Francisca Aguiló Mora

Francisca Aguiló Mora joined the Latin American and Iberian Cultures Department in 2016. She holds a PhD in Romance Studies from the University of Miami, with concentrations in sociolinguistics, Latina/o Studies, and second language acquisition. For two consecutive years (2014, 2015), she was a Cuban Heritage Collection Research Fellow at the University of Miami. Originally from Mallorca (Spain), she majored in English Studies at the Universitat de Barcelona, and studied abroad at the University of Southampton. She earned a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) with Honors in Comparative Literature at the Universitat de les Illes Balears.

She has a very strong commitment to teacher training and to Second Language Education in general. She taught English as a Foreign Language in Spain. In the US, she has imparted courses at all levels of Spanish language, literature, and culture (from beginning to advanced) in both the second language (L2) and heritage learner tracks. She has also gained invaluable teaching experience in Study Abroad programs in Spain –in collaboration with CIUC, Universidad de Cantabria, and ILCE, Universidad de Navarra.

Francisca remains focused on three principal areas of research: (1) literary and critical discourse analysis of US Latina narrative, drama, and performance, with an emphasis on phenomena of language use and language contact; (2) sociolinguistic and ideological aspects of Spanish in the US and Catalan in Spain; and (3) Spanish second language acquisition and heritage language teaching from the perspective of sociocultural theory. These lines of research continue to lead to publications, and conference presentations.

academic statement

Much of my teaching philosophy is based upon Sociocultural Theory and Critical Pedagogy. I elaborate concept-based pedagogies for both second and heritage language learners. By documenting teaching/learning processes, I pursue both a research and a teaching practice. For both L2 and heritage learners, I rely on a conceptual engagement approach for better explanations of complex communicative issues (pragmatic, textual, and grammatical) with the creation of verbal/graphic representations as thinking tools.

As a lecturer in Spanish, I view myself as an incessant learner. Every lesson taught is a learning experience and an opportunity for personal enrichment. Aiming to keep my students highly motivated, I emphasize affective dimensions of learning through strategies that engage with critical thinking, peer critique and reflection, process writing, and collaborative projects. I frequently introduce materials bearing on discourse and style, identity, race, and gender, in order to challenge students to read between the lines so that they understand the deep meanings of texts, intertextuality, and cultural framing in an increasingly interconnected world.  My main objective is that, at the end of the semester, students are capable of thinking about how Spanish-speaking cultures and societies shape the use of language.