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Dr Lourdes Barquín Sanmartín

Dr Lourdes Barquin Sanmartin portrait
Lecturer and module convenor

Office

Miller 101

Building location

Miller building

Areas of interest

I am a linguist with a strong background in language teaching at both secondary and higher education levels. I hold a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition from the University of Edinburgh, which continually informs my teaching practice, scholarship and research outputs. My current research focuses on how Generative AI can be used by teachers to make complex Spanish grammar features, such as the imperfect past tense, more accessible to learners.

My doctoral research centred on the acquisition of Spanish as a second (L2) and third (L3) language in native English speakers, with a particular focus on grammatical transfers between closely related languages. From this, I developed a growing interest in Pluralistic Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching, particularly in fostering Intercomprehension Competence between both related and unrelated languages.

Research Interests

  • Second and Third Language Acquisition
  • Applied Linguistics
  • Interlinguistic Transfers
  • Positive Transfers between Romance Languages
  • Intercomprehension Between Romance Languages
  • Pluralistic Approaches to Language Learning
  • Plurilingualism
  • Linguistic Policies in the UK
  • Modern Foreign Languages in British Secondary and Higher Education
  • Applications of Generative AI for Teaching Material Development.

Teaching

Convenor and lecturer of Spanish LA1PS1 and Spanish LA1PS2.

Background

Before transitioning to higher education, I obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary Education (PGCE) with a specialisation in Modern Foreign Languages and spent three years teaching in a British school. During this time, I also earned an MA in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. This experience has greatly informed and consolidated my pedagogical and teaching strategies, equipping me to better understand the weaknesses and challenges faced by British students transitioning from GCSEs or A-Levels into university-level study.

During my PhD studies, I worked as a Tutor in Spanish at the University of Edinburgh, where I taught across all undergraduate levels. I also taught at King’s College London (Centre for Languages), delivering courses for levels 1, 2, and 3, as well as for Postgraduate Spanish Beginners. Additionally, I served as a Tutor in Translation for postgraduate students enrolled in the MA in Translation Studies at the University of Birmingham, where I also supervised students' dissertations.

After completing my PhD, I joined University College Dublin (Ireland) as a Teaching Fellow in Spanish. In this role, I led the curriculum review and development of first-year Spanish language courses and coordinated both language and content modules for second-year students. Additionally, I taught final-year Spanish language and designed, developed, and coordinated my own elective module for final-year students.

A year later, I returned to the UK to take up a Lecturer position in Spanish at the University of Reading. Currently, I serve as the convenor for LA1PS1 and LA1PS2 in the IWLP section of the Department of Languages and Cultures.

Academic qualifications

  • PhD in Hispanic Studies. University of Edinburgh
  • MA in Applied Linguistics in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language. Universidad Europea del Atlántico
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Modern Foreign Languages. University of Chester
  • BA (Hons) in Translation and Interpretation Studies. University of the Basque Country

Awards and honours

  • 2024 – Nominated for 2023/24 Teaching and Learning Awards (University College Dublin)
  • 2024 – Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • 2023 – UCML Postgraduate Bursary
  • 2023 – Principal’s Go Abroad Fund (University of Edinburgh).
  • 2023 – AHGBI Annual Conference Award for Postgraduate Researchers
  • 2022 – Nominated for 2021/22 Teacher of the Year Award (University of Edinburgh)
  • 2022 – Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education (AFHEA)
  • 2022 – Staff Mobility at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (University of Edinburgh)
  • 2022 – SRUK/CERU Travel Grant
  • 2022 – AHGBI Annual Conference Award for Postgraduate Researchers.
  • 2021 – British Spanish Society and BBVA Scholarship (Spanish Embassy in London)
  • 2017 – British Council Language Teacher Training Scholarship (PGCE 2017/18)

Professional bodies/affiliations

Selected publications

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

Publications

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