I have a BA in Translation and Interpreting from the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (UPC) and a joint PhD in Spanish (Applied Linguistics) from the University of Ottawa and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). After working as a postgraduate researcher at the ESRC Centre for Research on Bilingualism in Theory and Practice (Bangor University), I joined Swansea University in 2012.
I have a PGCert Teaching in Higher Education and a CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification.
I teach a range of modules in the areas of Spanish language, translation, and interpreting at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
I support teaching by supervising undergraduate dissertations and projects, and postgraduate dissertations and theses. I am interested in supervising projects in applied linguistics, language learning, translation, and interpreting, particularly if they have a multidisciplinary perspective.
My interests and expertise lie in the general areas of applied linguistics, Romance linguistics, and more specifically in the areas of second language acquisition, bilingualism, and psycholinguistics.
In my research I have investigated linguistic and environmental factors and their effect on the acquisition of grammatical phenomena in English and Spanish (e.g. compound nouns, tense and aspect, grammatical gender) by analysing language data and processes. I am interested in the application of this type of research to the teaching of foreign languages and translation.
Higher Education Academy (HEA) Fellow. PR100431
This module provides students with the opportunity to research one aspect of French, German, Italian or Hispanic culture in detail, and to present the findings of their research in a dissertation of 8000 words. The module will be taught by means of four practical seminars on research and writing skills, and through three formal supervision sessions with a dissertation supervisor. Your supervisor will help you to find a topic, suggest research strategies, agree a suitable title, discuss the structure of your dissertation, and will read closely and comment on one draft chapter. The topic may relate to a module you are doing at Level 3, provided that this does not involve a duplication of material and is agreed with the module coordinator in advance. The dissertations may be written in English, in your target language, or in Welsh (where Welsh-medium provision is available).
Mae'r modiwl hwn yn gosod sylfaen ar gyfer astudio Sbaeneg ar lefel uwch, a fydd yn galluogi myfyrwyr i feithrin y sgiliau sy'n angenrheidiol i ddefnyddio Sbaeneg mewn amgylchiadau cyffredinol a phroffesiynol. Nod y modiwl yw atgyfnerthu ac ymestyn y sgiliau a ddatblygwyd gan fyfyrwyr wrth astudio am Safon Uwch (neu gymhwyster cyfwerth) ac yn MLS160A a hwyluso datblygiad eu hyfedredd ieithyddol. Mae'n canolbwyntio ar ddatblygu rhuglder a chywirdeb wrth siarad ac ysgrifennu Sbaeneg ymhellach,gan sefydlu dealltwriaeth ramadegol gadarn o'r iaith ac ymestyn geirfa'r myfyrwyr i'w galluogi i ddarllen, ysgrifennu, dehongli a siarad am faterion sy'n berthnasol i gymdeithas a diwylliant Hisbaenaidd cyfoes. Bydd y modiwl yn ceisio gwella cyflogadwyedd myfyrwyr drwy gyflwyno'r syniadau sydd ynghlwm wrth Ddatblygu Cynaliadwy iddynt yn Sbaeneg, gan ddarparu sylfaen yng ngeirfa a defnydd Sbaeneg mewn cyd-destunau sy'n ymwneud â datblygu cynaliadwy. Cynhelir y dosbarthiadau yn Sbaeneg yn bennaf. Mae'r modiwl hwn yn cael ei astudio'n aml ar y cyd ag MLS160AW. Mae fersiwn cyfrwng Saesneg o'r modiwl hwn ar gael hefyd, sef MLS160B. This module is the foundation of advanced level study of Spanish which will equip students with the skills needed to use Spanish in general and professional environments. The module aims to consolidate and extend the language skills developed by students at A level (or equivalent) and in MLS160A and to facilitate their progress in linguistic competence. It concentrates on further developing fluency and accuracy in written and spoken Spanish, establishing a firm grammatical understanding of the language, and extending students¿ vocabulary to read, write, interpret and speak about issues related to contemporary Hispanic society and culture. The module aims to enhance students¿ employability by introducing them to the ideas underlying Sustainable Development (SD) in Spanish, providing a grounding in the vocabulary and use of Spanish in SD-related contexts. Classes are mainly conducted in Spanish. It is typically taken in conjunction with MLS160A. There is also a Welsh-medium version of this module: MLS160BW.
The aim of this module is to develop and refine students' translation skills by working through a dossier of textual materials illustrating distinct text types, and distinct aspects of source language culture and society from both Spain and Spanish America.
This module is the foundation of advanced level study of Spanish which will equip students who have previously taken Beginner Spanish (or equivalent) with the skills needed to use Spanish in general and professional environments. It concentrates on developing fluency and accuracy in written and spoken Spanish, establishing a firm grammatical understanding of the language, and extending students¿ vocabulary to read, write, interpret and speak about issues related to contemporary Hispanic society and culture. The module aims to enhance students¿ employability by introducing them to Professional Spanish, providing a grounding in the vocabulary and use of Business Spanish. Classes are mainly conducted in Spanish.
This module is the foundation of the intermediate level study of Spanish which will equip students who have previously taken Beginners' Spanish for Business Students I and II. It concentrates on further developing fluency and accuracy in written and spoken Spanish , establishing a firm grammatical understanding of the language, and extending students¿ vocabulary to read, write, interpret and speak about issues related to contemporary Spanish speaking society and culture appropriate to levels B1+ of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The module also aims to enhance students¿ employability by providing a grounding in the vocabulary and use of Spanish in contexts relating to the world of work. Classes are conducted mainly in Spanish . In addition to class work, students are also expected to undertake extensive private study.
This module consolidates and extends the language skills developed from Intermediate Spanish for Business Students I. It concentrates on further developing fluency and accuracy in written and spoken Spanish establishing a firm grammatical understanding of the language, and extending your vocabulary to read, write and speak about issues related to contemporary Spanish speaking society and culture. Topics are extended to business scenarios which will enrich your vocabulary and further the use of Spanish in business context. Classes will be conducted mainly in Spanish. In addition to class work, students are also expected to undertake extensive private study.
This module is only available to students coming to Swansea on an approved, single-semester M-level exchange from a translation and/or interpreting school in Europe. Teaching and assessment are identical to the first semester of MLSM01. Students taking this module will attend the same classes and submit the same two written assignments as those taking MLSM01. In weekly small-group seminars, students will translate, discuss and annotate both non-technical and technical texts. Practice assignments will grow progressively longer to reflect real-world conditions and students will on occasion be expected to work together, critiquing and editing each other¿s work to produce a collaborative finished version. Techniques for discovering domain-specific knowledge and translating technical terminology will be explored and developed. Assessment will be by two test translations in different domains under exam conditions, each counting for 50% of the marks of the module.
This module is only available to students coming to Swansea on an approved, single-semester M-level exchange from a translation and/or interpreting school in Europe. Teaching and assessment are identical to the second semester of MLSM01. Students taking this module will attend the same classes and submit the same two written assignments as those taking MLSM01. In weekly small-group seminars, students will translate, discuss and annotate both non-technical and technical texts. Practice assignments will grow progressively longer to reflect real-world conditions and students will on occasion be expected to work together, critiquing and editing each other¿s work to produce a collaborative finished version. Techniques for discovering domain-specific knowledge and translating technical terminology will be explored and developed. Assessment will be by one test translation under exam conditions and one individual project, each counting for 50% of the marks of the module.
This module, compulsory for students of the BAs in Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting, and English- Chinese Translation and Interpreting, introduces concepts of English grammar and meaning relevant to translation and interpreting. A significant part of this module consists of learning the language to deal with the scientific study of human languages. Mastering this metalanguage is essential for any course with involves language and forms the basis for the formal study of English language and literature, modern foreign languages and linguistics. The module is taught in a weekly two-hour lecture covering linguistic fundamentals of English language (word classes, morphology, grammar and semantics), and a one-hour seminar focusing on these fundamentals of linguistic analysis in English compared to other languages studied as part of the translation and interpreting degrees.
This module, which builds on the introduction to Interpreting provided in Year 1 by MLT100 Concepts in Translation and Interpreting, will develop practical strategies and techniques for performing Dialogue Interpreting between parties who do not speak each other's language, as well as oral translation of relevant documents at sight. There will typically be a mixture of short lectures on relevant aspects of Interpreting Theory (especially professional ethics), live bilingual and multilingual scenarios, and language laboratory practical sessions in preparation for assessment. The assessment will be two Sight Translations, one in each direction (40%) and one Dialogue Practical Class Test (both directions) in the Lab (60%). A wide range of materials will be available on Blackboard to practice sight translation and interpreting in your own time.
