Dr Mariana González Boluda

• PhD (July 2020) Linguistic and Literary Studies in their Sociocultural Contexts, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. Title of thesis: New Technologies for the Development of Writing Skills with Jamaican University Students.
• Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in Development of Multimedia and New Methodologies in the Foreign Language Teaching and M.Ed. in Foreign Language Teaching. National University of Distance Education, Spain 
• BA Spanish Philology, University of Murcia, Spain

I was born and raised in Spain. I have lived and taught in France, England, Jamaica and then the USA. In France, I taught Spanish in different secondary schools. In Jamaica, I arrived in 1996 and I was awarded a four years scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Lectora. First I was teaching all levels Spanish at the University of the West Indies for 8 years and then at the University of Technology (UTech), Jamaica. From 2011 to 2015 I was also Head of the Foreign Languages Division at UTech. I moved to the USA in 2015 where I joined  the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign. I was teaching Spanish and I was also involved in developing and teaching online Spanish courses for beginners and intermediate levels. Currently I hold the position of Teaching Fellow in Spanish at the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History & Music. I have completed my Doctorate Degree Program in Linguistic and Literary Studies in their Sociocultural Contexts with the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. I have completed several courses, workshops and participated in conferences focused on new trends in foreign languages teaching methodologies with special interest in online language learning and the development of learner autonomy.

• Multilingual language acquisition: Spanish as a third Language and multilingual learners
• Language as a tool to promote the development of intercultural competence and encourage autonomous learning.
• Language for specific purposes
• Use of web 2.0 to maximize Foreign Language learning: Facebook, blogs and wikis
• Implementation and development of oral skills in fully online language courses in Higher Education

Conferences

• September 4-7, 2019 Adquisición de L3 en contexto multilingüe: retos y oportunidades presented at the 30th International Congress ASELE, Internacionalización y enseñanza del español como LE/L2: plurilingüismo y comunicación intercultural, Porto, PortugalJ
• June 6-7, 2019  Workshop about Flipping the classroom presented at the  XVII Jornadas de Redes de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria- REDES 2019, III Workshop Internacional de Innovación en Enseñanza Superior y TIC- INNOVAESTIC 2019, University of Alicante, Spain  
• June 25-27, 2018 Desarrollo de destrezas orales en un modelo de aprendizaje autónomo y online de ELE presented at the 100th AATSP (American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese)  Conference at the University of Salamanca, Spain.
• March 20-23, 2018 El Profesor Global: Aprender y Enseñar en el siglo XXI, two plenary sessions and  seminars presented at the University of Alicante, Spain
• 5-8 June, 2017 Implementación de la Modalidad Online para el Aprendizaje de ELE en un contexto universitario presented at the Virtual USATIC 2017, Ubicuo y Social: Aprendizaje con TIC, Red EuLES, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain.
• 1 April, 2017  From Blended to Fully Online Language Courses: Implementing Online Beginner’s Courses in Higher Education presented at the IV Congress Spanish as a Foreign Language, Université de Montréal, Canada
• 22-25 June, 2016 La adquisición de una tercera lengua en contexto multilingüe: retos y oportunidades presented at the III International Congress in Multilingüism organized by the Nebrija University in Madrid.
• 9-11 July, 2015  Foreign Languages Teachers and Students’ Perceptions on Social Media and its Influence on Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in a University Context, presented at the International Conference on Learning organized by the Learner Community at the Universidad San Pablo CEU in Madrid, Spain.
• 10-13 July, 2014 Improving Foreign Language Learning Through Online Intercultural Exchanges in Skype, presented at the European Conference on Technology in the Classroom (ECTC) 2014 organized by the International Academic Forum (IAFOR) in Brighton, United Kingdom.
• 9-11 July, 2013  Social Media for Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in Higher Education, delivered at the 6th International Conference on Open Education and Technology, organized by the University of the Basque Country, in Zalla (Bilbao), Spain.
• 18-21 July, 2013 Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in Higher Education, delivered at the European Conference on Language Learning (ECLL) 2013 organized by the International Academic Forum (IAFOR) in Brighton, United Kingdom.
• 21-23 June, 2012 Towards an intercultural perspective in Manuals of Spanish as a Foreign Language, delivered at the tenth International Conference organized by the GERES and the University of Lyon, France.
• November, 2011 Using Blogs and Social Networking to promote Autonomous Learning, delivered at the Online World Congress of Teachers of Spanish, organized by the Instituto Cervantes.
• December, 2010 Learning Experiences with the Web 2.0 to enhance Language Learner Autonomy in Spanish Foreign Language in Higher Education, delivered at the International Language Conference, “Translation, Technology and Autonomy in Language Teaching and Learning” organized by the NUI, National University of Ireland, Galway
• 17 June, 2010    Promoting autonomous learning through the use of wikis and blogs, delivered at Bordeaux International Conference for the GERES (Research Group for Spanish for Specific Purposes), Bordeaux, France
• 3 March, 2010   Exploring autonomous learning as a way of improving Foreign Language proficiency in Jamaican Tertiary Education, delivered at the International Language Conference Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica
• 1 June, 2009     New Ways of Teaching Foreign Languages for Caribbean Technical Students: Examples of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of Technology, delivered at the 34th Conference of the Caribbean Studies Association in Kingston, Jamaica.