A study of English and Spanish signing for Texas border towns

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to identify English-phics. legend signs which have a low comprehension level among native Spanish-speaking drivers in Texas border areas and to develop and evaluate alternative Spanish and English legends for each sign. To accomplish these objectives, passenger car driver and truck driver surveys were conducted at selected international bridge crossings along the Texas-Mexico border. Researchers showed drivers a set of standard or alternative highway signs and asked what they thought each sign meant. Comparisons were then made between the comprehension level (the percentage of correct responses) of the standard sign and the comprehension level of each alternative. With respect to the signs tested in the passenger car driver survey, none of the alternatives to the STOP FOR SCHOOL BUS LOADING OR UNLOADING standard sign proved to be better than the standard sign. In contrast, all three of the alternatives to the FASTEN SAFETY BELTS-STATE LAW standard sign were statistically significantly better than the standard sign. Of these, the PONGASE EL CINTURON DE SEGURIDAD-LEY ESTATAL legend is recommended for use in the Texas border area. For the RIGHT LANEENDS standard sign, none of the alternatives showed a statistically significant improvement in comprehension among border drivers. For the signs evaluated in the truck driver survey (the WEIGH STATION-NEXT RIGHT-OPEN standard sign, the WEIGHT LIMIT-10 TONS standard sign, and the LOAD ZONED BRIDGE standard sign), at least one of Spanish-legend alternatives developed for each sign proved to be statistically better than the standard sign. However, none of the alternative legends for any of the signs had comprehension levels high enough to recommend their use.