News & Events
Miriam Ellis international Playhouse (MEIP XXII) 2024
July 1, 2025
Cowell College, Stevenson College and the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics will present the 22nd season of the Miriam Ellis international Playhouse (MEIP XXII), May 31, June 1, and June 2, at 7:00 PM in the Stevenson Event Center at UCSC. The program of fully-staged multilingual performances in French, Japanese, and Spanish, with English supertitles, will be performed by Language students and directed by their instructors.
Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
July 1, 2025
On Monday, October 16th, the Chinese program brought our students together for a special collaborative class centered on the lively Mid-Autumn Festival, a significant Chinese holiday.
El Centro Event
July 1, 2025
El Centro invited the Spanish language section in the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics, to participate in their annual event "La Bienvenida 2023" on October 14th at the Quarry Plaza on campus.
Welcome to our newest faculty member: Saori Hoshi
July 1, 2025
We are delighted to welcome Dr. Saori Hoshi to our department as Assistant Professor of Japanese and Applied Linguistics. Saori received a Ph.D in East Asian Languages and Literatures (Japanese) from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2017 and comes to our department from the University of British Columbia.
The Miriam Ellis International Playhouse XXI May 12-14, 2023
July 1, 2025
Cowell College, Stevenson College and the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics will present the 21st season of the Miriam Ellis international Playhouse (MEIP XXI), May 12, 13, and 14, at 7:00 PM in the Stevenson Event Center at UCSC.
Congratulations to Professor Eve Zyzik on the publication of her new book - Vivencias: Lengua, cultura y sociedad a través de relatos sonoros
July 1, 2025
Chinese Community Event
July 1, 2025
On December 6th, the Chinese lower division students from UCSC, led by Instructor Elu Tu, brought a wave of cultural fun to Bayview Elementary School with a vibrant cultural assembly.
Bicentennial Ambassadors: Spanish-Speaking Game Day
July 1, 2025
We hosted an intercultural mixer with 24 visiting Mexican students and Spanish-language learners on campus. They were playing traditional Hispanic board games like Lotería, Parchís, and Dominó while speaking in Spanish. We all had such a blast!
Harbor High Visit
July 1, 2025
On May 10, the department of Languages and Applied Linguistics hosted a visit by Harbor High School students and their parents. The group consisted of 9 parents who form part of Harbor High’s English Learner Advisory Council as well over 30 students, many of whom have recently migrated to Santa Cruz from Latin-American countries.
Associate Professor Mark Amengual Receives Research Award
July 1, 2025
Congratulations to Mark Amengual, Associate Professor of Languages and Applied Linguistics, who has been awarded UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI)
Assistant Professor Josefina Bittar awarded the Hellman Fellows Program Award
July 1, 2025
Bittar will conduct fieldwork on language use and change among Paraguayan immigrants in Spain.
Maxine Uy Altura presents her research at the Koret Undergraduate Research Slam 2023
July 1, 2025
On Friday, June 2nd, Maxine Uy Altura, a junior in the Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism major presented her research entitled "Cross-linguistic influence in Tagalog-English bilingual speech" at the Koret Undergraduate Research Slam at McHenry Library.
Undergraduate Student Awards 2024-2025
July 1, 2025
Undergraduate students won several awards in the 2024-2025 school year, and we are proud to recognize their achievements.
Sakae Fujita Receives 2023-24 Excellence in Teaching Award
July 1, 2025
Celebration of Life event for Miriam Ellis
July 1, 2025
On December 3, 2022, UCSC will host a memorial to celebrate the life of Miriam Ellis, lecturer emerita of French, fellow of Cowell College, and founder of the Miriam Ellis International Playhouse (MEIP)
Professor Mark Amengual publishes his new book – The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingual Phonetics and Phonology
July 1, 2025
Bilingualism and the study of speech sounds are two of the largest areas of inquiry in linguistics. This Handbook sits at the intersection of these fields, providing a comprehensive overview of the most recent, cutting-edge work on the sound systems of adult and child bilinguals.
Congratulations to Professor Eve Zyzik on the publication of her new book - The Acquisition of Spanish
July 1, 2025
Maria Victoria González-Pagani Receives 2024-25 Excellence in Teaching Award
July 1, 2025
Miriam Ellis, lecturer emerita (1927—2022)
June 20, 2022
Spanish Studies Alumni Highlight
May 19, 2022
The Spanish Studies program in the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz is proud of our alumni and their accomplishments. We are starting this Alumni Spotlight as a way of highlighting those alumni who are doing great things.
Peter Rushton and Jacqueline Ku Endowment Supports Chinese
January 21, 2022
The Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics is delighted to announce the creation of the Peter Rushton and Jacqueline Ku Endowed Memorial Fund for Chinese Languages, thanks to support from Nicole Tsao and a generous gift from Philip Rushton.
Lecturer Edith Leni Receives Grant
October 6, 2021
Lecturer Edith Leni has received a grant to develop a Global Classroom partnership between UCSC and the Universidad Arturo Prat in Iquique, Chile.
Spanish Studies Alumni Highlight
June 16, 2021
The Spanish Studies program in the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz is proud of our alumni and their accomplishments. We are starting this Alumni Spotlight as a way of highlighting those alumni who are doing great things.
Scholar Profile - Javier Fernández-Agüera
June 16, 2021
A Spanish lecturer in the Languages and Applied Linguistics department, Javier Fernández-Agüera, brings a life-long passion for language combined with a heart for inclusion to the UC Santa Cruz campus.
Announcing the Spanish Studies Minor
November 13, 2020
The Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics is excited to announce that the new Spanish Studies Undergraduate Minor has been approved.
2018 Student News
December 18, 2018
UCSC Bilingualism Research Laboratory
October 20, 2018
The UCSC Bilingualism Research Laboratory facilitates research focused on the linguistic, social, and cognitive consequences of knowing more than one language. We are interested in how the bilingual language experience, language learning history, language dominance, proficiency levels, and cognitive factors affect the production, perception, and processing of both languages of the bilingual/multilingual individual.
Lain 2018-2019 CITL Faculty Fellow
October 18, 2018
Stephanie Lain, Lecturer in Spanish, selected as a 2018-2019 CITL Faculty Fellow.
Rohmer Awarded Excellence in Teaching
October 18, 2018
Carine Rohmer, Lecturer in French, was honored with one of only six Excellence in Teaching Awards granted this year.
Zyzik Named to Prestigious Journal
October 18, 2018
Eve Zyzik has been named the Associate Executive Director of Language Learning.
Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism BA
January 17, 2017
Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism is a major grounded in interdisciplinary studies. Students explore a variety of intriguing topics, such as: How do we learn a second language? Are there “better” ways of teaching languages? Who is a bilingual? How is language related to complex social structure and diverse social identities? What is the role of language in intercultural communication in the globalizing world?
Congratulations to Alvaro Romero
June 22, 2016
The Department of LAAL wishes to acknowledge Spanish Lecturer Alvaro Romero on the publication of his book.
Peter Rushton Award Recipient Ysabel King
October 22, 2015
My time in Taipei was extraordinary. I went into it with a bit of anxiousness about living on my own and functioning in a country where I wasn’t confident in my language ability, but by the end I discovered a new confidence.
Italian 100 - Fall 2015
March 13, 2015
Tonia Prencipe received a grant from the Italian Institute of Culture in San Francisco to partially sponsor a new course for Italian at UCSC.
Our newest faculty member, Mark Amengual
September 17, 2014
We are delighted to welcome Assistant Professor Mark Amengual to our department. Mark received a Ph.D in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013.
