Undergraduates make up the lion’s share of students enrolled in classes with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the Ohio State University. With thousands enrolled in the Language Program, pursuing majors and minors, and expanding their knowledge of languages, cultures, and literatures, we saw it fit to give a shout out to some of the hard work they put in. 

 

Spanish double majors Liana Martínez, Emily Selio and Lizzie Pilsner spent the summer running a research protocol investigating children's knowledge of quantifiers (quantity words like "some", "all" and "none") and how they interact with prosody. The project, directed by Prof. Allison Ellawadi, of Speech and Hearing Sciences, and John Grinstead, of Spanish & Portuguese, will serve as the basis for their undergraduate theses. According to Prof. Grinstead, this English child language project complements earlier work in Mexico on child Spanish-speakers' understanding of Spanish quantifiers, including "unos" and "algunos". As part of the undergraduate research process, Liana was supported by an Undergraduate Research Scholar Award from The Office of Undergraduate Education and the Undergraduate Research Office. Similarly, Emily's work was supported by an Undergraduate Summer Research Award from the Buckeye Language Network. 

 

On a Fulbright Fellowship in 2012/2013, Sarah Little conducted independent linguistic research in Antigua, Guatemala. Her project focused on the interaction between Spanish and Kaqchikel, one of more than 20 Mayan languages spoken in the country. She used computer programs to analyze speech patterns, in hopes of finding out how the Kaqchikel language has affected the pronunciation of the r-sound in Guatemalan Spanish. "I am incredibly honored to be given the opportunity to represent my alma mater on a global scale. The excellent mentorship of my professors and the help of those at the Undergraduate Fellowship Office have pushed me to become the high-achieving individual I am today."

 

Also of note, our undergrads are spearheading a reincarnation of our Spanish & Portuguese club. Initial plans are being made to bring the club back to OSU, led by new president Lizzie Pilsner. The next meeting is Friday, September 19th, from 5pm to 7pm in Hagerty Hall, Rm. 255. The club officers have been busy getting organized, trained and ready to talk about activities for this year. They will talk about those activities (academic, service and fun) at the meeting and how interested folks can get involved. Email us for details!