Juan Muñoz López

Profile

I studied Spanish and English Studies at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) and French language at the Escuela Oficial de Idiomas. I continued my studies at the Universidad de Alicante (Spain), where I obtained my PGCE in Modern Foreign Languages, and took my M.A. in Applied Linguistics: Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language at the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija (Madrid - Spain).

I have been a member of the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies (SPLAS) subject area in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies (LCS) since 2002.  I am also the LCS Residence Abroad Co-ordinator and the SPLAS liaison with the Instituto Cervantes.

I started my career in 1999 teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language at the Instituto Cervantes in Leeds and later in 2000 at Leeds Beckett University, where I taught both mature and undergraduate students. 

Responsibilities

• LCS Residence Abroad Coordinator
• Instituto Cervantes Liaison
• Spanish Ab Initio Coordinator

Research interests

I see academic and professional reputation linked with the success of the University of Leeds, thus I have regularly presented papers and delivered workshops in different student education events and conferences organised by Higher Education and other education related institutions nationwide such as LLAS Centre for Languages Linguistics and Area Studies, University of Bath, Newcastle University, Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings – Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Leeds Beckett University, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Leeds and worldwide, such as the Instituto Cervantes, the largest organization in the world responsible for promoting the study and the teaching of Spanish language and culture, institution where I proudly started my career as a tutor of Spanish as Foreign Language.

My Masters dissertation, Non Verbal Communication and Spanish Language Teaching, was published (2008) by RedELE, online peer reviewed library managed by the Spanish Ministry of Education for Spanish teaching professionals around the world. I delivered a presentation based on this research at the 3rd Spanish Teaching Annual Conference at the Instituto Cervantes in 2010 and wrote an article related to this topic which was published in Vida Hispánica, the Association for Language Learning Journal, one of the world-leading journals in this respect, which is peer reviewed.

At Leeds Beckett University, where I worked as a Lecturer in Spanish from 2000 to 2016, I originally devised and took an active part in a project to create and develop an e-Portfolio toolkit. This e-Portfolio was developed to promote independent learning and to formalise our support to students in their Year Abroad. It was based on the completion of a variety of tasks including the initial practicalities, ideas for integration in the local community and research for final year assessments. It was delivered in three different languages and the learning potential of the different types of placement was acknowledged. This project was presented in different student education events across the country and published thanks to a funding received from the Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings – Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

For the last few years I have been researching on the integration of sociocultural content in the language class. For this reason I take an active part in the creation and update of all materials for the Spanish language second year module. Several of these teaching units were published in 2013 and 2014 in Vida Hispánica, the Association for Language Learning Journal, and the findings resulting from this research have been presented in different student education conferences, such as the 8th Spanish Teaching Annual Conference at the Instituto Cervantes in Manchester (2015), whose proceedings were published in 2017, and Queen’s University Belfast (2017).

I am currently working on a project which consists of creating new assessment criteria for A1, A2 and B1 written and spoken language in accordance with the new CEFR companion volume (2018) and how this new CEFR update fits within our British HE marking system (First, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd and Fail).

Publications:

• Race, Phil (2018[22009]): Tirarse a la piscina: cómo empezar a enseñar en educación superior, Leeds: Leeds Metropolitan University. Translation in Spanish by Mara Fuertes Gutierrez and Juan Muñoz López. Available from https://phil-race.co.uk/2018/07/ola-in-at-the-deep-end-now-in-spanish-too/. [Accessed October 2018].
• Muñoz López, J. J. & García Florenciano, M. (2017) [online] Integración de los contenidos gramaticales, léxicos y socioculturales en un contexto universitario. Actas de las VIII Jornadas Didácticas. Instituto Cervantes-Manchester Available from https://cvc.cervantes.es/ensenanza/biblioteca_ele/publicaciones_centros/PDF/manchester_2015-2016/08_munoz_garcia.pdf [Accessed July 2018]
• García Florenciano, M. & Muñoz López, J. J. (2014) [online] Trabajo – Entrevista de trabajo. Vida Hispánica 49 (Spring). Available from https://www.all-languages.org.uk/language-zones/spanishzone/practicespanish/dos-unidades-didacticas-trabajo-y-entrevista-de-trabajo/ [Accessed July 2018]
• García Florenciano, M. & Muñoz López, J. J. (2013) [online] No es país para jóvenes - ¿Hora de hacer las maletas? Vida Hispánica 48 (Autumn) Available from https://www.all-languages.org.uk/language-zones/spanishzone/practicespanish/dos-unidades-didacticas-no-es-pais-para-jovenes-y-hora-de-hacer-las-maletas-un-acercamiento-a-la-realidad-social-de-los-jovenes-espanoles/  [Accessed July 2018]
• Fuertes Gutiérrez, M., Muñoz López, J. J., Poveda, J., Keinhorst, W. (2011), Period Abroad E-Portfolio Toolkit. Assessment and Learning in Practice Setting (ALPS)
• Muñoz López, J. J. (2010), Integración del componente no verbal en el aula ELE.  Vida Hispánica 42, p. 14-18 (Autumn)
• Muñoz López, J. J. (2008), Integración de la comunicación no verbal en la clase de E/LE [online] Red Electrónica de didáctica del español como lengua extranjera – Ministerio de Educación, Política Social y Deporte. Available from  http://www.mecd.gob.es/redele/Biblioteca-Virtual/2008/memoriaMaster/2-Semestre/MUNOZ_L.html [Accessed July 2018]
• Muñoz López, J. J. (2006) El Matrimonio Homosexual [online]  Todoele.net. Available fromhttp://www.todoele.net/actividades/Actividad_maint.asp?ActividadesPage=2&Actividad_id=153 [Accessed July 2018]

Conferences and Forums:

2018 - Make it CLIL. Content and Language Integrated Learning at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies. University of Leeds

2018 - CELT Ab Initio Forum: ‘Variety in Assessment Format Between Languages in the School’. School of Languages, Cultures and Societes. University of Leeds.

2018 - CELT Ab Initio Forum: The Spanish Ab Initio provision in SPLAS. School of Languages, Cultures and Societes. University of Leeds.

2017 - Authentic Materials and Real Tasks: Enhancing Students’ Employability, Intercultural Awareness and Communicative Competence. The 18th AULC Conference: 'The Multilingual University: Inspiring teachers, transforming learners'. Queen’s University Belfast.

2015 - Integración de los contenidos gramaticales, léxicos y socioculturales en un contexto universitario.  VIII Jornadas Didácticas. Instituto Cervantes de Manchester

2013  - El portafolio electrónico como herramienta para evaluar el año en el extranjero. I Encuentro de profesores universitarios de ELE en Inglaterra - Instituto Cervantes

2012  - World Wide Web and Language Assessment Tools: The Period Abroad E-Portfolio. Languages in the Globalised World International Conference. School of Languages, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

2012 - The e-Portfolio Toolkit. SMLC Language Teaching Forum: Autonomous Language-Learning: Increasing Proficiency through Self-directed Learning. University of Leeds

2011 - ALPS Showcase: ALPS e-portfolio Mini-projects. Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings – Leeds

2011 - The Period Abroad E-Portfolio. Innovative teaching and learning at university: enhancing the learning experience of Modern Languages students. Developing Learner Autonomy.  Newcastle University

2010 - Promoting cultural and linguistic engagements during the year abroad. Supporting students' learning outside the classroom: Promoting independence and autonomy in LLAS disciplines. Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

2010 - Lead a horse to water.....and see it drink! Improving and assessing cultural and linguistic engagement during the Year Abroad. Assessment of the Year Abroad in Modern Language Degrees, University of Bath

2010 - Comunicación no verbal y ELE. 3rd Teaching Conference of Spanish as Foreign Language, Instituto Cervantes – Manchester

2008 - Teaching Spanish as a foreign language and ICT. Instituto Cervantes - Leeds

Qualifications

• MA Applied Linguistics: Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language
• PGCE Modern Foreign Languages
• BA Hons Spanish and English Studies
• Diploma in French Language

Professional memberships

• UNILANG
• ELE UK

Student education

During my teaching career at the University of Leeds I have been a tutor and a co-ordinator for modules across our Spanish language provision, from beginners discovery modules to our Final Year core module. All these modules have been commended by our External Examiners regarding content, methodology, use of technologies, materials, assessment tasks and strategies, design of the exams, marking, moderation and feedback. What is more, the progress made in the teaching of Spanish language is a major reason why SPLAS has assured HE and LCS trends in UG recruitment over the past few years and my work bringing SPLAS language modules into line with The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become part of a wider School undertaking.