MINORITY PREDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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Many Def people who live along the US/Mexico border use a mixture of American Sign Language (ASL), Mexican Sign Language (MSL), and spoken English or Spanish for communication. This blend of languages and modalities (referred to as 'language contact' is quite significant in the study of linguistics as it presents clues to the possibilities of natural language. By utilizing syntactic as well as sociolinguistic analyses techniques, the following questions will be addressed: How can the language contact situation of the Deaf community along the US/Mexico border be described? How do current models of codeswitching (the alternating use of two or more languages in a spoken or signed segment) account for this situation? What are the implications of this language contact for communication between Deaf and hearing people? This type of work will assist in addressing the communication issues of Hispanic Deaf people along the border. For example, social services that these individuals utilize (such as interpreting services, medical services, education, etc.) will benefit from a detailed investigation of this language use. Also, this work will add to the research in linguistics addressing the possibilities and limitations of language in general.