Profile
I am Lecturer in Spanish Language and Culture in the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film. I teach Spanish Language and Culture 1 and Spanish Language and Culture 2, equivalent to an A1/A2 and a B1 level corresponding to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). These modules are designed to improve students' oral, grammar, reading and writing skills.
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and my qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpreting Studies from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, a Master’s degree in Spanish Language Teaching from Universidad Nebrija and a PhD in Applied Linguistics focused on Intercultural Pragmatics, also from Universidad Nebrija, for which I was awarded a Cum Laude.
Before joining Queen Mary in 2023, I have held posts in Higher Education in China, at Heilongjiang International University, and in the United Kingdom, at Royal Holloway University of London, at Queen’s University Belfast and at the University of East Anglia. I also collaborate as a Master’s dissertation supervisor at Universidad Nebrija. Outside academia, I have contributed to language testing and student placement by working with the Instituto Cervantes where I was a member of the examination board of the DELE exams in Norwich 2017 and Beijing 2018.
Teaching
LAN4020 - Spanish Language and Culture 1
LAN4121 / LAN4023 - Spanish Language and Culture 1a
LAN4122 - - Spanish Language and Culture 1b
LAN6020 - Spanish Language and Culture 3
LAN6121 - Spanish Language and Culture 3a
Research
Research Interests:
I am an active researcher within Hispanic Studies. I have published a corpus of written and oral Chinese academic emails in TalkBank and several articles related to Sociolinguistics and Pragmalinguistics. My research is focused on students' pragmatic competence and the expression of disagreement in their L1 (Spanish/Chinese/English) and L2 (Spanish). I am particularly interested in students' sociopragmatic knowledge in a digital environment in an academic context, more specifically in the correctness and adequacy of students' communication with their lecturers via email.
I am also part of the research group of the Emilia project, which examines aspects such as the expression of emotion in Spanish as a language of migration, the self-perception of migrants when expressing emotions, working memory, intelligence, and emotional acculturation in relation to their language competence in Spanish and the degree of identity with the new language. More information at https://www.proyectoemilia.es/
Apart from studies related to Linguistics, I am also particularly interested in studying students' and teachers' experience regarding levels of LGBTQ+ inclusivity at the university. My research is focused on understanding teacher strategies and views regarding the use of materials that include LGBTQ+ representation in their modules and the analysis of LGBTQ+ topics in language learning books.
Publications
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. and Ainciburu, C. (2024). Dissenting Emails in Academia: The Analysis of the Micro- and Macrostructure of Chinese University Students’ Emails to Their Lecturer in Spanish. Pragmatics, [accepted, waiting for publication]
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2024). Classification, preference and perception of Chinese and Spanish university students’ subject lines. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, [accepted, waiting for publication]
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2023). A conversation on diversity: LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the language classroom. Examples of practice. Queen Mary University of London.
Xiaoxu, L. K., Hernández Lima, S. and Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2022). La enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera en la provincia Heilongjiang, China: retos y oportunidades. VARONA, Revista Científico-Metodológica, (74): 1-8.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2022). “Dear Dr John Smith. I refuse to obey this mark. That’s mean. So, can you give me a higher mark?” An analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ pragmatic competence in email communication to a faculty member. International Review of Pragmatics, 14(2): 1-29.
Ainciburu, C. and Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2021). La interculturalidad del español: los casos de los saludos y las direcciones. Studia Romanica Posnaniensia, 48(2): 19-31.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D., Xiaoxu, L. K. and Ainciburu, M. C. (2021). You would not want to be the murderer of our dreams and options, right?: An Analysis of the communication between university students and their professors on the web 2.0. International Review of Pragmatics, 13(2), 265–286.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. and Xiaoxu, L. K. (2021). Immigration and academia: the exhibition of emotions in the management of academic failure in native and non-native university students in Chinese and Spanish. Tonos Digital, 40: 1-31.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. and Ainciburu, C. (2020). Don’t you like me? Am I ugly? Or don’t I speak well? Analysis of disagreement and emotional exhibition in the emails of Chinese university students of Spanish. RLA. Revista de Lingüística teórica y Aplicada, 58(1): 37-63.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. (2019). Análisis de los elementos pragmáticos en la interacción escrita académica: el caso de los correos electrónicos de universitarios norteamericanos. Revista Nebrija De Lingüística Aplicada a La Enseñanza De Lenguas, 13(26): 198-225.
Rodríguez-Velasco, D. and Xiaoxu, L. K. (2019). Nebrija-WOCAE (Written and Oral Chinese Academic Emails) Corpus. Retrieved from TalkBank
