About:

Daniela Narváez Burbano is originally from Quito, Ecuador. She graduated with a B.A. in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE). Daniela is a member of the interdisciplinary linguistic research project Oralidad Modernidad which since 2009 aims to study indigenous languages in Ecuador. Daniela entered the Ph.D. program at UMass Amherst in the fall of 2017. She is interested in sociolinguistics and Linguistic anthropology, emphasizing language contact, identity, and language ideologies. Her current research focuses on raciolinguistics and mock languages of Andean Ecuadorian Spanish and Kichwa. She has also worked with minority groups from Cañar living in New Jersey and Northampton, and researched their linguistic diaspora.

Degrees:

Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics (ABD), University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Dissertation title: Linguistic Racism and Racialization on social media: The Case of (Mock) Kichwa

M.A., Hispanic Linguistics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

B.A., Applied Linguistics – Teaching languages, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

Honors Thesis: Estudio sociolingüístico georeferenciado del Kichwa de Imbabura: el caso del pueblo Karanki en las parroquias de La Esperanza y Angochagua del cantón Ibarra.

Research:

My research focuses on language use and language ideologies in the Spanish and Kichwa speaking world, especially in the Andes of Ecuador, Spain, and the U.S. Regarding Spanish in the U.S., my colleague Claudia Matachana López and I published a paper entitled “10 palabras en español que has estado diciendo mal”: Ideologías lingüísticas sobre el español en los Estados Unidos presentes en YouTube”. We analyze language ideologies of correctness targeted to Dominican Spanish. Concerning Linguistic Landscape, I have worked in Ecuador and the US with the Ecuadorian Diaspora in Queens, New York. I have co-authored an article named “Landscaping an Ecuadorian Neighborhood in Queens, NY,” where we demonstrate how an Ecuadorian-American community in Queens transformed the linguistic landscape of their neighborhood to emulate the environment of their home country. Likewise, I co-published a book chapter entitled “Linguistic Landscape in Otavalo: Kichwa, Spanish or English?” where we show that the use of language will depend on the perception of the social actors involved. I also work with Professor Marleen Haboud (PUCE, Quito-Ecuador) on the interdisciplinary project Oralidad Modernidad and Professor Nina Moreno (University of North Carolina) on a project related to learning Kichwa in an online setting.

My dissertation, Linguistic racism, and racialization on social media. The case of (Mock) Kichwa focuses on the intersection between language use, language ideologies, and race in what I call mock Kichwa. This seemingly humorous and innocent mockery is observed through rapidly circulated memes, where images of indigenous people are paired with stigmatized linguistic features. My work draws on scholarship on language and race in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, specifically building on Jane Hill’s work on Mock Spanish and Jonathan Rosa and Nelson Flores’ raciolinguistic perspective. I apply this framework to demonstrate how language attitudes are still deeply rooted in racializing ideologies, circulated through online mocking practices in Ecuador towards Kichwa or Ecuadorian Andean Spanish speakers (EAS) but can also be contested in complex ways.

Teaching:

I have taught various language courses at three institutions as a graduate student. At UMass Amherst, I have taught all the basic and intermediate Spanish-language courses, “Spanish for Heritage Speakers” (SPAN 314), “Advanced Grammar” (SPAN 311), and “Oral and Written Expression” (SPAN 312). In the Summer of 2019, I was selected as the Assistant to the director of the Salamanca Program at UMass Amherst. I was in charge of leading the discussion sessions about Spanish and Culture at the University of Salamanca. In the Fall of 2022, I taught Spanish III and II at Amherst College.

As an instructor of Spanish in higher education institutions, my primary goal is for my students to feel confident and communicate without thinking they are making mistakes or do not speak “proper Spanish.” No matter the level or the topic of the class, be it heritage speakers or students of Spanish I, my courses follow an anti-racist pedagogical approach, thus creating a safe space to learn not only a language but also its history, varieties, and cultural intricacies.

Community Service:

Community engagement is strongly linked to my teaching practices and research. Since 2020, I have worked at least 6 hours a week by serving as the Seal of Biliteracy Program’s Assistant to the Spanish Director in the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools (ARPS). My current responsibilities include looking for volunteers to participate as language instructors in the clubs so students can practice their home language and earn the Seal of Biliteracy. I have also worked with The Amherst Human Rights Commission, Amherst College, and ARPS Multilingual Parent Advisory Council (MPAC), creating community events that celebrate and give visibility to the multilingual families in Amherst. Some of these events were part of the Latino/a/x/e Heritage Month Celebration and the Linguistic Heritage month Celebration. 

Selected publications:

1. BOOK CHAPTERS/ JOURNAL ARTICLES

A- BOOK CHAPTERS

Gubitosi, P., Narváez Burbano, D., & Puma Ninacuri, C. (2023). “The Ecuadorian diaspora in Madrid and the conceptualization of sociolinguistic authenticity.” In A. Patiño-Santos & R. Marquez Reiter (Eds.), Language practices and processes among Latin Americans in Europe. Routledge. ISBN9781003130703. (Forthcoming)

Narváez Burbano, D. (2022). “Two varieties of Ecuadorian Andean Spanish: the variable use of direct object pronouns in Facebook comments.” In Gómez, R., O’Rourke, E., & García, C. (Eds.) Ecuadorian Spanish in the 21st Century: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, 253-276. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 1-5275-8680-4.

Puma Ninacuri, C., & Narváez Burbano, D. (2021). “Linguistic Landscape in Otavalo. Kichwa, Spanish or English?”, In Gubitosi, P. & F. Ramos Pellicia, M.F. (Eds.) Linguistic Landscape in the Spanish-speaking World, 313–340. Issues in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, vol. 35. Cambridge, MA: John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/ihll.35.12pum.

Narváez Burbano, D. (2020). “Vitalidad lingüística del Kichwa karanki: un estudio desde la documentación activa.” In M. Haboud, C. S. Sánchez, & F. Garcés (Eds.), Desafíos en la Diversidad 2. Desplazamiento lingüístico y revitalización: Reflexiones y metodologías emergentes, 215–248. Abya Yala/PUCE/Oralidad Modernidad/ DIPALICORI.

 B- PEER REVIEW PUBLICATIONS

Matachana López, C., & Narváez Burbano, D. (2022). ““10 palabras en español que has estado diciendo mal”: Ideologías lingüísticas sobre el español en los Estados Unidos presentes en YouTube.” Hispania 105(2), 195-212. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpn.2022.0032.

Gubitosi, P., Puma, C., & Narváez Burbano, D. (2021). “Landscaping an Ecuadorian Neighborhood in Queens, NY". Cuadernos de lingüística hispánica [online]. 2020, n.36, 211-234.  https://doi.org/10.19053/0121053x.n36.2020.11302.