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Faculty and Staff: Esperanza Roman-Mendoza

Esperanza Roman-Mendoza

Esperanza Roman-Mendoza

Director of Undergraduate Programs, Modern and Classical Languages

Associate Chair, Modern and Classical Languages

Associate Chair, Spanish

Director of Graduate Programs, Modern and Classical Languages

E-learning, Distance Education, Applied Linguistics, Spanish for Heritage Speakers

Esperanza Román-Mendoza, Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics and General Linguistics, is Associate Professor of Spanish at George Mason University. She has developed interactive Web-based learning materials for language and culture courses, and for training of language teachers. She has also taught, and authored two handbooks for, courses on social web tools and Web 2.0 pedagogy. She has co-authored several textbooks and published various articles on the instructional use of Web-course management tools and social media services and is the author of Corto y cambio, a blog about instructional technology and its impact on learning and research. Esperanza Román-Mendoza collaborates with professional associations, journals and international publishers such as the American Studies Association, CALICO, Online Information Review, Miríada Hispánica, Edelsa, and Hueber Verlag.

Esperanza Román-Mendoza is also very active in the field of Spanish for heritage speakers and has participated with Professors Rabin and Leeman in several service learning projects with GMU students. She is currently working on the project Two Museums, Two Nations, One Identity sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and its Museum & Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA) program and recently traveled to El Salvador to share her expertise in Social Media with the participants in the project.

At George Mason, where she teaches since 1996, she has taught a wide variety of courses at all levels of instruction. She has also directed study abroad programs in Spain, Italy, Mexico, Cuba and Argentina.

In 2009, she was awarded the first GMU Teaching Excellence Award in Teaching with Technology.

Current Research

Research focuses on several topics, including personal learning spaces, digital identity, communities of learning, community activism, critical pedagogy and service learning. I am co-chairing a self-study group at GMU called SOSTC-eL (Scholars of Studying Teaching Collaboratively e-Learning). In addition, I am researching new methods of TA mentorship and training throgh the use of blogging and the self-study methodology.

Selected Publications

  • Samaras, A. P., Smith, L., Harmon, L., Nasser, I., Smith, T., Borne, K., Parsons, S., Woodville,L., Constantine, L., Roman-Mendoza, E., Suh, J., Swanson, R., & Karczmarczyk, D. (2012). Reforming in the first person plural: Explorations of a faculty self-studycollaborative. In J.R. Young, L.B., Erickson & S. Pinnegar (Eds.). Extending inquiry communities: Illuminating teacher education through self-study. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on the Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, East Sussex, England (pp.251-255). Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.
  • "Identity and Social Activism in Critical Heritage Language Education” (with Leeman and Rabin) (2011). Modern Language Journal (95)4: 481-495.
  • La web 2.0 al servicio de la comunidad en un programa de español como lengua de herencia en Estados Unidos. (with Leeman and Rabin). Revista TESI, 12(3), pp. 118-140. http://campus.usal.es/~revistas_trabajo/index.php/revistatesi/article/view/8486/8579 2011.
  • A Critical Service-Learning Program in Spanish Heritage Language Education: Joining Universities, Schools, and Communities.” (with Leeman and Rabin) Heritage Language Journal, 8(3). http://hlj.ucla.edu/?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 2011.
  • “RSS and Social Personalized Pages: Optimizing E-language Learning through Content Syndication,” in Lomicka, L. & Lord, G. The Second Generation: Online collaboration and social networking in CALL. CALICO MONOGRAPH SERIES. (2009).
  • Román Mendoza, E. Pedagogía del e-learning. Madrid: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 2009 [2nd ed.].
  • Román Mendoza, E. Tendencias actuales del e-learning. Madrid: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 2009 [3rd ed.].
  • VanPatten, B., Leeser, M., Keating, G. D. and Román-Mendoza, E. Sol y viento. [1st ed.]. McGraw-Hill. 2005.
  • Ruipérez, G., Aguirre, B., García, J. C. and Román, E. Primer Plano 4. Madrid: Edelsa, 2003.
  • Ruipérez, G., Aguirre, B., García, J. C. and Román, E. Primer Plano 3. Madrid: Edelsa, 2002.

Courses Taught

(Click on links to see syllabi)

Undergraduate Courses

SPAN 101: Introductory Spanish I (twice). Revised syllabus. Multimedia materials.

SPAN 201: Intermediate Spanish I (twice). Revised syllabus. Multimedia materials.

SPAN 202: Intermediate Spanish II (once). Revised syllabus. Multimedia materials.

SPAN 209: Intensive Intermediate Spanish (once). Revised syllabus. Multimedia materials.

SPAN 300: Reading Skills Development (five times). Developed new syllabus. WebCT materials.

SPAN 301: Spanish Grammar and Syntax (three times). Revised syllabus. Web-based exercises.

SPAN 302: Reading and Writing Skills Development (twice). New course. WebCT materials.

SPAN 306: Spanish in Context I Blackboard (once).

SPAN 309: Intensive Spanish in Context(once). Student blogs. Glogster. Blackboard.

SPAN 315: Spanish for Heritage Speakers (once). Developed new syllabus. Blackboard & Pageflakes.

SPAN 321: Introduction to Spanish Culture (once). Developed new syllabus. Web-based materials.

SPAN 335: Community Activism through Social Media (once). Wiki. Twitter. Diigo.

SPAN 336: Topics for Proficiency: Spain as Portrayed in Social Media (twice). Developed new syllabus. Wiki. Online Newspaper. Photo Calendar and VoiceThread.

SPAN 351: Spanish Conversation (twice). Developed new syllabus. WebCT materials, chats.

SPAN 352: Spanish Composition (twice). Developed new syllabus. WebCT materials.

SPAN 385: Introduction to Spanish Linguistics (once). Blackboard materials.

SPAN 451: Advanced Spanish Conversation (once). Developed new syllabus. WebCT materials.

SPAN 452: Advanced Written Spanish (four times). Developed new syllabus. WebCT/Blackboard. Wiki.

SPAN 476: Teaching Spanish in the US (once). Revised new syllabus. WebCT/Blackboard. E-portfolio.

SPAN 490: Internship at Arlington Traditional School. (once). Developed new online materials. Wiki.

SPAN 461: Spanish Civilization and Culture (nine times). Developed new syllabus. WebCT/Blackboard materials.

HNRS 130: Concepts of the Self (twice). Developed new syllabus. Blogs and WebCT materials.

Graduate Courses

SPAN 502: Applied Spanish Grammar (once). Blackboard.

SPAN 505: Applied Spanish Stylistics (five times). Developed new syllabus. Blogs and WebCT/Blackboard materials. E-portfolio.

SPAN 551: Integrating Technology into Language Learning (once). New course. WebCT materials.

SPAN 551: Colloquial Spanish (once). New course. WebCT materials.

SPAN 551: Integrating Literature and Culture in the Language Classroom (once). New course. WebCT materials.

SPAN 551: Social Media for Research and Education (once). Wiki. Twitter. Diigo. Collaborate.

FRLN 572: Integrating Technology into Language Learning (once). New course. Web-based materials.

SPAN 694: Instructional Technologies in the Language Classroom (twice). Middlebury College. Vermont. New course. Web-based materials. 

SPAN 698: Integrating Literature and Culture in the Language Classroom (once). Middlebury College. Vermont. New course. Web-based materials.

Online Courses

SPAN 115: Review of Elementary Spanish. Spring 2012. George Mason University.

SPAN 210: Intermediate Spanish. Spring 2012. George Mason University.

Pedagogía del E-learning. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain. (2007-2010). New course. Printed materials. E-ducativa-based materials. Wiki. Blog.

Nuevas tendencias del e-learning. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain. (2006-2010). New course. Printed materials. E-ducativa-based and WebCT materials. Wiki. Blog.

Recent Presentations

Social Media Trends, Digital Identity and Digital Storytelling, Corporate E-Learning

¿Cómo lo haces tú? El relato digital como herramienta en la formación del profesorado. International Conference on Digital Storytelling. Universitá de Valencia. March 2012. Vídeo recording available.

Empresa 2.0 y aprendizaje 2.0. Universidad Católica de Chile. Santiago de Chile. November 2011.

Innovación y e-learning en Estados Unidos. Expocampus 2010. Madrid. October 2010.

I have a voice. Do I want to use it online. Innovations in Teaching and Learning. GMU. October 2010.

E-portfolios, RSS, Personal Learning Environments, Moodle.

Aprendizaje formal e informal. Más allá de los entornos virtuales de aprendizaje. MoodleMoot Euskadi. Vitoria, Spain. October 2011.

How much is enough? A Self-Study of Teaching Practices Using Social Media. Lilly Conference 2011. Bethesda, MD. June, 2011.

Una imagen vale más con mil palabras, June 2010. Video recording available.

Presentation at MAALT-SEALT, March 11, 2010

Presentation at AAAL, March 7, 2010

Communities of Learning and Activism. Community Service Learning

Edmodo y otras herramientas 2.0 para la educación. Museo MARTE. San Salvador, El Salvador. February 12, 2012.

With Profs. Leeman and Rabin, presentation at MAALT-SEALT, March 12, 2010

Social media and professional training

“Meeting Student, Faculty and Institutional Needs through Social Media.” New Faculty Orientation. Geroge Mason University (August 2012).

“Desarrollo de materiales para el e-Learning.” Curso de Guion de Productos Multimedia. Centro de Innovación y Formación Ocupacional de l'Hospitalet de Llobregat (May 2012).

Tecnología educativa y mentoría reversible: Nuevos planteamientos para la formación inicial y permanente del profesorado. JUTE 2012. Universitat de Girona. June 2012

"La Web 2.0 al servicio de la salud". Universidad Católica de Chile. December 2011.

“La web social: Oportunidades y retos para la colaboración y la comunicación en clase de ELE.” TODO ELE Series 2011. June 10, 2011. PowerPoint and complete talk.

Twitter: Canal de la comunicación para la formación. Forem. Galicia. November 2010. Video recording available.

Guest speaker at II Jornadas de Educación con TIC. Torreon, Mexico. February 2010. The viderecordings of the talks on social media and collaboration are available online.

One-day workshop facilitator at Riverdale Country School, New York. February 2010

Critical Pedagogy, Service Learning and Spanish Heritage Language Education

With Profs. Leeman and Rabin. Presentations at AAAL (March 7, 2010) and the International Conference on Heritage Languages at UCLA (February 19, 2010)

In the Media

YouTube Video Channel. Playlist "Interviews", includes among others:

  • Interview with Professor Barry Pennock-Speck. Digital Story Telling. March 2012.
  • Interview with Instructor Pedro Lonbide. Mahara. Moodle Moot Euskadi. October 2011
  • Spanish Public TV. La 2 de TVE. Elearning in the US and Spain. October 2010.
  • Spanish Public TV. La 2 de TVE. Elearning as strategic tool. October 2009.
  • Spanish Public TV, La 2 de TVE. Web 2.0. October 2008.

YouTube Video Channel. Playlist "My Own Videos". Videos created for presentations.