The faculty in the Department of Romance Languages in the College of Arts and Sciences is passionate about research that spans the globe. Recently, four new articles were published in various publications, all related to the Spanish language but concerning three different countries: Bolivia, Chile and Peru.

Pro tem Instructor of Spanish Yosa Vidal published the article “Revista Santiago” in the magazine Por una memoria no heroica. Vidal writes that the Chilean people “betrayed” themselves by rejecting the draft of the new constitution 50 years ago. Her writing pushes people to think about bipolar and vertical discourses, where there are traitors and heroes, dominators and dominated, victimizers and victims. 

Assistant Professor of Spanish Devin Grammon published an article in L2 Journal titled "Ideology, Indexicality, and the L2 Development of Sociolinguistic Perception During Study Abroad," about language ideology and studying abroad.

Grammon’s article advances knowledge and theory regarding how second language learners develop the ability to interpret the social significance of linguistic differences in a target language during their time studying abroad. It closely profiles one Spanish learner in Cuzco Peru and explains how she came to associate specific dialectal forms in Andean Spanish with “licentious” bricheros and “inept” cholos throughout her study abroad program.

Grammon and Assistant Professor of Spanish Sergio Loza published an article in Heritage Language Journal titled "Missed opportunities: Oral corrective feedback, heritage learners of Spanish, and study abroad in Peru.

Their article focuses on one Peruvian Spanish teacher’s oral corrective feedback practices involving two US Latina students during a study abroad program in Cuzco, Peru. Their findings show how oral corrective feedback can transmit negative attitudes toward US Latinxs in ways that result in missed opportunities for learning Spanish as a heritage language during study abroad. 

And finally, Javier Velasco, pro tem instructor in Spanish, has published an article in Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, from the Department of Romance Languages at Tufts University. The article, “‘...Pero las hornacinas estaban desiertas’: Tramado trágico y modernidad indígena en ‘Yanakuna’ (1952) de Jesús Lara” (‘But the niches were deserted’: Tragic plot and indigenous modernity in ‘Yanakuna’ [1952] by Jesús Lara’), discusses the Bolivian novel, “Yanakuna.”

“We in Romance languages and the Spanish program are proud to count among our faculty researchers who are carrying out and publishing cutting-edge research on a variety of subjects from throughout the Spanish-speaking world,” said David Wacks, head and professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages.

— By Jenny Brooks, College of Arts and Sciences