Lourdes Barquín Sanmartín

Thesis title: Plurilingualism, intercomprehension and positive transfer: acquisition of the mood and aspect in Spanish L2 and L3.

Background

 

Lourdes is a linguist with a background in language teaching, both at secondary and higher education. In November 2023, she successfully earned her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition from the University of Edinburgh. Her doctoral research revolves around the acquisition of Spanish as a second (L2) and a third (L3) language in native English speakers with a focus on grammatical transfers between proximal languages.

Lourdes holds an undergraduate degree in Translation and Interpretation Studies (English, French and Spanish) and a minor in simultaneous interpretation. She also spent her second year at the University of Sheffield as part of the Erasmus Exchange Programme. During her last year of university, she worked as a Spanish and English teacher and collaborated with the editorial Saure as a proofreader. After she graduated in 2016, she was granted an award by the Spanish Ministry of Education to work as a Spanish assistant in Paris. Once the academic year finished in France, she moved to the UK in order to pursue her career in language teaching and learning.

She settled in Liverpool, where she obtained her Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary Education (PGCE) specialising in Modern Foreign Languages, spending three years teaching in a British school. During this time, she combined her full-time job in school with her MA in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. In 2020, she was accepted to start her PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she is currently researching language acquisition and Spanish linguistics under the supervision of Dr Carlos Soler Montes and Dr Michael Ramsammy. In September 2021, she received the British Spanish Society scholarship in collaboration with BBVA.

Lourdes' main research interests are grammatical transfers from the L1 and L2 into the L3. Due to her background in secondary education, she focuses specifically on students with L1 English, L2 French and L3 Spanish as this is the predominant language combination among British students. Her hypothesis supports that the similarities between French and Spanish can facilitate the learning of the past aspectual contrast imperfecto/indefinido and the modal contrast subjuntivo/indicativo in Spanish as a third language. 

Qualifications

  • PhD in Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition, The University of Edinburgh (UK)
  • MA in Applied Linguistics in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, Universidad Europea del Atlántico (Spain)

  • Postgraduate Certificate in Education (French and Spanish), The University of Chester (UK)

  • BA (Hons) in Translation and Interpretation, The University of the Basque Country (Spain)

Responsibilities & affiliations

Affiliations:

  • Asociación para la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera (ASELE)
  • The Association of Hispanists of Great Britain & Ireland (AHGBI)
  • Association of University Language Communities in the UK and Ireland (AULC)
  • Association for the Teaching of Spanish in Higher Education in the UK (ELEUK)
  • Bilingualism Matters Research Centre (volunteer)
  • Society of Spanish Researchers in the United Kingdom (SRUK)
  • British Spanish Society

Undergraduate teaching

  • Spanish 4. Oral for Spanish 
  • Spanish 3. Year Abroad Language Course
  • Foundation Spanish Language 1
  • Foundation Spanish Language 2

Postgraduate teaching

  • Spanish Teacher at King's College
    • Spanish Language Level 1
    • Spanish Language Level 2
    • Spanish Language Level 3
    • Postgraduate Spanish Beginners
  • Tutor in Translation Studies at the University of Birmingham 
    • (Distance Learning) MA in Translation Studies

Research summary

My research focuses on how English native speakers learn Spanish as a third language and how their knowledge of French as a previously acquired language can help the learning of Spanish. This is particularly interesting when the second (L2) and the third languages (L3) are typologically similar, such as French L2 and Spanish L3. Having found that French is the most commonly taught L2 in the UK followed by Spanish L3, I am interested to know whether students that have a previous knowledge of French can make less mistakes and more progress in Spanish compared to those monolinguals who only study Spanish. This research project is centered around the acquisition of the subjunctive mood and the past tense in Spanish, particularly the modal selection between ‘indicativo’ and ‘subjuntivo’ and the aspectual contrast between 'imperfecto' and 'indefinido', as these are two of the most challenging grammatical areas for native English speakers.

Current research interests

Second and third language acquisition; language transfers; positive language transfers from typologically similar languages; translanguaging; intercomprehension; plurilingual approach; language learning and teaching in multilingual contexts.

Affiliated research centres

Organiser

Organising Committee

  • Tense, Aspect and Modality in L2 (TAML2) at the University of Edinburgh. To be celebrated 27th - 28th October 2023.
  • ELEUK Annual Conference - Encuentro Virtual 2021 (online). Celebrated 9th - 11th June 2021.

Scientific Committee

  • ASELE & ELEUK. 34º Congreso Internacional de la Asociación para la Enseñanza del Español como Lengua Extranjera, University of Edinburgh 16th - 20th July 2024.

Participant

ELEUK Annual Conference 2023. Celebrate 22nd - 23rd June 2023 in Leeds (Attendee).

VIII Jornada para profesores de ELE “El otro lado de la gramática” enClave-ELE. Celebrated 27th March 2023 online (Attendee).

Lecturas graduadas en clase de ELE: ¿cómo podemos utilizarlas? Celebrated 2nd February 2023 online (Attendee).

Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 2022. Celebrated 26th October 2022 in Edinburgh (Attendee).

L3 Workshop 2022: Workshop on Multilingual Language Acquisition, Processing and Use. Celebrated 22nd - 23rd October 2022 at King's College London (Attendee).

ELEUK Teaching and (un)learning Spanish gender inclusive language (online). Celebrated 14th October (Attendee).

Scottish Learning Festival 2022 (online). Celebrated 21st - 22nd September 2022 (Attendee).

ELEUK Annual Conference 2022. Celebrated 16th - 17th  June 2022 at the University of Warwick (Attendee).

University of Edinburgh Learning & Teaching Conference 2022. Celebrated 14th - 16th June 2022 at the University of Edinburgh (Attendee).

Papers delivered

ASELE & ELEUK. 34º Congreso Internacional. Celebrate 16th - 20th July 2024 in Edinburgh.

  • Paper presentation: Intercomprensión e Inteligencia Artificial (IA): una propuesta didáctica para la enseñanza del contraste aspectual en español L3.

ELE in Éirinn IV Symposium: Current Trends in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (online).

  • Paper presentation: Intercomprensión, Inteligencia Artificial (IA) y la Enseñanza del Contraste Aspectual en Español L3.

Access and Inclusion in Language Teaching and Learning, University College Dublin.

  • Paper presentation: Transcending L2 Acquisition: Plurilingualism, Inter-comprehension and Positive Transfer in Spanish L3.

Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 2023. To be celebrated 20th - 21st October 2023.

  • Paper presentation: Teaching Spanish L3 through the Inter-comprehension Competence in an Increasingly Plurilingual Higher Education Setting in the UK.

Tense, Aspect and Modality in L2 (TAML2) at the University of Edinburgh. To be celebrated 27th - 28th October 2023.

  • Paper presentation: The acquisition of aspect and modality in Spanish as a second and third language in British English-native learners.

Annual conference 2023 of the Association of University Language Communities in the UK and Ireland (AULC). Celebrated 27th - 28th April at the University of Edinburgh.

  • Paper presentation: Teaching Spanish in an Increasingly Plurilingual Higher Education Setting: Inter-comprehension competence.

Annual Conference 2023 of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain & Ireland (AHGBI). Celebrated 17th - 18th April 2023 at University College Dublin (UCD) and Trinity College Dublin.

  • Paper presentation: Teaching Spanish L3 through the Intercomprehension Competence in the British Higher Education. 
  • PGR Award for Participation at AHGBI Annual Conference 2023.

Annual Conference 2022 of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain & Ireland (AHGBI). Celebrated 11th - 13th  April 2022 at the Institute of Modern Languages Research (IMLR), London.

  • Paper presentation: The acquisition of tense and modality in Spanish as a second and third language in native English speakers.
  • PGR Award for Participation at AHGBI Annual Conference 2022.

Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 2021. Celebrated 25th - 26th  October 2021 at the University of Edinburgh.

  • Poster presentation: The Acquisition of modality and aspect in Spanish among native English speakers learning French L2 and Spanish L3.

SGSAH Interconnected Scotland 2021, Research Showcase (online).

  • Presentation: Learning French and Spanish under the Scottish 1+2 policy.

Encuentro ELEUK 2021 by ELEUK Association for the Teaching of Spanish in Higher and Adult Education. Celebrated 9th - 11th June 2021 (online).

  • Presentation title: El aprendizaje del modo subjuntivo y el pasado en español L2 y L3.
  • Paper publication after Encuentro ELEUK 2021.
  • Assistant conference organiser.

ForLingua: la calidad y perfil del profesor de lengua by Universidad de Alcalá (Alcalingua). Celebrated 13th - 15th May 2021 (online).

  • Presentation title: Una reflexión sobre la enseñanza de español como tercera lengua en la educación secundaria británica.
  • Paper publication in ForLingua Revista Digital, May 2021.

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (forthcoming, 2024). Mood and Aspect in Spanish L2 and L3: The Role of Positive Transfer and a Proposal for Inter-Comprehension Competence. Bellaterra Journal of Teaching & Learning Languages & Literature. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2024). [Review of the book La enseñanza del español mediada por tecnología: de la justicia social a la inteligencia artificial (IA), by Muñoz-Basols, Javier, Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez, and Luis Cerezo]. Asociación de Lingüística y Filología de América Latina (ALFAL), 40, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.5935/2079-312X.20240008

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2024). Leveraging AI and Pluralistic Approaches for Language Teaching: A Focus on Inter-Comprehension Between Related Languages. In F. Pan (Ed.), AI in Language Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (pp. 300-323). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0872-1.ch014

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2022). El aprendizaje del modo y el aspecto en español como segunda o tercera lengua en el Reino Unido. In Soler Montes, Carlos; Díaz-Bravo, Rocío; Colomer i Domínguez, Vicens (Eds), Avances investigadores y pedagógicos sobre la enseñanza del español: aportes desde el contexto universitario británico (pp. 73-87). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2022.58.1400

Barquin Sanmartin, L. (2021). The Acquisition of modality and aspect in Spanish among native English speakers learning French L2 and Spanish L3. Bilingualism Matters Research Symposium 2021. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/AJSVG.

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2021). Una reflexión sobre la enseñanza de español como tercera lengua en la Educación Secundaria británica, ForLingua. Foro sobre el español: investigación y docencia, 2 (pp.87-101). Alcalingua, Universidad de Alcalá. [Online Access] https://www.alcalingua.com/sites/default/files/2022-01/2-Forlingua-2022-%20foro%20de%20mayo-2021.pdf

Barquín Sanmartín, L., Teruzzi, D. B., Guillamondegui, C., Mora, S. L., & Gálvez, Y. S. (2018). El español desembarca en América (B1). In Materiales para la clase de ELE 2017-2018 (pp. 71-108). Subdirección General de Atención al Ciudadano, Documentación y Publicaciones [Online Access]  https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/libro?codigo=726589

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2016). Estudio analítico de la evaluación diagnóstica en la enseñanza de la Traducción. BA (Hons) final dissertation. Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU). [Online Access] https://addi.ehu.es/handle/10810/21265

 

MEDIA

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2023). Learning Languages in the UK Through Inter-Comprehension. Bilingualism Matters Research Centre website. [Online Access] https://www.bilingualism-matters.org/news/learning-languages-in-the-uk-through-inter-comprehension

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2021). Learning French and Spanish under the Scottish 1+2 policy. In SGSAH Doctoral Research Showcase. [Online Access] https://sgsahresearch.com/portfolio/learning-french-and-spanish-under-the-scottish-12-policy/

Barquín Sanmartín, L. (2021). Teaching Spanish as a third language in the British academic setting. Bilingualism Matters Research Centre website. [Online Access] https://www.bilingualism-matters.org/network/edinburgh/news/spanish-as-a-third-language

  • Higher Education:
    • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
    • Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
  • Spanish as a Foreign Language:
    • Qualified examiner of DELE (all levels)
    • Qualified examiner of SIELE
  • Secondary Education:
    • Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
    • Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT)
    • Recently Qualified Teacher (RQT)