I am a Professor of Hispanic linguistics in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I am also a faculty affiliate in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and in the Social Justice Initiative.
Since 2009 I've served as Editor of the journal Spanish in Context.
Most broadly, I am interested in the promotion of minority languages and multilingualism (see my TEDx talk), particularly via elementary schooling. My work focuses on Spanish in the United States, including factors that influence intergenerational language transmission, connections between language and identity, and heritage language education. Some of my recent research topics include:
* Language development in dual immersion schools
* Mexican and Puerto Rican Spanish in Chicago, and the language and identity of mixed “Mexi-Rican” individuals
* Teaching heritage languages, particularly Spanish in the U.S.
* Spanish use in Chicago quinceañera celebrations
* The use of “Spanglish” in commercially published greeting cards
Here is a list of my invited (non-conference) presentations and some of my current research projects.
"Soy los dos": Language and identity among "'Mexi-Ricans.' SUNY Stonybrook, April 2016.
Talk delivered at SUNY Stony Brook, April 2016.
Teaching heritage speakers, Ohio State University, 2015
Sociolinguistically informed heritage language teaching: online ACTFL webinar, 2015
This is an online ACTFL webinar I delivered in 2015 about what it means and why it's important to be a sociolinguistically informed teacher of heritage speakers.
"Do you bleed salsa or sofrito?" Inter-Latino language and identity among Mexi-Ricans
I was a Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago during 2012-2013. Here is the paper I delievered.
La enseñanza de la lengua española en los Estados Unidos
The Instituto Cervantes has created a marvellous website where they've uploaded numerous video conferences about various issues related to the teaching of Spanish. My discussion with Dr. Ofelia García about teaching Spanish in the U.S. is available at the link below.