Meghann Peace, Ph.D.

Ph.D., University of Minnesota
M.A., University of Massachusetts
M.A., University of Virginia
B.A., Bucknell University

Meghann M. Peace, Ph.D., is excited to share her love of language with students at St. Mary’s University. As a lifelong language learner, she knows the benefits that multilingualism brings, in terms of both professional opportunities and personal enrichment. She enjoys helping her students develop not just their linguistic skills, but also their multicultural understanding, in the hopes of helping them to become world citizens with a global perspective.

Peace has taught Spanish at the university, high school and middle school levels. At St. Mary’s, she teaches Spanish language and linguistics courses that include sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and Spanish in the United States.

Her current research reflects her interest in Spanish dialects, contact between dialects in the globalized world, and the language, culture, and identity of her Hispanic students in San Antonio. She enjoys mentoring her students’ original research on questions related to U.S. Spanish and attitudes toward Spanglish in the community.

Outside of the classroom, Peace enjoys any activities that allow her to immerse herself in multicultural and multilingual contexts – traveling the globe, volunteering as a Spanish and Portuguese interpreter at international science conferences, and studying Brazilian capoeira.

Peace, M. M. (2021). “Aquí el español es muy diferente”: Mexican Americans’ linguistic characteristics in social interactions with Spaniards. In R. Pozzi, T. Quan, & C. Escalante (eds.), Heritage speakers of Spanish in study abroad (pp. 51-76). Routledge.

Peace, M. M. (2020). L2 Spanish clitic pronouns: A dynamic system. Language, Interaction and Acquisition/Langage, Interaction et Acquisition, 11(1), 99-129. https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.00009.pea

Peace, M. M. (2019). ¿Jugo de durazno o zumo de melocotón?: The socialization of Mexican-American students in service encounters in Spain. In G. L. Thompson & S. M. Alvord (eds.), Contact, community, and connections: Current approaches to Spanish in multilingual populations (pp. 323-352). Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.

Kentengian, I. M., & Peace, M. M. (2019). “Mi idioma”: Heritage speakers’ language varieties and identity stances in study abroad. In G. L. Thompson & S. M. Alvord (eds.), Contact, community, and connections: Current approaches to Spanish in multilingual populations (pp. 83-108). Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.

George, A., & Peace, M. M. (2019). Hispanic linguistics as a source of community connections for heritage language learners of Spanish. Revista Signos. Estudios de Lingüística, 52(101), 975-996. http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-09342019000300975  

Peace, M. M. (2019). Noticing without negotiation: What L2 Spanish learners report hearing in peer-produced language. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2017-0116

Peace, M. M. (2015). Other-orientation in non-native Spanish and its effects on the direct object. Foreign Language Annals, 48(4), 669-687. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12166

Peace, M. M. (2013). Adult acquisition of Spanish intonation: The effect of romantic relationships. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 32(1), 11-42.

Peace, M. M. (2012). ¿Lo puedo subir o puedo subirlo?: La posición del clítico en el español del oeste de Massachusetts. International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 31(1), 131-160.

Hurtado, F. (2021, February 25). Pero, like, is Spanglish the language of the future? NBC LX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sgwo2J7eRM

Salinas, A. Z. (2020, July 20). Translating for peace. Gold & Blue Magazine. https://www.stmarytx.edu/2020/translating-for-peace/

Aveleyra, F. (2019, December 9). El ‘Spanglish’ representa la identidad de los latinos en EE.UU. Telemundo: Noticias Telemundo. https://www.telemundo.com/noticias/2019/12/09/el-spanglish-representa-la-identidad-de-los-latinos-en-ee-uu-tmvo3618806

Rojas, P. (2019, December 9). Professor pushes to validate Spanglish dialect in the U.S. Fusion TV. https://fusion.tv/video/598339/professor-pushes-to-validate-spanglish-dialect-in-the-u-s/

Pretto, S. (2019, December 5). Conocimos a la profesora que imparte clases de ‘spanglish’ en una universidad de Texas. Univisión: ¡Despierta América!. https://www.univision.com/shows/despierta-america/conocimos-a-la-profesora-que-imparte-clases-de-spanglish-en-una-universidad-de-texas-video

Rojas, P. (2019, December 4). El “spanglish” alcanza categoría de estudio universitario en Texas. Univisión: Noticiero Univisión. https://www.univision.com/shows/noticiero-univision/el-spanglish-alcanza-categoria-de-estudio-universitario-en-texas-video?fbclid=IwAR347JhPxYDA0baS-18an5zU_Z5sYmVxOtMMEPVj34DhCzcsh3MHytAexM0

Phillips, C. (2019, November 29). These students speak perfect Spanglish – And now they’re learning to own it. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/29/775035698/these-students-speak-perfect-spanglish-and-now-theyre-learning-to-own-it

Phillips, C. (2019, October 25). Students challenge negative perceptions of Spanglish. National Public Radio: Morning Edition. https://www.npr.org/2019/10/25/773305492/students-challenge-negative-perceptions-of-spanglish

Phillips, C. (2019, October 25). ¿Qué es una lengua pura? College class challenges negative perceptions of Spanglish. Texas Public Radio. https://www.tpr.org/post/qu-es-una-lengua-pura-college-class-challenges-negative-perceptions-spanglish

Ayala, E. (2019, May 4). Do San Antonians speak a different kind of Spanish? San Antonio Express-News. https://www.expressnews.com/news/news_columnists/elaine_ayala/article/Do-San-Antonians-speak-a-different-kind-of-13818438.php?fbclid=IwAR1ixkEpDZwOnFmvOqg-U-WX8qYQ1-e5iIGRZUIuJMUO3JdRQuZfzpBDfO0 Martínez, N. (2018, November 16). Spanglish in Academia. Texas Public Radio: Fronteras. http://www.tpr.org/post/fronteras-spanglish-academia-revival-alameda-theater

Peace, M. M. (October, 2020). Understanding, reevaluating, and embracing heritage Spanish on the national stage. Presented to the Texas Language Education Research 2020 Conference, Online.

Peace, M., Kentengian, I, & George, A. (September, 2020). Exploring difficult topics with SHL peers across North America: Three-way virtual conversation exchanges. Presented to the 49^th Annual Meeting og the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, Online.

Bravo, A., & Peace, M. M. (March, 2020). Un análisis en la amplitud de disculpas. Scheduled to be presented to Calambur: The 7^th Annual Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, but cancelled due to COVID-19.

Maldonado, A., & Peace, M. M. (March, 2020). Heroes and Villains: A Different Perspective on the Mexican Revolution. Scheduled to be presented to Calambur: The 7^th Annual Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, but cancelled due to COVID-19.

Peace, M. M. (November, 2019). “Aquí el español es muy diferente”: Mexican-Americans’ linguistic accommodation in social interactions with Spanish peers. Presented to the 48^th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, Baton Rouge, LA.

Hernández, J., & Peace, M. M. (April, 2019). Watcheame: Societal Judgments of Spanglish in South Texas. Presented to the 27^th Conference on Spanish in the US and the 12^th Conference on Spanish in Contact with Other Languages, Cleveland, OH.

Medina, V., & Peace, M. M. (March, 2019). Cambio de código y préstamo léxico: The result of social perceptions or bilingual capacity? Presented to Calambur: The 6^th Annual Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

Michimani Leyva, M. G., & Peace, M. M. (February, 2018). Lexical Variation in Spanish Speakers. Presented to the 3^rd International Conference on Heritage/Community Languages, Los Angeles, CA.

Peace, M. M. (April, 2017). “Se habla por la calle, no es como proper Spanish”: Heritage speakers of Spanish and their linguistic insecurity. Presented to the 26^th Conference on Spanish in the United States, Provo, UT.

Peace, M. M. (November, 2016). Dos lenguas y dos culturas: El bilingüismo y el biculturalismo en Estados Unidos. Presented to the 3^rd International Conference on Bilingual Education in a Globalized World, Alcalá de Henares, Spain.

Peace, M. M., García, V., Saenz, D., & Dinon, C. (November, 2016). ¿Ligas para el chongo o gomas para la coleta?: Interdialectal service encounters. Presented to the 3rd International Conference of the American Pragmatics Association, Bloomington, IN.

Peace, M. M., & Michimani Leyva, M. (September, 2016). “Hablamos muy extraño”: Mexican heritage speakers and Peninsular Spanish. Presented to the 45^th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, Austin, TX.

Peace, M. M. (March, 2016). Attitudes, awareness and identity: Mexican and Peninsular Spanish in contact. Presented to DiscourseNet 17, Pamplona, Spain.

Peace, M. M. (May, 2015). “Poner or ponerla?”: Modeling null direct objects in non-native Spanish. Presented to the 10^th International Symposium on Bilingualism, New Brunswick, NJ.

Peace, M. M. (March, 2015). “Poner or ponerla?”: Modeling null direct objects in non-native Spanish. Presented to the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Toronto, Canada.

Peace, M. M. (February, 2015). Case and agreement in Spanish clitic pronouns: Evidence from L2 learners. Presented to the Workshop on L2 Acquisition of Alignment Patterns in Typologically Diverse Languages: Case and Agreement, Ghent, Belgium.

Peace, M. M. (September, 2014). “You’re just grabbing at big chunks of comprehension”: What do Spanish learners notice? Presented to the 43^rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, San Diego, CA.

Peace, M. M. (March, 2014). “I always want to use le when it’s a person”: Animacy, object pronouns and Spanish learners. Presented to the Georgetown University Round Table, Washington, D.C.

Peace, M. M. (October, 2013). “Is she getting it? Am I telling this in a good order?”: Non-native other-orientation. Presented to the Second Language Research Forum, Provo, UT.                     

Peace, M. M. (October, 2013). Stimulated recalls and the complexity of learner language. Presented to the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, Ottawa, Canada.                                                             

Flaherty-Echeverría, S., & Peace, M. M. (October, 2013). (Intra)National Learning and Teaching Spanish at the University of Minnesota. Presented to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers’ Conference “Teaching and Learning in Changing Times”, Minneapolis, MN.                                                         

Peace, M. M. (May, 2013). “I would love to use lo all over the place”: Teaching and Learning the Spanish Direct Object Pronoun. Presented to the Conference on Language Teacher Education, Washington, D.C.

Peace, M. M. (March, 2013). “That was the goal … for her to understand”: Spanish anaphora in L2 speech. Presented to the Workshop on Dialogue in Multilingual, Multimodal, and Multicompetent Communities of Practice, Austin, TX.                                                                                                                                        

Peace, M. M. (July, 2012). Yo te amo: The acquisition of intonation by native English speakers in relationships with native Spanish speakers. Presented to the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Peace, M. M. (April, 2012). Yo te amo: The acquisition of intonation by native English speakers in relationships with native Spanish speakers. Presented to the 65^th Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY.                                                                                                                         

Peace, M. M. (April, 2012). El que no sabe, es como el que no ve: The grammaticalization of visto que. Presented to the Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, Cedar City, UT.             

Peace, M. M. (March, 2012).  “Yo soy de Minnesota … soy de Minnesota”: English native speakers and the Spanish null pronoun. Presented to the American Association for Applied Linguistics, Boston, MA.

Amaral, L., & Peace, M. M. (October, 2010). New evidence on the acquisition of the OPC in Spanish and what it means for a theory of SLA. Presented to the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, Bloomington, IN.

Peace, M. M. (September, 2009). ¿Lo puedo subir o puedo subirlo?: La posición del clítico en el español del oeste de Massachusetts. Presented to the 38^th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, Provo, UT.                                                                                                           

Peace, M. M. (April, 2009). Spanish clitic climbing: The textbooks, the classroom and the reality. Presented to the 62^nd Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington, KY.