Honors Program Theses

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Honors Program Thesis (UNI Access Only)

First Advisor

Evette Edmister

Abstract

Purpose: The study explored how high-tech augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) displays can be designed to reflect dialectal differences among Spanish-speaking users. This project began with a literature review comparing the Spanish-dialects of Guatemala and Mexico and highlighting why dialectal representation within AAC systems is important. Building on the findings of the literature review, an existing activity from a larger resource created to support families, friends, and caregivers’ ability to teach the use of AAC was translated and adapted to represent linguistic and cultural norms relating to the dialects of Guatemalan Spanish and Mexican Spanish.

Results: During the course of this project, educational family activities were translated into two different dialects of Spanish: Guatemalan and Mexican. It was found that there nine vocabulary differences and one tense difference between the two dialects when translating the activities. TD Snap offered a preset United States Spanish vocabulary file that needed minimal edits to be compatible with the translated activities. TD Snap did not offer the option to include the second person singular conjugation commonly used in some dialects of Spanish: voseo.

Discussion: As the field of AAC continues to advance, there are many considerations when working with multilingual and multicultural populations. Dialectal variation plays a role in designing and personalizing AAC systems. Future research should expand to additional dialects, AAC platforms, and application of adapted materials into intervention processes.

Year of Submission

2026

Department

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Date Original

2026

Object Description

1 PDF file (42 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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