People

PEOPLE

Principal Investigator

Julio Torres (PhD, Georgetown University) is Professor of Applied Linguistics & Multilingualism in the Department of Latin American & Iberian Cultures with courtesy appointments in the School of Education and Language Science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He directs the minor in Spanish/English bilingual education and serves as the academic coordinator of the heritage Spanish writing course at UCI. His research interests include heritage/second language acquisition, multilingualism, cognition, and task-based language learning. His publications have appeared in venues such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition and The Modern Language Journal as well as edited volumes and handbooks. He's the co-editor of the 2022 volume Aproximaciones al estudio del español como lengua de herencia with Routledge Press. He serves as an Associate Editor of the Heritage Language Journal. Professor Torres is the recipient of the 2014 Russell Campbell Young Scholar Special Recognition Award for the field of heritage language education and of the 2020 School of Humanities Teaching Award at UCI. He also works as a teacher educator with K-16 teachers/instructors in designing task-based instruction and curriculum for heritage language students.

Research Team

Jennifer Aguilar is a fourth-year, first-generation undergraduate transfer student majoring in Education Sciences with a minor in Spanish-English Bilingual Education. As a bilingual student and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she is interested in multiculturalism, multilingual education, and translanguaging within K-12 educational environments. She is particularly interested in how bilingualism influences language development and learning. She hopes to pursue a graduate degree through UCI's Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program and earn her teaching credential to become an elementary school teacher who can better support multilingual students.

My name is Jocelyn Gonzalez and I am a second-year, first-generation student majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Spanish. As someone who grew up bilingual, I am highly interested in the cognitive impacts involved in multilingualism. I hope to learn more about how language/communication shapes educational and life experiences in general. My goal is to use my experiences and knowledge to better serve my bilingual community through education and healthcare.

Quinn Oeppinger is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Spanish with a minor in Spanish-English Bilingual Education. He has a great interest in translanguaging, late bilingualism, and language learning in formal educational settings. Following the completion of his undergraduate degree, Quinn hopes to obtain a master's degree in Education and pursue teaching in bilingual education.

Andrea Ortega-Mondragon is a fourth-year, first generation undergraduate student double majoring in Spanish and Education Sciences, with a minor in Spanish-English Bilingual Education. Her experiences as a bilingual individual have shaped her interest in multilingualism and its impact on students' educational experiences. In the future, Andrea hopes to earn her master's degree and teaching credential, specializing in bilingual elementary education.

Raúl Romo (he/him) is a first-generation Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at UC Irvine and a 2026-2027 Crossing Latinidades Mellon Fellow. His research examines queer cultural and literary productions across the Americas. He is also passionate about language instruction, critical pedagogy, and curriculum development. As a collaborator in the Areyto Lab, Raúl looks forward to contributing to research efforts that advance language instruction and bilingual education.

Michelle Urbina is a 4th-year first generation college undergraduate student majoring in Spanish with a minor in Spanish/English Bilingual Education. Her experiences growing up in a family of immigrant parents in a country that has historically devalued other languages and cultures has made her interested in learning about the complexities of bilingualism and culture as a Latino-American. After undergraduate she hopes to work for a school district either as an administrator or a teacher.