My primary research interest has been directed broadly at signed language linguistics in both theoretical and applied frameworks. I am currently engaged in research on metonymy and metaphorical mapping in American Sign Language, determining what constitutes a metaphor in visual/gestural languages and establishing a basic standard for studying and analyzing signed language metaphors. My dissertation on this topic was passed with distinction. Gallaudet University Press published my book, Metaphor In American Sign Language (2000). Two papers, "Gestural Expression of Modals in American Sign Language" and "Deontic and Epistemic Modals in ASL: A Discourse Analysis," have been published in edited volumes. Another, "GIVE: Acts of Giving in American Sign Language," appeared in the 1998 publication of a Johns Benjamins volume, The Linguistics of Giving. In the applied arena, my book (with S. Wilcox), Learning To See, American Sign Language as a Second Language, has been revised for broader distribution under Gallaudet University Press.

I also recently served as Principal Investigator for a $123,453 National Science Foundation award, "Linguistic Training of Signed Language Interpreters." Another interest is in grammaticization and how this evolution of grammar can be applied to the study of ASL. I am extending my initial research on langue des signes-Francoise (French Sign Language) to look for evidence of unidirectionality in the grammatical and phonological change that accompanies signed language grammaticization, specifically in the area of dynamic (movement) verbs in ASL. My work in this area was presentated at the 1997 International Cognitive Linguistic Association Conference in Amsterdam, and the Istituto di Psicologia in Rome, Italy, in the summer of 1998. My most recent data corpus was collected in Tunisia, Africa, where I also presented a paper at the International Conference on Researching and Applying Metaphors. Other areas of research interest include teaching ASL as a second language; the cognitive processes involved in simultaneous interpretation; translation of ASL into English and vice versa; and transliteration (spoken English to signed English) of the interpreted message.

My earlier teaching interests focused primarily on ASL and interpreter education. More recently I have become interested in teaching the semantics of ASL. I developed the curriculum for and team-taught the course, "Metaphors in Signed and Spoken Languages," with Eve Sweetser (University of California, Berkeley) during the 1995 Linguistics Institute at UNM. I was consulted by CHAO (Coalition for Health, Advocacy, and Outreach) for the development of a spoken language interpreting course for Vietnamese medical interpreters. Teaching comes in many forms and one of the most challenging and enjoyable to me has been the interpreting practicum, which involves intensive one-to-one guidance during the final portion of the major's undergraduate education. Through my years at UNM, I have taught over 180 separate classes, developed many courses, and subsequently supervised over a dozen part-time teachers, ranging from introductory signed language semantics to interpretation. I have also been invited to teach workshops on ASL linguistics and the national certification of deaf interpreters, and have regularly been invited to teach young deaf adolescents in the public schools systems about the responsible use of interpreters. Coordination of the baccalaureate degree program in signed language interpreting since its inception in 1983 has constituted a large portion of my professional focus. Under my direction, the program grew from one faculty member (lecturer) to include three tenured or tenure-track faculty, two full-time lecturers, six part-time faculty members, and three staff positions.

My service interests also involve service to the deaf community at national and local levels. I am certified as an interpreter by the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts and by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and function as an intermediary interpreter in legal situations. I have served RID as chair of their National Review Board (final national grievance review body), have served on state and national committees, and have presented lectures to the organization's membership. In the state chapter I have served as president three times, and have been elected to all administrative positions of that organization. I have been an active member of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT) and served two terms as a regional representative. I was instrumental in implementing Sign Fest, a local annual visual arts performance which offered sell-out performances for fifteen years, and more recently, Vision Day, a day of educational workshops and performances by well-known deaf entertainers. My service to the community has also included arranging hundreds of workshops for the benefit of both the university and community-based interpreters. I serve on local, state, and regional advisory boards which contribute to a better quality of life for citizens of the Deaf Community.