Dra. Melissa Patiño-Vega is a proud first-generation college Chicana who was raised in a low-income household in the small agricultural town of Patterson, California – located in the Central Valley. She is also proud to be the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrant farmworkers, who with little to no education, made countless sacrifices and encouraged her to pursue higher education. Dra. Patiño-Vega received her Ph.D. degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of California, Davis with a designated emphasis in Second Language Acquisition, and a M.A. degree in Spanish Applied Linguistics from New York University in Madrid. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Chicanx/Latinx Studies and Spanish at Portland State University. Additionally, she serves as the Coordinator for the Spanish Heritage Language Program at PSU.
Her current research examines the impact Spanish heritage language programs have beyond the classroom setting, as well as the historical and contemporary educational disparities that prey on Chicanx and Latinx students, and seeks to propose solutions to narrowing the opportunity gap. Throughout her education, she has also investigated Spanish academic biliteracy, Spanish in the U.S., language maintenance, and language ideologies.
Her teaching, research, and mentorship are fueled by the Spanish language values deep-rooted by her family, students and community, the constant oppression and discrimination towards Chicanx and Latinx bilingual speakers in the U.S., the lack of representation, and the socioeconomic hardships experienced by her community.
Special Interests:
Spanish heritage language programs, Spanish in the U.S., Spanish academic biliteracy, language maintenance, language ideologies, Chicanxs/Latinxs in education.