Papers of our library cite their works 5 times (of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read); [3 citing papers with a page here →](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/nigel-ward/cited-by/). Updated 30 October 2026