Faculty/Staff Information

Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy and Language: University of Texas at San Antonio 
M.A. in Spanish Language and Literature: Villanova University, Pennysylvania
M.A. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL): University of Edinburgh, Scotland
B.Ed. in English with a Spanish minor: Universidad Nacional de Educati)n “Enrique Guzman y Valle”, Lima, Peru
B.Ed. in English: Instituto Pedagogico Nacional de Monterrico (IPN-M), Lima, Peru

I began teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to middle and high schoolers at Colegio Nacional “San Martin de Porres” in San Gregorio, Lima, Peru, in 1982. In 1991, I was part of the English for Secondary Schools (ESS) Project, a project devised by the Peruvian Ministry of Education and The British Council. My main task was to prepare EFL teachers nationwide. Preparing in-service teachers made me realize that as an educator I could provoke more impact than as a classroom teacher. After finishing my commitment with the ESS Project, I obtained a tenure-track position at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Facultad de Educación. I initially taught the Culture and Civilization of English-speaking countries course. I was later asked to teach the EFL methods course. I simultaneously worked as a language instructor at Asociación Cultural Peruano–Británica (ACPB) to practice what I preached. When preparing teachers, I sometimes did not have answers for some of their questions so I decided to broaden my academic horizons.

I came to the United States to pursue an M.A. in Spanish Literature and to teach Spanish at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, in 2002. Teaching my home language provided me with an opportunity to view Spanish with other lenses. As I taught Spanish, it made me question why so few language learners achieve a high level of proficiency in a foreign/second language. Eager to find answers to my questions, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio. At UTSA, I prepared English as a second language (ESL) teacher candidates. The transition from the EFL to the ESL preparation field encouraged me to revisit some of the beliefs I had mistakenly held (e.g., that the translanguaging practice should not be welcome in a language class). My doctoral studies provided me with a sound rationale to interweave the three areas (culture, literacy and language) to better understand the language learning process, and particularly the learning process of emergent bilingual (EB) learners in the U.S.

I joined Western Oregon University (WOU) in September of 2009 and have enjoyed preparing both teacher candidates and teachers for the K-12 system. I am also privileged to prepare future bilingual teachers, and I have taught various courses in my home language. As an educator, I would like to continue contributing to the language fields (EFL/ESL/bilingual) here in the U.S., in Peru, in China, in Taiwan, or in any other country.