Linguistics Seminar Series
Spring 2026
We are thrilled to announce the Linguistics Seminar Series for the Spring 2026 semester. The Linguistics Seminar Series features faculty scholars who are involved in language-related research. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Writing & Language Studies and the Office for Bilingual Integration.
The presentations will be hosted each Tuesday from 12:30-1:45pm in Edinburg (EACSB 1.104), Brownsville (BSABH 2.204) and via Zoom. We provide pizza and soda for in-person attendees. Check the flyer here or contact john.foreman@utrgv.edu for Zoom information.
This semester includes two special guest speakers who will visit the Edinburg campus on Feb. 27 and Mar. 11.
Please join us this Spring semester as we learn from and with our featured speakers!
Upcoming Events
“ ‘Trump es la cabeza de todo esto’: Rhetoric, Racism, and the Political Socialization of Latinx Immigrants” https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2025.2550474
This paper explores how Latina/o immigrants underwent a political socialization experience in a new destination state with a hostile context of reception. Drawing on interviews from the 2018 Immigrant Worker Project Survey (IWPS), the study highlights how immigrants’ interpretations of racist elite rhetoric and experiences with local discrimination serve as pathways to political learning and socialization in the USA. The results of the analysis provide implications for how Latinx immigrants of undocumented or other precarious immigration statuses exercise agency by refracting political rhetoric into the development of politicized group consciousness necessary for expressions of cultural citizenship.
Álvaro J. Corral is an Assistant Professor School of Political Science, Public Affairs, Legal & Security Studies University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley. He received is PhD in Government from UT-Austin as well as a graduate certificate from the Center for Mexican American Studies. His research explores the political behaviors and public opinion of Latinx voters, the prospect of Latinx-Black political coalitions, and the political incorporation process of Latin American immigrants. He currently serves as a member of APSA’s Committee on the Status of Latinas and Latinos in the Profession and serves as Communication Director for the Latin@/x Caucus of APSA. Both organizations work to bolster the recruitment, hiring, and retention of individuals who study Latin@/x Politics in the field of Political Science.
Coming Soon!
A Multimodal Implementation of Pedagogic Translation in Spanish as a Heritage Language Classroom in Higher Education: Enhancing Lexical Development of Intermediate Heritage Learners through Learning-by-Design
Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) programs face a critical challenge: the lack of pedagogical materials tailored to heritage learners’ needs and everyday experiences (Carreira, 2014; Zapata, 2017). This study investigates whether integrating multimodal pedagogic translation materials can enhance heritage learners’ acquisition of Spanish idioms and low-frequency words. To explore this, students enrolled in an intermediate SHL course (SPAN 253) at The University of Arizona are divided into three groups: a control group (no pedagogic translation), experimental group 1 (monomodal pedagogic translation), and experimental group 2 (multimodal pedagogic translation). The study aims to determine i) whether explicit multimodal pedagogic translation activities support lexical growth; ii) the differences in lexical acquisition among the three groups; iii) which lexical components (idioms or low-frequency words) are most affected by multimodal versus monomodal pedagogic translation activities; and iv) whether there are differences in translation techniques used across the groups. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was employed to capture both measurable learning outcomes and learners’ experiences with a multimodal and monomodal approach. Quantitative data, collected through a definition task, were analyzed using logistic regression to assess the influence of instructional approach on lexical development. Complementary qualitative data was drawn from students’ written reflections, providing insight into learners’ perceptions of and engagement with multimodal pedagogic translation activities. This research contributes to SHL pedagogy by empirically testing the effectiveness of multimodal pedagogic translation approaches in enhancing lexical development. By aligning classroom activities with heritage learners’ real-world practices such as informal translation and brokering (Tse, 1995; Valdés, 2003), the findings will enrich literature on effective pedagogical interventions for Spanish heritage learners across the bilingual continuum (Lynch, 2014), expand empirical evidence on pedagogic translation (Belpoliti and Plascencia-Vela, 2013; Banitz, 2022) and explore whether multimodal approaches outperform monomodal ones.
Macarena Llamas Molina is a fifth-year PhD candidate in Hispanic Linguistics with a minor in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and Linguistics from La Universidad de Murcia, Spain, and two M.A.s in Spanish and Linguistics from West Virginia University. Her research interests include Spanish as a Heritage Language (acquisition and development), the intersection of Heritage Language Pedagogy with Translation Studies, the issues of language and identity within U.S. Latina/o/x communities, and Spanish for Specific Purposes. She is currently working on the implementation of multimodal pedagogic translation materials to enhance the lexical development of Spanish heritage learners in higher education. In addition to academic work, Macarena has also been involved in teaching, curriculum development, and representing graduate students in the Spanish and Portuguese department at the University of Arizona
Coming Soon!
“Lexical Meaning and a Tale of Two Worlds”
In this talk, Prof. Saka gives a brief overview of different theories of meaning, and then focuses on the work of Hilary Putnam (1975). Putnam’s account centers on his famous Twin Earth thought experiment. Imagine a distant planet exactly like Earth, except that instead of H2O it contains an exotic substance called XYZ. XYZ and H2O have the same appearance and taste under normal conditions, and serve the same physiological functions, but they are chemically distinct. In this scenario, would the word ‘water’ refer to XYZ? Putnam and Saka argue for two different answers.
Prof. Paul Saka has two PhDs, one in linguistics and one in philosophy. He edits the language divisions of the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Journal of Philosophical Research, and he has published in linguistics, anthropology, psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, religious studies, political science, literary criticism, and creative writing (science fiction). At UTRGV, he teaches Intro Philosophy, Intro Logic, Intro to the Philosophy and History of Science, and upper-division courses in philosophy.
This presentation offers a comprehensive exploration of Korean language study abroad programs, focusing on their design, learner experiences, and pedagogical expansion beyond conventional classroom settings. From the instructor’s perspective, it examines essential structural components, including program planning, curriculum development, and collaboration with local institutions in Korea.
Drawing on learner narratives, qualitative feedback, and multimedia documentation, the study highlights transformative educational experiences and personal growth. Special attention is given to experiential learning activities—such as visits to historical sites, markets, universities, traditional performances, and service-learning community engagement—that promote authentic language use within culturally immersive contexts.
The presentation further investigates how learners incorporate practical expressions into their language development, with emphasis on pronunciation, intonation, emotional nuance, and dialectal variation. It also considers the long-term social and emotional impacts of study abroad participation, including the cultivation of intercultural competence, global citizenship, and sustained motivation for learning Korean.
Findings suggest that Korean language education, when embedded in immersive and interdisciplinary environments, can foster holistic, meaningful, and enduring learning experiences that transcend the boundaries of traditional classroom instruction.
Mijin Oh-Villarreal is a Lecturer II of Korean Language in the Department of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), where she has been teaching in the U.S. since 2016. She holds an M.A. in Korean Studies from Kyung Hee Cyber University and an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from Duksung Women’s University in Korea. With over 25 years of teaching experience in Korea and the U.S., she is highly regarded for her excellence in language instruction and her achievements as an award-winning Korean language storyteller, earning national honors for her work. She has been leading multiple faculty-led study abroad programs at UTRGV since 2018, building years of experience in creating transformative international learning opportunities. She also actively promotes global learning through community engagement and service-learning projects. Her work integrates language learning with cultural exchange, fostering intercultural competence and global citizenship among students through immersive study abroad experiences.
This talk presents the results of survey with university Spanish heritage students in Texas about their experiences and current attitudes toward the ‘no sabo kid’ label. This pejorative intra-ethnic term is used to refer to U.S. Latinxs who are either not fluent in Spanish, do not speak it ‘perfectly,’ or do not speak it at all. While previous research has suggested that the label largely spread through social media, no research has documented when people first became aware of it. A total of 45 participants from Texas completed a survey that was divided in four parts: 1) diary-based questions (about the first time they became aware of the label; 2) affective, cognitive, and conative language attitudinal questions about the label; 3) measurement of their language dominance; 4) measurement of their critical awareness. Overall, this study sheds light on the propagation of the ‘no sabo kid’ label, specifically how the term circulated among Latinx youth, their attitudes toward it, and how these are mediated by their language dominance and critical awareness. Implications for classroom instruction will also be discussed.
Sean McKinnon is an assistant professor of linguistics in the Department of Global Languages & Cultures at Texas A&M University. He earned his Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from Indiana University, and his research agenda focus on the sociolinguistics of bilingualism throughout the Spanish-speaking world. More specifically, his research seeks to document and challenge the reproduction of hegemonic language ideologies. He has published his work in venues such as Language, Spanish in Context, and Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, and he’s the co-editor of the research volume Recent developments in Hispanic Linguistics: Studies in structure, variation, and bilingualism.
Ethnographic exploration of linguistic fluidity and fixity:
Pakikipagwikaan among immigrant plurilingual Filipino-Montréalers
Research has examined the dynamism of plurilingual identities and practices (Coste et al., 1997; Moore & Gajo, 2009). However, there is often a sole focus on fluidity (e.g., language mixing/switching) with little to no focus on fixity (e.g., language separation/naming)—the two being oversimplified as mere opposite (Otsuji & Pennycook, 2010). More research that co-considers how fluidity and fixity within additional language (AL) users’ plurilingualism is needed to “explain how, why, and with what outcomes laypeople... (dis)align themselves” with fixity and fluidity (Jaspers & Madsen, 2019, p. 16), providing nuanced understanding of AL users’ agentive plurilanguaging (Piccardo, 2019).
In this presentation, I report on an eight-week linguistic ethnography with four adult Filipino immigrant AL users in Montréal, Canada, an officially French-only city. The study asked: (1) how and why do these AL users co-construct their plurilingual identity and language practices across communicative contexts? (2) How and why do they perceive and express their plurilingualism in fixed or fluid ways? Thematic and interpretive content analyses were conducted with data from the Plurilingual Identity Wheel and follow-up semi-structured interviews, alongside post-coding analyses of weekly field notes, ethnographic interviews, and linguistic artifacts. Triangulated findings highlight how these Filipino-Montréalers use their plurilingual repertoires to creatively engage in pakikipagwikaan—a hybrid of fixed and fluid language practices—to construct enduring or transient plurilingual identities in their day-to-day life, which they may choose to (not) manifest outwardly. Moreover, they draw from pakikipagwikaan to transgress, re-appropriate, or maintain monolingual policies, and build up interpersonal bridges or walls. The study underscores how AL users’ agentive plurilingualism goes beyond a simple fluid-fixed divide, carrying critical implications for pedagogically applying, and further theorizing plurilingualism.
John Wayne N. dela Cruz is a Filipino-Canadian critical applied sociolinguist. He holds a PhD in Educational Studies – Language Acquisition from McGill University, and an MA in Applied Linguistics from Concordia University. As a racialized plurilingual immigrant himself, John’s research examines the plurilingual identity, practices, and ideologies of immigrant additional language users in officially mono/bilingual settings in Canada. John has taught ESL at primary, secondary, and post-secondary contexts, and more recently, he has been teaching as a lecturer in B.Ed. and MA programs for TESL and French language education at various Canadian universities.
Borderland Fresas: The enregisterment and social meaning of the fresa register on the Texas border
In this study, the fresa cultural figure is explored within the Texas borderlands context. The origins of fresas are unknown, however, they have been known to be a cultural stereotype in Mexico and have been defined to be individuals who belong to certain privileged social classes, live expensive lifestyles, and speak Spanish in a distinctive manner (Chaparro 2016; Cordova Abundis and Corona Zenil 2002; Martínez Gómez 2018; Urteaga and Ortega 2004). The fresa cultural stereotype has permeated into the U.S. borderlands and carries with it a similar, if not the same, social definition. By using Agha’s theoretical framework on enregisterment (Agha 2007), this study explores the social meaning of fresas in the bordertown of Laredo. Using Agha’s theoretical framework, other researchers have situated this Mexican cultural stereotype as a semiotic register (Chaparro 2016). According to Chaparro, the fresa register can be viewed as a meta-sign which encompasses various performable object-signs. By viewing fresas as a meta-sign, the fresa register consists of three main repertoires: inhabited space, linguistic behavior, and physical appearance (see Figure 1). The same can be observed in the Texas borderland context. By means of a qualitative analysis, this study revisits sociolinguistic interview data from a previous study conducted in Laredo which investigated the stratified use of uptalk. Along with this data, self-identified fresas and non-fresas from Laredo, Texas were interviewed in order to get group-internal and group-external perspectives to better situate and understand the fresa cultural stereotype in the context of Laredo. The analysis reveals that Texas borderland fresas also perform the same object-signs as the Mexican fresa register. The data also shows that the fresa register in Laredo is a form of social capital that is viewed by locals as a form of prestige. The community of Laredo is using the three repertoires of the fresa register and adapting them to the local context in order to reflect their own culture on the border.
Natalie Rangel received her B.A. and M.A. in Hispanic Studies at Texas A&M University – College Station and her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. Rangel specializes in sociolinguistics with a particular interest in South Texas/Borderland Spanish. She has done research on language attitudes in South Texas, which investigates Laredoan’s and Rio Grande Valley residents’ implicit attitudes towards English, Spanish and code-switching. Most recently she has investigated an intonational feature (uptalk) in Spanish and its social stratification in different areas of Laredo. Rangel plans to continue her work in South Texas to enhance scholarly research in this under-researched area. As a Laredoan and a Spanish heritage speaker, Rangel always advocates for the appreciation of heritage languages and Spanish heritage speakers’ linguistic awareness of the political and social nuances of Spanish in the U.S. and borderland context.
It is widely known that Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Spanish is variable in both monolingual and bilingual varieties. Recent research exploring whether bilingual varieties in contact with a DOM-less language would present less DOM marking found that despite contact, bilingual Spanish maintained the variable patterns found among monolingual varieties (Carvalho, 2021). Since English also lacks this feature, it is of interest to determine whether Spanish in contact with English follows the previously attested patterns. While this line of research has been explored from an experimental perspective (Cuza et al. 2018; Giancaspro et al. 2015; Montrul & Bowles, 2009), the present study aims to explore this question from a variationist, corpus-based perspective. Building on Carvalho’s (2021) research, this study analyzes DOM in a Spanish dialect in contact with English–particularly, the one spoken in Southern Arizona–and considers linguistic factors such as animacy, specificity, definiteness, relative animacy, and construction type within transitive verbs.
Data were gathered from the Corpus del español en el sur de Arizona (CESA; Carvalho, 2012-) through 48 interviews from bilinguals across three generational groups. A total of 860 tokens were manually coded according to animacy, specificity, definiteness, relative animacy, and construction type within transitive verbs. Multivariate analysis revealed that all factors were significant, with relative animacy–specifically cases in which the subject is equivalent to the object in terms of animacy–emerging as the most important factor in triggering DOM.
These findings suggest that variation of DOM in Southern Arizona is consistent with other monolingual Spanish varieties (Balasch, 2011; Carvalho, 2021; Schwenter, 2014; Tippets, 2011) and appears to be unaffected by the influence of English. In particular, animacy and definiteness were likely to trigger DOM, reinforcing general tendencies identified in prior studies (Carvalho, 2021; Schwenter, 2014; Tippets & Schwenter, 2007). Therefore, these findings offer a basis for comparison with other bilingual dialects and suggest possible continuities across US Spanish.