This colloquium could not have been put together if it wasn’t for the amazing team of individuals who worked to make it happen!
Meagan Driver is an assistant professor in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies and a core faculty member in the Second Language Studies (SLS) Ph.D. Program.
She is an applied linguist who specializes in mixed-methods approaches to heritage and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Within this realm, her research explores topics including emotion, bilingualism and multilingualism, and study abroad and the relationship with a range of linguistic, psychological, and social factors, including vocabulary learning, moral judgment, and identity, to name a few.
A heritage speaker of Spanish herself, she aims to adapt instruments and methodologies in her research that address the reality and needs of linguistically and socially diverse learner populations. Presently, her work explores the relationship between various emotions, including anxiety, interest, and linguistic insecurity, motivation, and questions surrounding linguistic and ethnoracial identity, specifically with respect to the acquisition of a heritage or foreign language.
At MSU, she teaches undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. courses in applied linguistics and SLA in both the Spanish and SLS programs and serves as Curriculum Consultant for the Spanish language program.
Dr. Gabriela DeRobles is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Colorado, Denver.
She is an applied linguist who specializes in Heritage and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). As a first-generation college graduate and daughter of Mexican immigrants, her cultural roots and linguistic experiences shape and guide her pedagogical approach as well as her research endeavors. Her research interests include Spanish heritage language education/pedagogy, Spanish in the U.S., linguistic insecurity, and critical language awareness.
Currently, her research implements participatory action research methodologies to investigate current issues in heritage language education from an in-group perspective in order to develop sustainable tools, resources, and support for learners, educators, and scholars from linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Andrea Hernando
Research Assistant
Andi Hernando is a PhD student in the Spanish Linguistics PhD program at Georgetown University. She is originally from Catamarca, Argentina, where she completed her undergraduate studies at La Universidad Nacional de Catamarca.
She also holds a MA degree in finished her MA in Spanish as a Second or Bilingual Language from Michigan State University and a MA in Applied Linguistics from La Universidad Europea del Atlántico.
She has taught English in Argentina and Spanish in different institutions in the US, and she was also the creator of the Spanish Teletandem program at Michigan State.
Vashti Lee
Research Assistant
Vashti Lee is a doctoral student in the Second Language Studies program at Michigan State University, USA. She was born and raised in Hong Kong but attended English immersion international schools for most of her schooling, which gave her multilingual experiences that parallel those of many heritage speakers of Cantonese.
She has previously worked as a language teacher, teaching Mandarin, Cantonese, and English to adult learners in a variety of contexts. Her experiences with multilingual learning, teaching, hybrid ethnolinguistic identities impacted by transnationalism shape much of her research pursuits. Her most recent research primarily focuses on the intersections between emotion, identity, ideology, and power, particularly as these relate to multilingual transnational language learners and teachers.
Alejandra Gutiérrez
Research Assistant
Ale Gutiérrez is a heritage speaker of Spanish in her second year of graduate school at the University of Colorado Denver in the Spanish M.A. program concentrated mostly on Heritage Language Education. She received her B.A. in Spanish Language & Culture and minors in Linguistics and Education Studies from the University of Colorado Denver.
She was born and raised in Denver, CO and comes from a family of Mexican, Spanish-speaking immigrants. She has worked in various contexts including, secondary education, higher education and healthcare. She is currently working as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Colorado Denver in the office of Student Transitions & Family Engagement, specifically focusing on providing mentorship and resources to First-Gen and Transfer students.
