About

Carmen Marta Silva-Corvalan

Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and Linguistics

Contact Information
E-mail: csilva@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-0960
Office: THH 156G

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae
 

Education
B.A. English Language and Literature, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 1/1970
M.A. Education, University of London, England, 1/1973
M.A. Linguistics, University of California - Los Angeles, 1/1977
Ph.D. Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1/1979
 

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History
Professor of Spanish, Linguistics (joint appointment), University of Southern California, 01/01/1992-  
Chair, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Southern California, 01/01/1999-01/01/2002  
Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, 01/01/1995-01/01/2000  
Associate Professor of Spanish, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Southern California, 01/01/1984-01/01/1992  
Assistant Professor of Spanish, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Southern California, 01/01/1979-01/01/1984  
Associate Professor of Linguistics, Departamento de Linguistica, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 01/01/1978-01/01/1979  
Associate Professor of English, Departamento de Lenguas Modernas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 01/01/1973-01/01/1978  
Assistant Professor of English, Departamento de Lengas Modernas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, 01/01/1970-01/01/1973  
 

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests
Professor Silva-Corvalan researches the interplay of social and linguistic forces motivating language variation and change in monolingual situations. She explores the constraints which condition syntactic variation in Spanish and other Romance languages and the issue of language permeability in situations of societal bilingualism. She is currently researching the acquisition of two and three languages from birth by children living in Los Angeles.
 

Research Keywords
Romance languages, Spanish, societal bilingualism, Los Angeles, variation theory, bilingual acquisition, sociolinguistics
 

Research Specialties
(Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1979) Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, and Professor of Linguistics: language variation and change in monolingual situations; syntactic variation in Spanish and other Romance languages; language change in situations of societal bilingualism; Spanish language in the U.S.A.; acquisition of two and three languages from birth.
 

Funded Research

Contracts and Grants Awarded
English-Spanish Bilingual Development (Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Bangor Univer), Carmen Silva-Corvalán, $6,100, Spring 2009   
 

USC Funding
USC Office of Undergraduate Programs. The Simultaneous Acquisition of English and Spanish from Birth.: This research examines key aspects of the emerging grammars of two Spanish-English bilingual siblings. It focuses on the acquisition of major arguments and of copulative verbs (be, ser, estar)., $5,000, 2008-2009   
 

Affiliations with Research Centers, Labs, and Other Institutions
ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Bangor University, Wales., Research Associate,http://www.bilingualism.bangor.ac.uk
 

Conferences and Other Presentations

Conference Presentations
"Early Spanish-English bilingualism: Theoretical issues, empirical analyses.", Linguistic Asso. of the Southwest 36th Annual Meeting, Keynote Lecture, Paper, University of Colorado, Denver, University of Colorado, Denver, and LASSO., Invited, 2007-2008   
"Lenguas en contacto: los límites de la convergencia gramatical.", Coloquio Internacional In Memoriam Manuel Alvar, Keynote Lecture, Paper, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain, Invited, 2007-2008   
"Spanish language and culture in the USA: Current situation and future perspectives.", III Seminar on International Spanish Academies, Keynote Lecture, Abstract, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, Ministry of Education, Spain (Los Angeles Office), Invited, 2007-2008   
 

Publications

Book Chapter
Silva-Corvalan, C., Sánchez, N. (2007). "Subjects in early dual language development: a case study of a Spanish-English bilingual child.". pp. 3-22.. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Silva-Corvalan, C. M. (2007). "Aspectos del desarrollo bilingüe español-inglés de niños en edad preescolar". In Haciendo lingüística. pp. 325-336. Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
 

Encyclopedia Article
Silva-Corvalan, C., Lynch, A. (2008). Bilingüismo. In: Enciclopedia del español en los Estados Unidos. (Humberto López Morales, Ed.). 251-272.. Madrid, Spain: Santillana.
Silva-Corvalan, C., Potowski, K. (2008). La alternancia de códigos. In: Enciclopedia del español en los Estados Unidos. (Humberto López Morales, Ed.). 272-276. Madrid, Spain: Santillana.
Silva-Corvalan, C., MacGregor, P. (2008). Creencias y actitudes. In: Enciclopedia del español en los Estados Unidos. (Humberto López Morales, Ed.). 276-283. Madrid, Spain: Santillana.
 

Journal Article
Silva-Corvalan, C., Montanari, S. (2008). "The acquisition of ser, estar (and be) by a Spanish-English bilingual child: The early stages.". Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. Vol. 11 (3), pp. 341-360.
Silva-Corvalan, C. (2008). The limits of convergence in language contact. Journal of Language Contact. (Thema 2), pp. 213-224.
Silva-Corvalan, C. (2008). "The limits of convergence in language contact". Journal of Language Contact. Vol. Thema (2), pp. 213-224.
Silva-Corvalan, C. (2007). "Early Spanish-English bilingualism: Theoretical issues, empirical analyses.". Southwest Journal of Linguistics. Vol. 26 (2), pp. 1-19.
 

Honors and Awards
Treasurer, Latin America Linguistic Association, 1987-1999  
USC Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, for my book Language Contact and Change, 1995  
National Science Foundation Grant, 1988-1990  
Joint Committee for Education and Cultural Cooperation Between Spain and the USA - Grant, 1988-1989  
National Science Foundation Research Grant, 1983-1985  
 

Service to the Profession

Editorships and Editorial Boards
Co-editor, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition (Cambridge Univ. Press), 01/01/2005-  
Member of Board of editors, Estudios de Sociolionguistica, 08/01/2004-  
Member of Board of Editors, Documentos de Espanol Actual, 2004-  
Member of the Board of Editors, Spanish in Context, 2001-  
Member of Board of Editors, Moenia. Revista Lucense de Linguistica y Literatura, 2000-  
Member of Board of Editors, Oralia, 1999-  
Member of Board of Editors, R.L.A. (Revista de Linguistica Teorica y Aplicada), 1996-  
Member of the Board of Editors, Language in Society, 1995-  
Member of the Board of Editors, Probus, 1992-  
Associate Editor, Lingüística, 1990-2004  
Member of the Board of Editors, Studies in Language, 1997  
 

Professional Memberships
Linguistic Association of the South West, 1991-  
Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de América Latina, 1981-  
American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, 1979-  
Linguistic Society of America, 1979-  
British Council Scholars' Association, 1973-  
 
 
Faculty may update their profile by visiting https://myusccollege.usc.edu.