​Eva-María Suárez Büdenbender

So, you've browsed my website and you've come upon the word "linguistics" and you are thinking: "Sure, she's a language teacher." And... yes, I am, but I did not study Spanish solely to teach it, rather I studied Hispanic Linguistics. So, what does that mean?

 

Linguistics refers to the study of language. That is language (any language) as a means of communication. All languages have particular structures in how they work to enable communication, and those structures are what linguists try to understand. Many of those structures are universal (e.g., any basic sentence in any language tends to indicate the "actor" (subject), the "action" (verb), and, perhaps more information, such as an object of that "action" (e.g., Johnny eats an apple.).

 

And...of course, this is not only done for English, but for any language out there! I studied the sounds of Spanish, how they are articulated and heard (by native speakers and non-native speakers), how words are put together (plurals, new word creations, etc.), how sentence structure works in Spanish (and how that can differ in some varieties) and much more. What I decided to focus on in my research is how differences between regional variations (often called dialects) can be perceived by speakers of other varieties. So, think of the English spoken in the Appalachian region(s). How do native speakers feel about it and how do those outside of Appalachia react to it? That is the study of language attitudes. 

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If you look to the right, you can find some really cool introductory videos. Go check them out! If you have any questions, email me.

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