The Center for Hispanic Studies is made up of a specialist team of professionals with a solid background in the training of education professionals in Spanish as a Foreign Language. Employing their many years of experience in education and academic research, the team have created a broad catalog of modern, top-quality educational programs to satisfy the increasing demand for Spanish language studies around the world.
Director of the CEH
Heads of area
- Maria Isabel Gibert Escofet, Academic coordinator
- Maria Bargalló Escrivà, SELE
- José Antonio Moreno Villanueva, DELE exams
- Ángel Urquizu Cavallé, Academic coordinator of Language and Business area
- Rongrong Zhu, Chinese language academic coordinator and Chinese exams coordinator
Faculty
- Maria Bargalló Escrivà
- Lismary Castillo Marengo
- Verónica Ferrando Aramo
- Esther Forgas Berdet
- Maria Isabel Gibert Escofet
- Ángel Huete García
- Sandra Iglesia Martín
- Alicia Madrona Cao
- José Antonio Moreno Villanueva
- Antoni Nomdedeu Rull
- Ángel Urquizu Cavallé
- Rongrong Zhu
- Damián Muñoz Fuentes
Sandra Iglesia Martín
Sandra Iglesia Martín is the Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies. She earned her Degree in Hispanic Studies from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1998. She earned a Master's in Applied Linguistics in 2002 and a Master's in Terminology and Lexicography in 2004, both from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She was awarded her PhD in Applied Linguistics by the University of Barcelona in 2008.
She has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Romance Studies at the URV since 2007, since when she has taught courses on the URV's Master's in the Teaching of Foreign Languages (Spanish). Since 2003 she has taught Spanish as a foreign language at several teaching institutions in Tarragona. During the academic year 2006-2007 she was a Spanish as a Foreign Language teacher in Lodz (Poland).
She is a member of the URV's Consolidated Research Group on Lexicography and Foreign Language Teaching (2014 SGR 1288). She has published research articles on matters related to lexicography, languages for special purposes, the history of the Spanish lexis, and the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language.
ResearchGate - Academia.edu
María Bargalló Escrivá
María Bargalló Escrivá earned her Degree in Hispanic Studies in 1981 from the University of Barcelona and her PhD in Hispanic Studies in 1988 also from the University of Barcelona. She is a tenured professor in the Department of Romance Studies of the Faculty of Arts at the URV. Her lines of research are Lexicography, Grammar, and Phraseology. At the URV she has taught Spanish language and Spanish as a foreign language courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, with special emphasis on the teaching of grammar and lexicography.
She has coordinated or participated in numerous projects in the above-mentioned lines of research, with special emphasis on matters relating to the relationships between grammar and the monolingual or bilingual dictionary, the boundaries between syntax and phraseology, and topics related to the historiography of grammatical concepts in the twentieth century.
Currently she is the coordinator of the Consolidated Research Group on Lexicography and Foreign Language Teaching (2014 SGR 1288).
She has participated in numerous conferences on Spanish as a foreign language teaching, lexicography, phraseology, linguistic historiography, and linguistics in general.
She has published numerous articles on, for example, the relationship between grammar and lexicography, the treatment of phraseology in dictionaries, and the history of grammar in the twentieth century.
She was a member of the editorial team for the Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española, which was published in 1996 by Santillana.
ResearchGate - Academia.edu - Mendeley - Google Scholar
Maria Isabel Gibert Escofet
She is the Academic Coordinator of the Center for Hispanic Studies. Doctora en Lengua, Literatura y Cultura con una tesis doctoral en la que desarrolló un test estandarizado de comprensión pragmática para estudiantes sinohablantes de ELE, Máster en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera y Máster en Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras (Español/Inglés) por la Universidad Rovira i Virgili, y licenciada en Filologías Anglo-germánicas por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.
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Actualmente dirige el Máster en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera, en el que es profesora. Además, forma parte del equipo docente de los cursos de español para extranjeros del Centro de Estudios Hispánicos y de los cursos de formación continua, Diploma de Posgrado y Máster en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera en este mismo Centro.
Imparte clases de lenguas extranjeras desde hace más de veinte años, como profesora de inglés, de español y de catalán. Entre sus tareas docentes están la de examinadora de los exámenes para la obtención de los DELE del Instituto Cervantes y la de coordinar las pruebas para la obtención de la nacionalidad española que administra la URV y los cursos de preparación a dichas pruebas.
Sus publicaciones giran alrededor de sus principales áreas de interés, la tecnología aplicada a la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras; la pragmática de la interlengua; la enseñanza de ELE a sinohablantes; la enseñanza de segundas lenguas a personas de origen migrante; y la enseñanza de las lenguas extranjeras a personas no alfabetizadas.
Desde 2007 es profesora asociada del Departamento de Filologías Románicas de la Universidad Rovira i Virgili, donde imparte diversas asignaturas en el Máster en Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras.Forma parte del equipo del Programa de Formación para alumnado chino, que recibió el premio a la calidad docente Vicenç Vives en 2009. Es miembro del grupo consolidado de investigación en lexicografía y enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras LEXELE (2014 SGR 1288) y también Recibió el Premio de Calidad Docente 2013, como parte del equipo investigador en modalidad colectiva, otorgado por el Consejo Social de la Universidad Rovira i Virgili por el proyecto "El uso del Whatsapp para aumentar la motivación en la lectura de textos en inglés".
Google Scholar - Mendeley - Página personal
José Antonio Moreno Villanueva
José Antonio Moreno Villanueva earned his Degree in Hispanic Studies from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1993 and his postgraduate degree in Advanced Publishing from the Oxford Brookes University in 2002. In 2012 he was awarded his PhD in Lexis and Dictionaries by the URV, for which he received the doctoral extraordinary award. He combines his work as a lecturer in the Department of Romance Studies with his work as a translator and corrector for the URV's Language Service.
He teaches on numerous educational programs, including undergraduate Spanish and Catalan language and literature courses, both the online and face-to-face Master's in the Teaching of Foreign Languages (Spanish), courses leading to the University Specialist diploma in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language, and the Training Program in Spanish for Chinese university students. He has also taught courses in Spanish editing and revising for international translators' associations.
He is a member of the NEOLCYT Consolidated Research Group of the Government of Catalonia (2009SGR-937) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and of the URV's Consolidated Research Group on Lexicography and Foreign Language Teaching (2014 SGR 1288). He has published research articles on matters related to lexicography, the history of specialized lexis, and the study of oral and written discourse.
He is administrator and chief examiner for the Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) of the Instituto Cervantes. He has also been a publishing coordinator for Valatenea SL and, from 1998 to 2007, he was director of the editorial staff of the Gran Enciclopedia de España.
ResearchGate - Academia.edu - Google Scholar
Antoni Nomdedeu Rull
Antoni Nomdedeu Rull has been the Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies between 2017 and 2021. Born in Reus, he earned his Degree in Hispanic Studies from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1998. In 2002 he earned a Master's in Applied Linguistics and a Master's in Information Systems from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He was awarded his PhD in Applied Linguistics by the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2004.
He has been a professor in the Department of Romance Studies of the URV since 2010. Until 2013 he was the coordinator of the doctorate in Language, Literature and Culture. Previously he worked as a teacher of Spanish at the University of Naples "L'Orientale" (2006-2010), as a teacher of Spanish lexicography at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University in Naples (2006-2010), and as a teacher of Spanish and Translation at the University of L'Aquila (2009-2010). In 2012 at the Center for Applied Linguistics in Santiago de Cuba he taught a training course for teachers of Spanish as a foreign language to specialists from several institutions.
In collaboration with Esther Forgas, in 2011 he won the Vicens Vives award for teaching quality from the Government of Catalonia for the URV training program for Chinese students.
He has published fifty research papers on issues related to lexicography, the history of the Spanish lexis, and the teaching and learning of Spanish as a foreign language. He is a participant in the research project of the NEOLCYT group (FFI2010-15240) entitled Historical dictionary of modern scientific and technological Spanish (advanced phase) and is a member of the URV's Consolidated Research Group on Lexicography and Foreign Language Teaching (2014 SGR 1288). He is the main researcher on the URV-funded project entitled Historical dictionary of soccer terms (initial phase) (Ref. 2013LINE-04) (1 July 2013 to 31 December 2014).
He is the current secretary of the Revista Internacional de Lenguas Extranjeras (RILE) (International Journal of Foreign Languages) of the URV's Department of Romance Studies.
Personal web site - ResearchGate - Academia.edu - Google Scholar - Mendeley
Ángel Urquizu Cavallé
Catedrático de Universidad del área de Derecho Financiero y Tributario (URV). Director del Departamento de Derecho Privado, Procesal y Financiero desde el año 2015. Director de la Cátedra Fundación Aduanera - URV de Estudios aduaneros. Director del Máster de Derecho Aduanero de la URV. Coordinador de la oferta formativa de negocios y lengua española de la URV, para universidades chinas. En la actualidad, investigador principal del proyecto de Investigación y Desarrollo del Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad): "Aspectos financieros, tributarios y comerciales de la vivienda colaborativa"(DER2017-84726-C3-3 -P). Autor de más de 100 publicaciones científicas, en revistas y editoriales del máximo prestigio internacional.
Además, ha dirigido cuatro proyectos de investigación estatales relacionados con la inversión empresarial europea en China, ha impartido docencia y realizado estancias de investigación en numerosas universidades chinas, y es autor de más de 30 publicaciones científicas relacionadas con diversos aspectos jurídicos y financieros que afectan a la relación empresarial bilateral entre España y China.
Zhu, Rongrong
Licenciada en Filología Hispánica por la Universidad de Lenguas Extranjeras de Dalian (China) (2007), Máster universitario en Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras: Español como Lengua Extranjera (itinerario investigador) por la Universidad Rovira i Virgili (2010) y Máster en Comunicación Intercultural, Traducción e Interpretación en los Servicios Públicos (chino-español) por la Universidad Alcalá Henares (2013). Natural de China, actualmente desarrolla la tesis doctoral sobre la elaboración del diccionario de chino para hispanohablantes.
Desde 2008 es profesora de chino como lengua extranjera en la URV, primero del Servei Lingüístic y posteriormente del Centro de Estudios Hispánicos, donde imparte clases de traducción español-chino a universitarios chinos en el Curso Universitario de Especialización en Lengua española y en el Curso Universitario de Lengua Española desde 2013. Asimismo, también es profesora de los cursos en línea Chino Gran Muralla gestionados entre el CEH y el Instituto Confucio de Barcelona.
En el Centro de Estudios Hispánicos también es la responsable y examinadora jefa de los exámenes oficiales de chino (HSK e YCT). Actualmente compagina su labor como profesora del CEH con la de coordinadora de los cursos de chino de los centros de Tarragona en el Programa de Lengua y Cultura de Origen del Departament d’Ensenyament de la Generalitat, que impulsa la enseñanza de la lengua y cultura china al alumnado de origen chino dentro los centros educativos no universitarios en horario extraescolar.
Lismary Cristina Castillo Marengo
Lismary Cristina Castillo Marengo earned her Degree in Hispanic Studies in 2009 and her University specialist diploma in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language in 2010 from the Rovira i Virgili University. In 2019 she was awarded her PhD in Humanistic Studies. As a complement to her academic training, she has also attended and participated in numerous teaching conferences and symposiums.
An adjunct professor in the Department of Romance Studies at the URV, she has taught on numerous educational programs, including the Master's in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language, the Specialization Program in Spanish for Chinese students, and Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture courses for Chinese students. She has also taught Spanish as a Foreign Language at the Tianjin Foreign Studies University in China.
Verónica Ferrando Aramo
Verónica Ferrando Aramo earned her Degree in Hispanic Studies from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1996 and her Degree in Italian Studies from the University of Barcelona in 2004. She was awarded her PhD in Lexis and Dictionaries by the URV in 2012. In 2004 she completed a training course for teachers of Spanish as a Foreign Language at International House in Barcelona. She earned her Specialist Diploma in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language in 2008 and her Master's in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language in 2009 from the URV. She also earned a postgraduate degree in the Teaching of Business Spanish from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2013.
She currently combines her work as a teacher at the CEH with her work as a teacher of distance education at the Instituto Cervantes in Berlin, where she has taught face-to-face classes since 2005. Previously she taught Spanish and Italian as a foreign language at the Official Language School (EOI) in Tarragona (2001-2003) and at the Centro de Lectura in Reus (2003). In Germany, in addition to her work at the Instituto Cervantes in Berlin, in 2004 she also worked at the University of Potsdam.
She is also a trainer of trainers, having taught on the training course for teachers of Spanish as a foreign language and led numerous seminars on the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language at the Instituto Cervantes in Berlin. She has participated in numerous teaching workshops organized by International House and Difusión and at numerous national and international conferences. Her main lines of research in the field of Spanish as a Foreign Language are online teaching and learning and the teaching and learning of lexis, with special emphasis on phraseology and the use of dictionaries in the classroom.
In addition to her work as a teacher, she has collaborated with several publishing houses (Anaya, Larousse, Herder and Cornelsen) to produce language learning material and monolingual and bilingual lexicographical works.
She also collaborates with the URV's Consolidated Research Group on Lexicography and Foreign Language Teaching (2014 SGR 1288).
Esther Forgas Berdet
Esther Forgas Berdet has been the Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies between 2013 and 2017. Originally from Barcelona, she earned her Degree in Philosophy and Arts in 1976 and her PhD in Hispanic Studies in 1983 from the University of Barcelona. At the URV she has been a tenured professor since 1977 and a full professor of Spanish since 1992.
She has been the director of the Online Master's in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language since 2000 and the director of the Official Master's in the Teaching of Foreign Languages (Spanish or English) since 2007. She is also the coordinator of the training program in Spanish Language and Hispanic Culture for Chinese university students.
In collaboration with Antoni Nomdedeu, in 2011 she won the Vicens Vives award for teaching quality from the Government of Catalonia for the URV training program for Chinese students.
She has led numerous R&D projects on lexicography and the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language and was commissioned by the Spanish Royal Academy to edit the 2001 and still-current edition of the Diccionario de la Lengua Española (DRAE). She has published over 50 books and book chapters on issues closely related to language and society, with special emphasis on the ideology of language and interculturality in language teaching.
Ángel Huete-García
Graduado en Lengua y Literatura Hispánicas y Máster Oficial en Enseñanza de Español como Lengua Extranjera por la Universidad Rovira i Virgili de Tarragona (España), ambos con Premio Extraordinario. Actualmente compagina su labor de profesor de español en el Centro de Estudios Hispánicos con la de técnico de lengua española en el Servicio de Lenguas de la URV.
Su experiencia en la enseñanza de español a extranjeros ha sido intensa desde sus primeras clases en la Universidad de Silesia (Polonia) en 2016, ya que ha impartido docencia en una amplia variedad de cursos de español en el Centro de Estudios Hispánicos hasta la actualidad. Además, el año 2018 fue profesor visitante en la Universidad Politécnica de Shenzhen (China).
También es editor asociado de la Revista Internacional de Lenguas Extranjeras (RILE) - International Journal of Foreign Languages y doctorando del programa de doctorado en Estudios Humanísticos de la URV, del que ha sido becario-Investigador Activo en el Departamento de Filologías Románicas (2017). Su tesis doctoral se centra en el desarrollo de un nuevo concepto de herramienta lexicográfica funcional de especialidad. En este contexto, realizó una estancia de investigación en el Centro de Lexicografía de la Universidad de Aarhus (Dinamarca) en 2018.
Es examinador acreditado del Instituto Cervantes. Ha participado en diversos congresos y proyectos relacionados con la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera, la lexicografía y la lingüística. Sus principales intereses son la docencia de ELE y la investigación en el campo de la lexicografía, el aprendizaje del léxico y las nuevas tecnologías.
Alicia Madrona Cao
Alicia Madrona Cao earned her Degree in Hispanic Studies from the Rovira i Virgili University in 1994. She specializes in the teaching of foreign languages and has taught numerous courses, including "Spanish for Professional Purposes" (Instituto Cervantes - University of La Rioja, 2003) and "How to use the literary text in the Spanish as a Foreign language classroom" (Instituto Cervantes-University of La Rioja, 2009), as well as courses leading to the "University Specialist diploma in the Fundamentals of Didactics for the Teaching of Spanish as a Second/Foreign Language" (University of La Rioja, 2009) and the "University Specialist diploma in the Treatment of Linguistic Macroskills and Strategic Competence in the Teaching and Learning of Spanish as a Second/Foreign Language" (University of La Rioja, 2010).
She currently combines her work as a URV lecturer with her work as a teacher of Spanish as a Foreign Language for the URV's Language Service. She teaches on numerous educational programs, including both the online and face-to-face Master's in the Teaching of Foreign Languages (Spanish), courses leading to the University Specialist diploma in the Teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language, and the Training Program in Spanish for Chinese university students. She has also taught the "Specialization course in the Teaching of Spanish as a Second Language" at the University of Lleida (1998-2000) and collaborated on numerous teaching of Spanish as a foreign language courses organized by the Instituto Cervantes and the University of Lleida.
She has participated in three research projects on lexicography for the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her research interests focus on the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language and, in particular, on Spanish for specific purposes. She is an evaluator for the URV's Spanish Language Evaluation Service (SELE-URV), which awards accreditation to Spanish as a foreign language teaching centers on behalf of the Instituto Cervantes. She is also an examiner for the Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language of the Instituto Cervantes.
Damián Muñoz
Natural de Salamanca. Graduado en Filología Hispánica por la Universidad de Salamanca (2018) y Máster en Enseñanza de Lenguas: Español como Lengua Extranjera por la Universitat Rovira i Virgili (2019). Actualmente desarrolla la tesis doctoral sobre la introducción de datos pragmáticos en los diccionarios para aprendices de español como lengua extranjera en la URV.
Su labor en el Centro de Estudios Hispánicos incluye tareas de atención al alumnado nacional e internacional de los cursos impartidos. Ha colaborado como docente en el Curso de Especialización en Lengua Española a estudiantes chinos (URV) y, actualmente, imparte clases de español en el Máster Internacional en Innovación en Enoturismo (Programa Erasmus+ de la Unión Europea).
En el Centro de Estudios Hispánicos además colabora en las convocatorias DELE (Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera) y CCSE (Conocimientos Constitucionales y Socioculturales de España) del Instituto Cervantes.
Actualmente es secretario de la Revista Internacional de Lenguas Extranjeras (RILE) - International Journal of Foreign Languages del Departamento de Filologías Románicas de la URV.