Modern Languages
Modern Languages
(She, her, ella)
Associate Professor, Modern Languages
Modern Languages
Abbotsford campus, D3018
Phone: 604.504.7441, local 4054
email María Eugenia WebsiteMaría Eugenia de Luna holds a PhD in Hispanic Studies (Linguistics) from Western University (2011), an MA in Applied Linguistics (2006), and a BA in Communication Sciences (1990) from Universidad de las Américas Puebla (UDLAP). In 2005, she was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Manitoba through the North American Mobility Program, and in 2006, a Graduate Fellow with the Transnational Literacy Researchers Work Group at the Center for the Americas, Vanderbilt University. Before coming to UFV, Dr. de Luna taught Spanish as a Foreign Language at universities in Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States. She joined UFV in 2020 and received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2025. As an active community member, Dr. de Luna has been involved in community service-learning initiatives and coordinated an Access to University outreach program for non-traditional learners.
Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Studies (Linguistics)
Western University, Canada (2011)
Dissertation: Mexican Temporary Agricultural Workers in Canada: A Language and Migration Approach
Master of Arts, Applied Linguistics
Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico (2006)
Thesis: Prácticas de lectoescritura en el hogar: estudio de caso de cuatro familias mexicanas inmigrantes en Canadá [Home literacy practices: a case study of four Mexican immigrant families in Canada]
Diploma in Business Administration
Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM), Mexico (2001)
Bachelor of Arts with Cum Laude, Communication Sciences
Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico (1990)
Thesis: San Pablito: Cuna del Amatl [San Pablito: Cradle of Amate Paper] — accompanied by an ethnographic documentary
I teach Spanish and linguistics because language is power. It is never neutral: it carries identity and history, and it opens and closes doors. I want students to gain command of a language and the tools to analyze it, and also to understand how language shapes belonging, access, and opportunity in the world around them. I build inclusive, student-centred classrooms on universal design and Indigenous ways of knowing, so that every student has more than one way to learn and to show what they know. My creativity lives in how I deliver and assess that learning: students make infographics, podcasts, zines, and social-media projects for real audiences beyond me, and community service learning and work-integrated learning put their Spanish where it genuinely matters. Inspired by Indigenous frameworks and holistic approaches to evaluation, I am moving from measurement to accompaniment: from grading as a verdict to assessment as a form of support.
TEACHING INTERESTS
COURSES TAUGHT
My research asks how societies draw the lines of belonging through language. One line of work examines linguistic landscapes, the languages that appear, and fail to appear, on the walls of a place. I have read small Canadian cities for Spanish and, in a current SSHRC-funded project, my own campuses for the visibility of Halq'eméylem, the language of the Stó:lō Nation on whose territory UFV stands. A second, long-standing line follows Mexican temporary agricultural workers in Canada, and what it means to live and work in a country where one is never given the chance to learn its languages. Across both, I focus on linguistic rights, recognition, and social justice in linguistically diverse small Canadian communities.
My second field is teaching and learning Spanish as a foreign language. I treat students as knowledge-makers and build assessment around that conviction: creative and authentic evaluation such as social media kits, podcasts, zines and oral storytelling rather than exams alone; community service learning and work-integrated learning that put students' Spanish to work locally; and a decolonial turn in assessment drawn from Indigenous evaluation frameworks, moving from measurement toward accompaniment. I also write on the sustainability of Spanish programs in Canadian universities, arguing that their steady erosion is a form of curricular minoritization that critical pedagogy is equipped to name and resist.
This project investigates the visibility and symbolic impact of Halq'eméylem, the traditional language of the Stó:lō Nation, at UFV's Abbotsford and Chilliwack campuses, combining geospatial mapping, surveys, and interviews to assess its role in Indigenous language revitalization, cultural identity, and reconciliation.
A teaching-inquiry project in which students learn to read their own linguistic environment as evidence about power, and to act on what they find.
This project examines the presence of Halq'eméylem in UFV's linguistic landscape and its effectiveness in promoting language revitalization, cultural integration, and reconciliation, providing actionable recommendations for enhancing Indigenous language visibility on campus.
"In my first year I realized that my passion was with French and it was something that was super enjoyable. I wasn't fluent to begin so it was a lot of work and effort but at the same time it was very rewarding. It opened my eyes to a new culture and a new way of life.