Five Questions With University of Puget Sound Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Valeria Ochoa

Q: You recently completed your PhD at Arizona State University. What led you to pursue an academic career in linguistics?
A: I’m originally from Tahoe, Calif., but I grew up in Las Vegas, Nev., and went to UNLV for my undergrad. I’ve always been interested in language, so I started taking French classes. Eventually, I decided that I should try to take some Spanish classes, too, because I grew up speaking it. I think, like many young bilinguals, I thought I could take a few classes and become an interpreter, because I had grown up interpreting and translating between English and Spanish. I did a short internship as a medical interpreter and quickly realized it wasn’t for me. So, instead, I took a linguistics class and I loved it. I had mentors along the way who helped me figure out how to pursue my interest, which led me to do my master’s at the University of Oregon, and then my doctorate at Arizona State.

Q: Why did you choose Puget Sound?
A: I love pedagogy, so when I was finishing my doctorate and started my job search, it was important for me to find a school that aligned with what I wanted to do. A lot of the other schools I looked into were more focused on research, but Puget Sound stood out for its commitment to teaching. I also knew I wanted to be in the Northwest, because the Spanish-speaking communities here are growing so quickly, and there is a lot of opportunity to conduct sociolinguistic research. It’s an exciting time to be a linguist in Washington.

Q: Why is the study of Spanish linguistics important now?
A: Spanish linguistics, especially Spanish as a heritage language, is often seen as a niche discipline, but it’s becoming more relevant all the time. After English, Spanish is the most spoken language in the United States. We have more Spanish speakers here than in most other Spanish-speaking countries, and Spanish has been present in the Americas for a lot longer than English, so to study the language, how we use it, and how it’s changing is a way to more fully understand our multilingual society. Linguistics also helps us make sense of how people are treated because of the language they speak. I think about the discrimination people sometimes face when they speak Spanish in public. It’s a dimension of diversity, just like race, class, or gender. How you speak impacts your ability to get housing, education, and job opportunities. Linguistics can show us what’s at the root of these social and political issues.

Q: Your research focuses on heritage language speakers within the United States. Can you explain what that means?
A: A heritage learner is someone who grows up in a household that speaks a language other than the one spoken by the majority of people around them. That could be any language, but my interest is specifically on people in the United States—where most people speak English as their first language—whose families speak Spanish at home. We’re talking about a huge, racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse group of people. So, they’ve grown up hearing Spanish, but they may not use it in their day-to-day lives. For my dissertation, I wanted to explore how we, as Spanish as a heritage language teachers, can meet indigenous heritage learners where they are because they have a very different relationship with Spanish than a monolingual Spanish speaker or someone who’s learning Spanish as a second language. It’s complicated, but it’s also vital to support these students in ways that help them succeed.

Q: You’ve mentioned that sometimes speakers of heritage languages can feel shame because they’ve been told they speak incorrectly. How do you address that in your classes?
A: If you’re a heritage learner of Spanish, it’s very common to feel that your Spanish isn’t “good enough.” They’ve been using the language the way they have needed to their whole lives, but in a formal setting, they can feel embarrassed or ashamed because they believe they aren’t fluent, or that their grammar isn’t ostensibly perfect. I tell my students that it’s completely normal to stumble or to not know how to say something, even when you’re speaking in your first language. As long as you are being understood and can get your point across, you are a proficient language speaker. I once had a student tell me that before taking a class with me, she didn’t really talk to her dad because he only spoke Spanish, but after a semester, she was having longer conversations with him. Her goal wasn’t to speak the language perfectly, but to build up her confidence. Language acquisition is about so much more than the language itself—it’s about learning to be confident about your identity, it’s about how you move in society, feeling comfortable in your skin, and finding connection through the language. It’s not about how great you are at conjugating verbs, it’s about being in community with people and liberating yourself of this ridiculous notion that you have to be amazing at Spanish to be a “real” member of your Latinx community. You can be great at Spanish but still do plenty of harm in these communities in the real world. The inverse can also be true. You can be working on your language skills but still be a wonderful community member that aims to support others, rather than gatekeep and put others down just based on linguistic competency.