Graduate Catalog

In addition to fulfilling the admission requirements set forth by the Office of Graduate Studies, prospective candidates must verify that they have successfully completed study in the following areas:

If the prospective candidate does not fulfill these requirements, a conditional admission may be granted in accordance with the established regulations of the Office of Graduate Studies.

Within the MAEE program, there are four core courses required for all students. Outside of the core, students may opt to tailor their programs to meet their individual interests, selecting from courses in literature, linguistics, pedagogy and research. Students in the MAEE Program choose from one of three options:

The thesis option requires students to complete a thesis as the program requirement. The Creative Project requires the production of a significant creative project worthy of publication and a report in which the contents of the project is set into its historical and/or intellectual framework. The comprehensive exam option requires students to take an additional two courses and to pass an exam that has a three-part written component and an oral presentation to the department.

Each option is defined clearly in the English Department Graduate Handbook that is provided to students upon entry into the program.

Advanced Undergraduate Courses

INGL 5009. CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR (II) (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: authorization of the Director of the Department.

Analysis of the descriptive grammars of English and Spanish to identify areas of divergences and to achieve an understanding of linguistic universals.

INGL 5010. PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE (I) (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: authorization of the Director of the Department.

Historical overview of language teaching methods from grammar-translation to the most recent approaches; students will develop applications for teaching English as a second language.

INGL 5015. ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERARY CRITICISM (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: authorization of the Director of the Department.

Theory and practice of literary criticism within the tradition of English and American literature. A research paper will be required.

INGL 5025. CURRENT APPROACHES IN LINGUISTIC THEORY (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: authorization of the Director of the Department.

Recent developments in linguistic theory and their application to related issues.

Graduate Courses

INGL 6006. RESEARCH METHODS. Three credit hours. Three hours of seminar per week.

Research techniques in language study with emphasis on English.

INGL 6008. BILINGUALISM AND LANGUAGE-CONTACT. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

The linguistic and social-psychological aspects of bilingualism; the sociology of language-contact.

INGL 6009. MODELS FOR TEACHING LITERATURE. Three credit hours. Three hours of seminar per week.

The teaching of literature in English: explication of texts, literary theory and its value in the classroom, the establishment of historical context; problems of teaching literature to speakers of English as a second language.

INGL 6010. TESL MATERIALS AND TESTING (II). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Study and development of materials and techniques for the teaching and evaluation of English as a second language, with emphasis on oral communication skills.

INGL 6016. TOPICS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Selected topics based on current research interests in sociolinguistics.

INGL 6018. TOPICS IN PSYCHOLINGUISTICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Selected topics based on current research interests in psycholinguistics.

INGL 6020. SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (I). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

An overview of research topics in second language acquisition, and an in-depth study of one of these topics.

INGL 6028. PSYCHOLINGUISTICS AND THE READING PROCESS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

The reading process and the measurement of reading skills and comprehension in native and second languages; degree of transfer of reading skills from native to second language; current psycholinguistics research in the field of reading.

INGL 6030. THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COMPOSITION (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Practice in the techniques of writing. Study of its research and theory.

INGL 6040. PRACTICE IN THE TEACHING OF COMPOSITION (On demand). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Development and demonstration of materials and methods for the teaching of writing. Study of recent theory, research, and pedagogy.

INGL 6055. STUDIES IN LITERATURE I (I). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Study of selected authors, themes, or movements in the literature of the English language.

INGL 6056. STUDIES IN LITERATURE II (II). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Study of selected authors, themes, or movements in the literature of the English language.

INGL 6058. STUDIES IN LITERATURE III. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Study of selected authors, themes, and movements in the literature of the English language.

INGL 6985. SPECIAL TOPICS I (I). Three credit hours. Three hours of seminar per week.

Selected topics in linguistics, literature, or pedagogy.

INGL 6986. SPECIAL TOPICS II (II). Three credit hours. Three hours of seminar per week.

Selected topics in linguistics, literature, or pedagogy.

INGL 6995. RESEARCH (I, II). One to three credit hours. Three to nine hours per week of research.

Research on a topic, which focus and breadth of study will be designed by the student and approved by the supervising professor prior to registration in the course.

INGL 6999. THESIS. Three to six credit hours.

Research in the fields of English language and applied linguistics, and presentation of a thesis.

ENGLISH EDUCATION (EING)

EING 6005. FOUNDATIONS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION (I). Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.

Foundations of English education emphasizing an analysis of the social, economic, and political issues which affect the teaching of the language in Puerto Rico.

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ENGLISH FACULTY

A list of professors who engage in graduate activities in the department follows including their highest earned degree, the date of completion, and the degree-granting institution. Research and teaching interests are also included.

NANDITA BATRA, Professor, PhD, 1986, University of Rochester. Research and teaching interests: British Literature (1660 to the present), Postcolonial Studies, Gender Studies, Disability Studies, Anthrozoological Studies, Literary Theory.

EILEEN BLAU, Professor, PhD, 1980, University of Florida. Research and Teaching interests: Reading in a Second Language, ESL, Applied Linguistics. Research interests: ESL Reading and Listening Comprehension, ESL Materials Development.

JUDITH CASEY, Associate Professor, Ed. D., 2001, University of Arizona. Research and Teaching interests: ESL Writing, ESL Tutoring, ESL Literacy Development.

ELIZABETH DAYTON, Professor, 1996, University of Pennsylvania. Research and Teaching interests: Linguistics.

KATHLEEN FERRACANE, Professor, PhD, 1987, State University of New York. Research and teaching interests: Caribbean Literature, Shakespeare, American Literature, Gender-related Studies. Research interests: Caribbean Literature.

CATHERINE FLECK, Associate Professor, PhD, 2003, Michigan State University. Research and teaching interests: Linguistics and Applied Linguistics—Bilingualism, Language Contact, Sociolinguistics, and Perceptual Dialectology.

LEONARDO FLORES, Assistant Professor, ABD, University of Maryland. Research and teaching interests: Poetry, Electronic Literature, American Literature, Film, Media and Writing, Science Fiction, and Fantasy.

JOCELYN GÉLIGA-VARGAS, Assistant Professor, PhD, 1999, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Research and Teaching interests: Cultural Identity and Representation; Film History and Criticism; Media Literacy and Critical Pedagogy; Race, Gender and Representation; Ethnography and Action Research.

GAYLE GRIGGS, Assistant Professor, ABD, Nova Southeastern University. Research and Teaching interests: Instructional Technology, Graduate TA Education, Online Learning, General Education learning theories and learning styles, Public Speaking, Communications, Peer Review, Conversational English.

NICHOLAS HAYDOCK, Professor, PhD, 1995, University of Iowa. Research and Teaching interests: MiddleEnglish, Middle Scotts, Movie Medievalism, Film, Scottish Makkars, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Gavid Douglas, Epic, History of English.

JOSÉ IRIZARRY, Professor, PhD, 1999, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Research and Teaching interest: Early 20th Century Puerto Rican Writing in the US, African American Intellectual Discourse, Autobiographical Discourse.

RAYMOND KNIGHT, Associate Professor, MA, 1986, Inter American University, San Germán. Teaching interests: ESL Research and teaching interests: Literacy, L2 Literacy, Integration of Computers in Teaching, Media Literacies, Composition and Identity.

NEVIN LEDER, Associate Professor, PhD, 2003, Michigan State University. Research and teaching interests: Linguistics, Syntax, Phonetics, ESL methods, literacy. Research interests: Sense and Reference (semantics), Literacy, Second Language Acquisition, Dialect Variation.

MARY LEONARD, Associate Professor, PhD, 2003, University of the West Indies. Research and teaching interests: Film, Media, Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature.

ROBERTO LÓPEZ, Professor, MA, 1972, New York University. Research and teaching interests: Translator for Center for Hemispherical Cooperation in Research and Education in Engineering and Applied Sciences. Teaching interests: American Literature; British Literature; Children’s Literature and Folklore.

JEANNETTE LUGO, Professor, MA, 1980, New York University. Research and Teaching interests: ESL Testing, ESL Reading Development.

CATHERINE MAZAK, Assistant Professor, PhD, 2006, Michigan State University. Research and Teaching interests: ESL Teaching and Teacher Training, Second Language Literacy, and Language Policy.

CARMEN MALDONADO, Associate Professor, MA, 1980, New York University. Research and Teaching interests: ESL and Second Language Acquisition.

SONJA MONGAR, Assistant Professor, MFA, 2004, University of New Orleans. Research and Teaching interests: Autobiography in Cyberspace and Other Digital Formats, Life Narrative, Autobiography, Memoir, Creative Nonfiction, Life Narrator, and Creative Writing and Technology.

BETSY MORALES CARO, Associate Professor, PhD, 1999, University of Texas at Austin. Research and Teaching interests: Culture Studies, ESL, Linguistics, WID, English Education in Puerto Rico, Pedagogy.

WALESKA MORCIGLIO, Instructor, MAEE, 1998, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Research and Teaching interests: Second Language Writing, Basic Writing, and ESL.

DARNYD W. ORTIZ-SEDA, Professor, PhD, 1990, Florida State University. Research and Teaching interests: Drama, Theater, Short Story, Rhetoric and Composition, Teaching Literature, and Teaching Composition.

MABEL ORTIZ, Assistant Professor, MA, 1974, State University of New York at Fredonia. Research and teaching interests: Assessment, Curriculum, Literature, Writing Skills, Ethics, and Study Skills.

ELLEN PRATT, Professor, PhD, 1999, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Research and Teaching interests: Writing Center Pedagogy, Writing in the Disciplines, Writing Theory and Pedagogy, ESL Writing.

SANDRA RIOS, Associate Professor, PhD, 2005, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Research and Teaching interests: Rhetoric, Environmental rhetoric, and Technical Writing.

ISMAEL RIVERA, Professor, PhD, 1995, Pennsylvania State University. Research and Teaching interests: Renaissance Drama, and John Webster.

MYRNA RIVERA MONTIJO, Associate Professor, MAEE, 1994, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Research and Teaching interests: English Education and ESL.

ROSITA L. RIVERA, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. 2006, Penn State University. Research and Teaching interests: TESOL curriculum development, ESL teacher education, narrative analysis, discourse analysis, sociocultural aspects of ESL teaching and learning.

AIXA RODRÍGUEZ, Associate Professor, PhD, 1995, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Research and Teaching interests: Environmental Journalism, Cultural Studies, Mass Media and Culture.

LINDA RODRÍGUEZ, Professor, PhD, 1994, University of Michigan. Research and teaching interests: Caribbean Writers, Women Writers, Creative Writing, and Film.

MARY SEFRANEK, Assistant Professor, Ed.D., 2006, Teachers College, Columbia University. Research and Teaching interests: Feminist and poststructuralist perspectives on qualitative narrative inquiry, multiliteracies and multimodality theorizing and practice in English classrooms, Latin@ Studies and texts in English Education, Bilingual/Bicultural Education.

GEORGIA SMYRNIOU, Associate Professor, PhD, 1994, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Research and Teaching interests: Educational Technology, Literacy, and ESL Refugees Issues.

NIDIA TIRÚ, Associate Professor, MA, 1971, Ohio State University. ABD. Brandeis University, 1982. Research and Teaching interests: Literary criticism, Literary Theory, and Creative Writing (contrastive form and new trends in poetry), Creative Writing through Internet Forums, “the case” of poetic language today, “cyber” encounters.

MARUJA TOLEDO, Assistant Professor, MA, 1986, Inter American University. Research and Teaching interests: L2 Acquisition, ESL, ESL Methods, and ESL Materials Development.

IRIS TORO MANZANO, Assistant Professor, MAEE, 1997, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. Research and teaching interests: English Education, ESL Student Attitudes, Motivation, and Listening Comprehension.

BETH VIRTANEN, Associate Professor, PhD, 2000, Michigan Technological University. Research and Teaching interests: Composition Theory and Pedagogy, Research Methods in Composition Studies, and Finnish Diaspora and Finnish-American Literature.

BILLY WOODALL, Associate Professor, PhD, 2000, University of Washington. Research and teaching interests: Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Literacy, Psycholinguistics, and ESL.

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