Teacher Bio
¡Hola! Mi nombre es Profesora Matute.
I was born and raised in Spain, where I received my bachelor’s degree in English Studies at the University of Valladolid. I lived in Spain with all my family until 2014, when I arrived in the U.S. seeking an opportunity to extend my knowledge in Second Language Acquisition and Linguistics. To do so, I obtained my master’s degree in TESOL and Linguistics and my Certificate in University Teaching at West Virginia University (WVU) in 2016 at the same time I taught Spanish language and culture courses (SPAN101-204).
In the summer on that same year, I decided to enroll in an online master’s degree in Secondary School Teaching, Vocational Training, and Language Teaching at Valencian International University (Spain).
I just obtained a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Arizona (UA). During my time at the UA, I taught lower-division Spanish language and culture courses (SPAN101-202) as well as upper-division courses in Spanish linguistics, including SPAN340 Spanish Phonetics, SPAN360 Structure of Spanish and SPAN425 Advanced Grammar and Composition in four different modalities (face-to-face, online, hybrid, and live online). My work as instructor was recognized by the College of Humanities through the Outstanding Graduate Assistant in Teaching Award, the highest award a graduate teaching assistant in the College of Humanities can receive, by the Graduate & Professional Student Council (GPSC) with an Outstanding Teaching Associate award, by the Spanish and Portuguese Department through the Outstanding Graduating Teaching Associate award, and by the Basic Language Program (BLP) through another two teaching awards.
The two and a half years before joining to the Vista family, I served as language coordinator at the Basic Language Program at the University of Arizona. The program is one of the largest language programs in the U.S., in which 65 graduate teaching assistants and 15 instructors provide quality education to more than 3,000 students each semester. As a language coordinator, I demonstrated expertise in curriculum development and in designing instructional and assessment materials for Spanish 201-251 courses, including syllabi, weekly calendars, quizzes, exams, grading rubrics, and a great variety of language-based learning activities. I trained and supported all the Span 201-251 instructors by managing the beginning-of-the-semester orientations, monthly meetings, and workshops where I provided instructors with the theoretical background they need to make informed choices about which techniques were best suited to attain their goals. I also acted as a liaison between the Basic Language Program and Vista Higher Learning, the Disability Resource Center, and the Office of Assessment. In addition, I created and maintained all our program’s courses (101-251) in Desire to Learn (D2L), our UA’s official learning management system, where students access all their course materials, lessons, quizzes, exams, and grades.
My experience as language program coordinator is supported by a 12-credit University Certificate in Language Program Administration and by a series of world languages summits and trainings in Boston, Denver, and Chicago where I had the opportunity of learning from the very best professionals in the language program direction field. My work has been recognized by the Graduate & Professional Student Council (GPSC) with an Outstanding Administrative Graduate Assistant Award.