Initiatives & Projects

project 12 -- Bimodal lexical access from a cross-linguistic perspective

ILM 3: Bimodal lexical access from a cross-linguistic perspective (Rathmann):

This study replicates ILM 1, but using German and German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, or DGS.) The point of interest is that the relationships between German/DGS are different than between English/ASL. DGS exhibits more homophony than ASL (that is, signs more often have multiple meanings). DGS also relies more on mouthing and less on fingerspelling compared to ASL. In comparing the results of ILM 1 and ILM 2, we are achieving a finer-grained analysis of how deaf bilinguals navigate the difference between visual and aural languages.

Related Initiatives:

Interlanguage Mapping, Bilingualism, and Literacy

The is material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number SBE-0541953. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.