Nov. 2, 2020

By Catalina Méndez Vallejo

On October 22, we welcomed Prof. Liliana Sánchez from the University of Illinois at Chicago, for a virtual visit in our SPA-LIN-LAS 233 course (Languages of the Americas), which is taught this semester by Prof. Catalina Méndez Vallejo and Prof. Eliot Raynor.

classvisit_Prof. Liliana Sánchez
Photo courtesy of Catalina Méndez Vallejo

Prof. Sánchez’s research focuses on bilingual, heritage, and comparative syntax. She investigates the crosslinguistic influence of languages in contact (Spanish, Quechua, Shipibo, Ashaninka, Korean, and English). She is also interested in the interface between informational structure and morphosyntax, as well as language assessment in minority populations.

In this visit, Prof. Sánchez explained some of the most prominent linguistic differences between Spanish, Quechua, Shipibo and Ashaninka languages. She also discussed the process of developing linguistic research projects in South America and the complex relationship that many indigenous communities have with the local governments.