My research interests lie at the crossroads of second language acquisition (SLA), bilingualism, and Hispanic linguistics. I am particularly interested in usage-based and functionalist theories of language acquisition. My current research examines various aspects of vocabulary learning in Spanish.

If you'd like to read my reflections on learning a second language, check out my essay entitled "Are there shortcuts to language learning?"

The courses I regularly teach at UCSC are:

• Spanish 150 (Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics)
• Spanish 153 (Spanish as a Second Language)
• Spanish 154 (Spanish Pragmatics)
• Spanish 114 (Adv. Conversation & Composition)
• APLX 80 (Intro to Applied Linguistics)
• APLX 101 (Second Language Acquisition)
• APLX 135/201 (L2 Teaching Methodology)
• APLX 105 (Language Loss)

In March 2021, I began serving a five-year term as Executive Director of Language Learning