Courses Taught at Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Undergraduate

Acquisition of Languages

This course offers an introduction to the acquisition of languages, first (L1), and second (L2) languages, focusing on the linguistic aspects that characterize their development. The course is divided into two big modules, L1 and L2, with subsections such as bilingual acquisition, as well as application of SLA theories in the classroom. It covers the main theoretical approaches to language acquistion. It requires a small-scale experimental project with real L1 or L2 data from online corpora or your own. 

 

Graduate

Experimental and Observation Techniques, Master of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

This course is an introduction to research design, data handling, and statistics in linguistics projects, with special emphasis on quantitative second language research. We will explore the general concept of research questions, how to formulate hypotheses, and how to design an experiment according to our hypotheses. Data collection, handling, analysis, and interpretation will be covered, as well as an introduction to basic statistical concepts and tests in Excel, JASP and SPSS. It assumes no previous knowledge on statistics. 

 

Courses Taught at Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC-Barcelona)

Undergraduate

General English

The aim of this programme is primarily to provide students with the skills and knowledge to practise and perform the linguistic tasks related to themes and tasks related to the degree programme in English. Emphasis is given to the communicative skills of speaking, listening and writing whilst short texts are also used to deepen their knowledge and understanding of language structures and use of new vocabulary.

Academic English

This course provides students with the lexicon and basic structures in the field of Communication Science.  Emphasis is given to developing academic reading skills within a professional context. Additionally, the course focuses on the linguistic skills of listening and speaking using a communicative approach. Short writing tasks are used to deepen their knowledge and understanding of language structures and use of new vocabulary.

Communication Skills

The aim of this course is primarily to provide students with the skills and knowledge to practice and perform the linguistic tasks related to areas of business in various professional situations and with a multicultural and international scope.

Spanish I for ADE/ Bachelors in TechnologyCommunication Skills

Spanish oriented for the business world, particularly addressed to Italian native speakers. In this course, we develop professional skills and specific vocabulary in Spanish so that students will be effective when conducting a job interview, writing a marketing report based on numerical data, launching a new product or idea, etc.

Courses Taught at The University of Western Ontario 

Undergraduate

Spanish 3303A: The Structure of Spanish.

Introduction to the study of the linguistic structure of Spanish. This course introduces the student to the main concepts of phonology, morphology and syntax applied to the Spanish language.

Spanish 4412G: Spanish in Contact.

This course is an advanced undergraduate course on bilingualism, multilingualism and Spanish in contact with other languages such as Quechua, Basque, Catalan and English.  

Spanish 2214F: Comparative Grammar of English and Spanish.

This course is an introductory linguistic description of the Spanish language with a special focus on its main differences with English.

Spanish 4408: History of the Spanish Language.

This course studies the linguistic evolution of the language from Latin to Old Spanish to the varieties of present-day Spanish. Topics covered include historical phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon. 

Spanish 4415B: The Spanish Word.

This is a morphology course that explores the internal structure of the Spanish word. Most of the course will be devoted to derivational morphology, and the final project consists on experimental research on the acquisition of compounds in L2 Spanish. 

Spanish 2100: Barcelona: Culture through the Ages. 

International Experiential Learning, Winter-Spring 2016. This 3-week course in Barcelona explores cultural differences between the Mediterranean life and North American life through artistic expressions, history, food, and values. Students will engage with the local culture, discover new places, and be exposed to new perspectives; ultimately, this experience will likely re-shape their identity in the global context

 

Graduate

Spanish 9707/Ling 9707: Research Methods and Statistics in Language Learning.

Graduate seminar. Fall 2010, 2012, Winter 2015. This graduate course is an introduction to research design, data handling, and statistics in linguistics projects, with special emphasis on quantitative second language research.

Spanish 9709: Seminar on Language Loss and Language Maintenance.

Graduate Course. Winter 2011. This graduate course is an seminar that discusses in depth the concept of native language grammars, its (in)stability and its maintenance.

Spanish 9706/Ling 9706: The Acquisition of Romance Languages.

Graduate Course. Fall 2011. This course covers issues on bilingualism, first and second language acquisition of the most spoken Romance Languages (Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish) from a linguistics perspective.

Spanish 9613: Principles of Language Teaching and Acquisition.

Graduate Course. Winter 2011. This course explores several theoretical approaches to language acquisition and language learning in the classroom. It has also a more practical component since these theories will be applied to the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language.

Spanish 9714A/ Linguistics 9708A: Heritage Languages: maintenance, attrition and reacquisition.

Graduate Seminar. Fall 2013. This seminar is devoted to the study of the language of heritage speakers, that is, bilingual speakers of an ethnic or immigrant minority language whose first language does not typically reach native-like attainment in adulthood. 

Spanish 9715B: The Acquisition of Spanish.

Winter 2014. This course covers recent theoretical and practical issues related to the acquisition of Spanish as a second language or in bilingualism contexts. It emphasizes the study of Spanish from a crosslinguistic point of view, and most of the readings will be on understudied language pairing combinations (e.g. Basque-Spanish, Nahuatl-Spanish, Galician-Spanish, Catalan-Spanish, Arabic-Spanish, Farsi-Spanish and Turkish-Spanish). 

Spanish 9709/ Ling 9709: Bilingualism, Language Contact, and Language Change. 

Graduate Seminar. Winter 2016. This seminar explores in depth the outcomes of bilingualism and second language acquisition in language contact situations. We will discuss whether these outcomes can lead to language change. We will see how languages interact depending on the social settings, the distance between languages, or the cognitive constraints of the speakers. 

 

Courses Taught at: University of Illinois (2002-2010)

Spanish 103:

Intermediate Spanish. 3rd semester Spanish. Fall 2002 & Spring 2003. Continued development of reading, writing and conversations skills. This course fulfills the Liberal Arts and Sciences foreign language requirement. 

Spanish 204:

Practical Review of Spanish. 5th semester Spanish. Fall 2005 & 2006. Review of major challenges in Spanish grammar, including the verb system (major tenses and moods, morphology, and aspect), subordination, areas of contrast with English, and some lexical/semantic issues. 

Spanish 228:

Spanish Composition. 5th semester Spanish. Spring 2010. Basic composition course; problems of written Spanish and principles of Spanish stylistic patterns; weekly written exercises.

SPAN 404:

Spanish Syntax and Morphology. 4th year Spanish. Fall 2006.  Intensive study and analysis of Spanish grammar including tense, aspect, and mood; morphological problems; syntactic variation; style in oral and written expression; brief discussion of dialectal variation.

Catalan 401: 

Intensive Introduction to the Catalan Language. Taught from 2003 to 2008. Course open to undergraduate and graduate students.  This course is for students familiar with another Romance language; emphasizes on the acquisition of the four basic skills: listening, speaking, writing, and reading of Catalan language, in order to achieve an intermediate competence. 

Catalan 402:

Intermediate Catalan Language. Taught from  2004 to 2007. Continued development of reading, writing, and conversation skills. Use of Catalan press in order to introduce debate topics in class. Introduction to contemporary Catalan literature, especially Catalan short stories and poems by accessible authors such as Quim Monzó, Pere Calders, Miquel Martí i Pol.

HUM 471:

Introduction to Second Language Learning and Teaching. 2nd and 3rd year students. Fall 2007. Course intended for Foreign Language Teacher Education students. Introduces theories of second language acquisition, models of communication and communicative competence. Current research in second language acquisition, and issues and perspectives on language testing. Includes twenty-four hours of early field experiences in local schools. 

SPAN 477:

Spanish Grammar in Communicative Language Teaching. 4th year students. Course intended for Foreign Language Teacher Education students.Spring 2008. Survey of major Spanish syntactic and morphological patterns with particular emphasis on the acquisition of Spanish grammar by non-native speakers. Students develop a sensitivity for appropriate teaching of Spanish grammar in a communicative teaching environment.  

 

GraduateAs a TA (Assisting a Professor; duties: leading discussion sessions, grading, WebCT, IClicker, etc.) 

Spanish 307:

Bilingualism. Undergraduate level, third and fourth year. Fall 2009. Introduction to the fundamental issues in the study of bilingualism as an individual and social phenomenon, with special emphasis on Spanish bilingual communities in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. (TAing for Prof. Montrul)

Spanish 252: 

Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics. Introduction to the study of the linguistic structure and history of Spanish. This course introduces the student to the main concepts of phonology, morphology and syntax applied to the Spanish language. (TAing for Prof. Hualde)

 

Summer Courses

Intensive Foreign Language Instruction Program (IFLIP), Intermediate Spanish in summer 2002, Advanced Spanish in summer 2003.

Offered by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Courses open to students, faculty, staff, retirees and to the general public. These courses focus on conversational skills and the content is typically based on the needs of the students, such as travel preparation, survival language skills, etc. At the more advanced level, students usually want to review their grammar and apply it to every day contexts.

Spanish 141:

Introduction to Spanish Grammar. (Summers of 2005, 2006, 2007). 4th semester Spanish. Introduction to the major structures of Spanish, from a linguistic perspective. This course seeks to develop students’ formal knowledge of Spanish grammar. Course taught in Barcelona, Spain (except summer 2010, for the Summer Session I Barcelona Study Abroad Program (University of Illinois).The official syllabus was adapted, changing and adding activities, so students could relate the grammar taught in class with the activities done during the field-trips. 

Spanish 208:

Oral Spanish. 5th semester Spanish. Summer 2008. Course taught in the Summer Session I Barcelona Study Abroad Program, Spain (University of Illinois). Students discussed cultural topics provided by original daily Spanish press. The course engaged the students in the interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes.

Spanish 204:

Practical Review of Spanish. 5th semester Spanish. Summer 2010. Review of major challenges in Spanish grammar, including the verb system (major tenses and moods, morphology, and aspect), subordination, areas of contrast with English, and some lexical/semantic issues.