MINORITY PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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Briefly, my interests span the fields of linguistics and anthropology. The link between these areas is my desire to examine the relationship between child language development and language preservation. The reason I am interested in research on this relationship is because it seems to me that a language cannot be preserved without new generations acquiring the language as native speakers. Most research has viewed preservation from a socio-cultural or education perspective, focussing primarily on adult-oriented processes. I propose, however, to approach preservation from this new direction and study language development in children. In particular, I hope to work with a Native American community in an attempt to uncover variables involved in both failed and successful language acquisition.