Jill P. Morford Professor (505) 277-7412 (v) (505) 277-6355 (fax) morford@unm.edu

Research Interests

The central focus of my research is to inform our understanding of language acquisition by studying communication in the visual modality. Using the visual modality for one's primary mode of communication is rare among humans. Thus, it is an ideal place to gain insight into the human capacity for language. My research program investigates (1) the effects of language input on the development of language, and (2) the effects of the visual modality on the structure and processing of language. These questions have both theoretical and applied dimensions because I address them within the context of two minority communities: deaf individuals who are signers of American Sign Language (ASL), and hearing individuals with little or no spoken language production experience due to severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI). Individuals with SSPI have typical spoken language comprehension experience, but since they are unable to speak, they use graphic symbol communication systems, called Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for production.

VL2 – NSF Science of Learning Center for Visual Language & Visual Learning

In 2006 a team of researchers from across the U.S. established a collaborative, interdisciplinary research center based at Gallaudet University to investigate language and learning by deaf individuals. VL2 investigates sign language and gesture, on the one hand, and reading, on the other hand. These two types of visual communication are investigated as socio-cultural, behavioral and neuropsychological phenomena. The goal of VL2 is “to gain a greater understanding of the biological, linguistic, cognitive, sociocultural and pedagogical conditions that influence the acquisition of language and knowledge through the visual modality in order to promote optimal practices in education.” VL2 is an exciting place for undergraduate & graduate students, teachers of the deaf, and university faculty to collaborate on a wide range of research projects and consider their practical applications in the classroom.

Selected Publications

Morford, J. P., Wilkinson, E., Villwock, A., Piñar, P. & Kroll, J. F.  (2011).  When deaf signers read English: Do written words activate their sign translations?  Cognition, 118 (2), 286-292.  Read

Sutton, A., Trudeau, N., Morford, J. P., Rios, M. & Poirier, M.-A. (2010). Young children have difficulty constructing and interpreting simple utterances composed of graphic symbols. Journal of Child Language, 37, 1-26. Read

Morford, J. P., Grieve-Smith, A. B., MacFarlane, J., Staley, J. & Waters, G. S. (2008). Effects of language experience on the perception of American Sign Language. Cognition, 109, 41-53. Read

Trudeau, N., Sutton, A., Dagenais, E., de Broeck, S. & Morford, J. P. (2007). Construction of graphic symbol utterances by children, teenagers, and adults: The impact of structure and task demands. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 50, 1314-1329. Read

Adam, M., Iversen, W., Willkinson, E., & Morford, J. P. (2007). Meaning on the one and on the other hand: Iconicity in native vs. foreign signed languages. In E. Tabakowska, C. Ljungberg & O. Fischer (Eds.), Insistent Images, 209-225. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Wilcox, S. & Morford, J. P. (2007). Empirical methods in signed language research. In M. Gonzalez-Marquez, I. Mittelberg, S. Coulson, & M. J. Spivey, (Eds.), Methods in Cognitive Linguistics, 173-202. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Sutton, A., Morford, J. P., & Gallagher, T. M. (2004). Production and comprehension of graphic symbol utterances expressing complex propositions by adults who use augmentative and alternative communication systems, Applied Psycholinguistics, 25 (3), 349-371. Read

Morford, J.P. (2003). Grammatical development in adolescent first language learners. Linguistics, 41 (4), 681-721. Read

Morford, J. P. & MacFarlane, J. (2003). Frequency characteristics of American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies, 3 (2), 213-225. Read

Morford, J. P. (2002). Why does exposure to language matter? In T. Givón & B. Malle (Eds.), The evolution of language from pre-language, pp. 329-341. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Read

Morford, J. P. & Goldin-Meadow, S. From here and now to there and then: The development of displaced reference in homesign and English. Child Development, 68 (3), 420-435, 1997. Read

Books

Chamberlain, C., Morford, J. P. & Mayberry, R. I. (Eds.) (2000). Language acquisition by eye. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

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Courses:

Spring 2012: Introduction to Psychology of Language (LING 367/567 & PSYCH 367)

Fall 2011: Seminar on the acquisition & processing of signed languages (LING 568/PSYCH 568)

Fall 2011: Experimental Psycholinguistics (LING 469/569 & PSYCH 469/569)

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