Powered by Research Education at University Libraries. Speaking of Books series features free, open to the community and public talks by UMD faculty authors on their recently published work. 

Join us for a panel discussion of four exciting new faculty publications, all united by the themes of language, learning, and social justice. Professors Nan Jiang (The Study of Bilingual Language Processing), Loren Jones (Teaching Young Multilingual Learners: Key Issues and New Insights), José L. Magro (Language and Antiracism: An Antiracist Approach to Teaching (Spanish) Language in the USA), and Megan Madigan Peercy (Core Practices for Teaching Multilingual Students: Humanizing Pedagogies for Equity) will discuss details of their most recent publications as well as intersections in their work across disciplines.

Nan Jiang received his Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona in 1998. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology at Penn State University in 1998-1999, and taught at Auburn University and Georgia State University before joining the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at UMD as an associate professor of SLA. His main research interest involves the study of cognitive/psycholinguistic processes and mechanisms involved in adult second language acquisition. Specific topics include bilingual language processing, lexical representation and development in L2, language transfer, the integration of linguistic knowledge in adult L2 learning, and the relationship between language and thought. His research is mostly lab-based and has appeared in journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Learning, Applied Linguistics, Modern Language Journal, Applied Psycholinguistics, Journal of Memory and Language. He is the author of Conducting Reaction Time Research in Second Language Studies (Routledge, 2012), Second Language Processing: An Introduction (Routledge, 2018), and The Study of Bilingual Language Processing (OUP, 2023). Nan Jiang is on the 2023 list of Top 2% Scientists for the subfield of Languages and Linguistics. 

Loren Jones, Ph.D., is Associate Clinical Professor and TESOL Certification Programs Coordinator in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her 2023 co-authored book titled Teaching young multilingual learners: Key issues and new insights, outlines culturally sustaining teaching practices that are critical for working with multilingual learners. Some of her other recent work has been published in TESOL Journal,  The Teacher Educator, and Computers & Education.

Raised in Alcorcón, Madrid, and a long-time resident of Brooklyn, José Magro is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The University of Maryland, College Park, where he works on antiracist curriculum development and teaches all levels of Spanish and Sociolinguistics courses. With a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics, a M.Ed., and a B.S. in Social Psychology, Dr. Magro specializes in Critical Applied Sociolinguistics. His research interests are Critical (Antiracist) Pedagogies, Hip-Hop Pedagogies, Second and Heritage Language Learning and Teaching, Bilingualism, Language and Identity, Language Ideologies, and Spanish in the USA. He has published book chapters and articles in journals such as Linguistics and Education and the Journal of Sociolinguistics. His book, Language and antiracism: An antiracist approach to teaching (Spanish) language in the USA, was published by Multilingual Matters in May 2023. Dr. Magro is also a well-known MC who, along with his rap group El Club de los Poetas Violentos, developed the foundations for Spanish rap during the early 1990s socio-politically charged peripheric Madrid scene; during the 2000s, after moving to Brooklyn, NY, he worked with consolidated and emergent Hip-Hop artists helping to consolidate the Latino Hip-Hop movement.

Megan Madigan Peercy is Professor in the College of Education and Special Assistant to the Provost at the University of Maryland. Her research examines pedagogies of teacher education and the preparation and development of teachers throughout their careers, as they work with multilingual learners. She is deeply invested in understanding the ways in which practice and theory can be in dialogue. Her research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the Maryland State Department of Education. Examples of her recent work appear in Linguistics and Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, TESOL Quarterly, and TESOL Journal. She is the 2024 recipient of the Leadership Through Research Award in Second Language Research from the American Educational Research Association.