Our Advanced Researchers are our group of in-service teachers, committed to exploring literacies research and practice in their own classrooms. Advanced Researchers include three kinds of teachers:
Meet our current Advanced Researchers:
- Novice Researchers who completed their BAs and wish to continue as LSLP researchers.
- Master's students (both from ML2 or past Novice Researchers) pursuing their research on literacies.
- LSLP researchers pursuing their doctoral degrees.
Meet our current Advanced Researchers:
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ZEIDY Y. AGUDELO-LOPERA, M.A. Candidate (Zey)
Zeidy is currently working on her MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages, interested in the use of affinity spaces for language learning and teaching. |
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MELISSA CASTAÑO, B.A. (Melissa)
Melissa is one of the original members of LSLP. She first joined LSLP (SRG-L2 at the time) in 2012 and was a researcher in Phase One of the Urban Literacies project. She left the project to pursue some individual academic and personal projects, including teaching and living in Brazil (where she also met the love of her life!). Melissa returned to Colombia permanently in 2017 and is now teaching at Montessori School (along with Ana Karina and Melanie). At the end of July, 2018 Melissa returned to LSLP, this time to help as a researcher in the early literacies research line and possibly in the upcoming makerspaces project. We are glad to welcome back one of our pioneers to the Legion once again! |
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SEBASTIÁN CASTAÑO, B.A. (Tavarez, the Kommisar)
Sebastián holds a B.A. in English-Spanish Education from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín. He joined LSLP in 2013 to participating in research on gaming literacies in Medellín. Now that he's part of the XRT, we will soon decide his next steps for research and collaboration, but we expect him to continue helping with other inquiries related to gaming. At present, he is a language instructor at Centro Colombo Americano. Additional research interests of his include professional research in Languages, specially English and Digital Communities In addition to his interests in languages, he has a particular interest in Physics and astronomy. He is also a very active gamer, very keen on Russian culture as part of his gaming experience (that somehow explains his moniker, Tavarez) |
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EDISON CASTRILLÓN, M.A. Candidate (Edison)
Edison is working on his M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages, exploring the use of podcasting as a critical digital literacy tool. He is also the director of Tour Languages, a language institute outside of Medellín, and an instructor at Universidad Católica Luis Amigó. |
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TATIANA CHIQUITO, M.A. Candidate (Taty Small)
Tatiana finished her studies in Modern Languages in Italy at “Instituto Tecnico Statale per il Turismo - Liceo Linguistico con orientazione umanistica Artemisia Gentileschi” in 2007. She worked as a Travel Agent Assistant constantly using languages for four years. In 2012 she had the opportunity to work as a teacher in the “Colegio Militar Jose Maria Cordoba” in Medellín, where she worked for two years. She is at present an English teacher at Restrepo Molina School in Envigado, as part of a program led by the Language Center at UPB. Tatiana finished her B.A in English-Spanish Education at UPB-Medellín in 2018 and is now pursuing her M.A. in Literature at UPB. She joined LSLP in 2014 and is currently part of the team for Phase Two of the Urban Literacies study. At present, Tatiana continues to explore the use of culturally relevant pedagogy and critical literacy as part of her instructional practices, is still assisting with data analysis and writing for ongoing manuscripts from Phase Two, and will be one of our researchers in the upcoming study on makerspaces. |
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MARJORIE GIRALDO-TONG, M.A. Candidate (Marjo)
Marjorie holds a BSc in International Business and a Technological Diploma as a Bilingual Secretary and a BA in English- Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. She's currently a Spanish instructor at the Open University of Hong Kong and is finishing her Master's in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language at Universidad de Barcelona. Previous academic experiences include designing thematic contents for virtual programs at View Corporation and serving as Deputy Assistant for the Middle School Principal at The Columbus School in Medellín. She joined LSLP in 2014 and helped with Phase Two team of the Urban Literacies study and the 21st Century Literacies in P-16 project. During her time in Hong Kong, Marjorie will continue working on publications and possibly collecting more data for future research projects and will surely return to assist in Phase Four of the Urban Literacies Study. |
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GLORIA GUTIÉRREZ-ARISMENDY, M.A. (Glory Dory)
Gloria holds an MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from UPB-Medellín, in addition to degrees in English Teaching and Acting. Her current research (which expands on her thesis) continues to explore the aesthetic dimensions of critical literacy through the use of TheatreSport as an alternative for language learning. She is at present the Research Coordinator at The New School here in Medellín. In addition to her current interests, Gloria is now teaching (along with Mónica) the research courses at the MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages and is actively involved in thesis direction. Besides her teaching and research duties, Gloria is also an accomplished actress, performing regularly on stage in different plays in Medellín. |
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MARIA CAMILA MEJÍA-VÉLEZ, M.A. Candidate (Cami)
Maria Camila holds a B.A in English-Spanish Education (Licenciatura Inglés-Español) from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia. She joined LSLP in 2013 to work in Phase One of the Urban Literacies study. She was also an English instructor at EAFIT (both Sislenguas and the Children's and Youth program). At present, she's pursuing her MA in TESOL at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Cami would like to focus her research agenda on issues of early literacy in the Colombian context. Specifically, she would like to explore the impact of children’s first experiences with literature in teaching practices. She has also become more interested in exploring the use of multimodality as a learning strategy in second language classrooms. |
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MELANIE MOLLAN-MOSCOSO, M.A. (Mel)
Melanie holds an MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages and a BA in English-Spanish Education from UPB. Melanie joined LSLP at the end of 2016. She's involved through her teaching in our School Literacies line, as she is interested in engaging her elementary school students in critical media literacy. Her other research agenda includes exploring Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) in second language education, the central topic for her master's thesis. |
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ANDRÉS FELIPE OCHOA, M.A. Candidate (Andrés)
Andrés is currently pursuing his MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at UPB. He is also an English instructor at Universidad Católica Luis Amigó. His research interests lie in the intersection of new literacies and second-language teacher education practices, issue he is currently exploring in his MA thesis study. |
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TYRONE STEVEN ORREGO, M.A. Candidate (Tyrone by Default)
Tyrone finished his B.A. in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín in 2018 and is at present pursuing his MA in Education at UPB. He joined LSLP in September, 2014. He has collaborated in the Gaming Literacies project since then, now involved in writing articles. He has a particular interest in Videogames and language learning. So far he speaks Spanish, English and French, but as member of the project, he is would like to inquire about how people develop their own ways of communication in virtual worlds, especially in English and Digital Communities. |
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CARLA PULGARÍN, B.A. Candidate (Karla)
Karla is at present finishing her B.A in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín while teaching at Benedictinos School. She was part of Phase One of the Urban Literacies study and then was on hiatus for a semester. She returned last year to work on the Language Exchange route in Phase Two of the Urban Literacies study, along with her individual research for her senior thesis. Her current research is geared toward the use of podcasting as a communicative competence tool. |
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NATALIA RAMÍREZ, M.A. Candidate (Nati)
Natalia Ramírez finished her B.A in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín and is now pursuing her M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages. She joined LSLP in 2013 to work in Phase One of the Urban Literacies study and will now continue working in Phase Two, while also working on her senior thesis. Natalia’s current research interests lie in issues of reading and writing, both in second languages such as English and in Spanish as a mother tongue. Based on her experiences at LSLP and her preservice classes, she would like to focus her future research agenda on the process of acquisition of other languages that exist today. For Natalia, it is important and interesting to do research that combines the archival elements of archival research with extended fieldwork on those educational issues. |
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SEBASTIÁN RAMÍREZ, B.A. (Zebs)
Zebs joined LSLP in August, 2016. He finsihed his BA in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín in 2018, At present, Zebs is in a transition stage, where he will continue helping in Phase Two of our gaming literacies study while looking at other avenues of exploration around gaming and visual literacies, topics that he initially developed in his senior thesis. |
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NATALIA ANDREA SALAZAR, M.A. (Nati)
Natalia holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from UPB-Medellín, program she completed under a scholarship for public school teachers from the Antioquia Secretary of Education. She was a teacher trainer with the National Ministry of Education. At present, she is in Australia taking language courses and doing some language teaching. She is currently studying the use of multimodal literacy frameworks, Edmodo in particular, as the basis for a renewed vision of English teaching practices in initial teacher education at the Normal school level. Natalia's research will help solidify the research on the use of multimodal design for communicative competence that LSLP has been developing for the past two years, as well as expand our research inquiries in teacher education contexts. |
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TATIANA SALAZAR PATIÑO, M.A. Candidate (Tati)
Tatiana holds a B.A in English-Spanish Education from UPB-Medellín and is pursuing her M.A. in Education at Universidad de Medellín. She has worked on Phase Two of the urban literacies study, and will soon continue her inquiries on multimodality and assessment as part of the XRT. At present, she's an English instructor at San Marcos School, as part of our university's agreement with the school. |
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ANDRÉS TOBÓN, M.A. Candidate (Andrés)
Andrés is currently working on his M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages, interested in issues of critical literacy and multimodality. |
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ESTEBAN VÁSQUEZ, Ph.D. Candidate(Esteban)
Esteban is at present ABD in the PhD in Philosophy program at UPB. He also holds an MA in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from the same university. He is an instructor at the UPB Faculty of Education and at Universidad de Medellín His PhD dissertation (under Raúl's direction) will propose new, groundbreaking assessment models that fit current trends in literacies research, addressing a pressing need in the curriculum. He is also involved in MA thesis direction in the ML2 program. |