Our Advanced Researchers are our group of in-service teachers, committed to exploring literacies research and practice in their own classrooms. Advanced Researchers include three kinds of teachers:
Meet our current Advanced Researchers (links to their Academia profiles in their pictures, when possible):
- Novice Researchers who completed their BAs and wish to continue as LSLP researchers.
- Master's students (both from ML2 or past Novice Researchers) pursuing their research on literacies.
- MA graduates who wish to continue as LSLP researchers after graduation.
- LSLP researchers pursuing their doctoral degrees.
Meet our current Advanced Researchers (links to their Academia profiles in their pictures, when possible):
Elizabeth Agudelo, M.A.
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Bio
Effy holds an Honors B.A. in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín and recently finished her Master's in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at UPB. She is also an elementary English teacher at UPB School. She joined LSLP in the second semester of 2016. A music enthusiast and performer, she is a member of #TeamCaL, specifically interested in the intersection between music fandom and English literacies. Research Effy is interested in the intersections between fandom, affect and language education. She's currenty mixing these initial inquiries with the relationship between affect and literacy and how this will further inform her teaching efforts. |
Zeidy Y.
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Bio
Zeidy finished her M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (2020) and an English teacher at Rodrigo Correa Palacio Public School. She joined LSLP in 2018 2018. Research Her current research is exploring how high school students in public schools use multimodal texts within affinity spaces to enhance their communicative competence. As a public school teacher, Zeidy is part of our research expansion into exploring how to implement the idea of literacies in second languages in our local schools. |
Edison Ferney
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Bio
Edison finished his M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (2020) and has been a researcher at LSLP since 2018. He is the founder and director of Tour Languages, a language institute outside of Medellín, as well as an instructor at Universidad Católica Luis Amigó. At present, he is a Ph.D. Candidate at the Federal University of Piauí in Brazil. Research His current research is focused on the notion of Critical Digital Literacies and how to use podcasting from a critical perspective to develop counter-narratives when working with preservice teachers. Edison is already a very promising scholar in the field of CDL, a field that is very much under development in Colombia. |
Margarita Rosa
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Bio
Margarita recently holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from UPB and a a B.A. in English-French Education from Universidad de Pamplona and a Graduate Specialization inE ELT from UPB-Bucaramanga. She has taught English in private schools and institutes. She recently relocated to the United States to start teaching at a public school in Raleigh, North Carolina. Margarita was the first graduate student at LSLP who was not one of Dr. Berry's advisees! In fact, it was Gloria who mentored her during her thesis and was later invited to join the #LSLPLegion. We look forward to this new trend where our more advanced researchers can invite their own graduate students to work with us! Research Her current research explores the potential of journaling as a tool to introduce students to critical literacy. Her current work will be very useful as we continue expanding our critical literacies research at LSLP. |
--eliana d., m.a.
(@Nana) |
Bio
--eliana d. recently finished her M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at UPB and joined LSLP in early 2020. She is currently a public school teacher in Medellín. Research --eliana d.'s research explores how to develop curricula that are inclusive toward LGBTQIA+ students (and teachers), this from a critical literacy perspective. At LSLP, we find Nana's research interests to be very relevant for our work, as we also strive to help schools and teachers engage with literacies from a stronger social justice stance where teachers and teacher educators can see themselves as advocates, allies, and coconspirators. |
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Bio
Jhon Alexander is finishing his M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at UPB. He joined LSLP during the first semester of 2020. He continues the recent trend in #TeamLiLE, where now Raúl's former grad students are the ones recruiting their own students into the Legion. Research |
Carlos Andrés
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Bio
Charlies holds an Honors B.A in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. He joined LSLP at the beginning of February, 2017 as a member of #TeamLaV and is at present an English teacher in Medellín. Research He is currently exploring issues of gaming and identity as part of our gaming project. In addition, he is a K-Pop and Anime aficionado, topics where he is also doing inquiries at LSLP in issues related to digital literacies in second languages. |
Marjorie
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Bio
Marjorie (née Maryori Giraldo) holds a BSc in International Business and a Technological Diploma as a Bilingual Secretary, a BA in English- Spanish Education from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, and a Master's in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from Universidad de Barcelona. She's currently a Spanish instructor at the Open University of Hong Kong. Previous academic experiences include designing thematic contents for virtual programs at View Corporation and serving as Deputy Assistant for the Middle School Principal at The Columbus School in Medellín. She joined LSLP in 2014 and helped with Phase Two team of the Urban Literacies study and the 21st Century Literacies in P-16 project. During her time in Hong Kong, Marjorie will continue working on publications from Phase Two and possibly collecting more data for future research projects. We also expect to learn about her MA thesis to see how we can weave it with our #Team21inP20 research. |
Tatiana
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Bio
Taty holds a B.A. in Education at Universidad Nacional Abierta a Distancia (UNAD) and has had a wealth of experience as an English teacher and teacher trainer, including previous work at the British Council. She is also the founder and director at ELT Think Tank, a local initiative to promote new alternatives for professional development for languages teachers in our region. She is currently pursuing her master's degree. Taty will be working on the one hand with #TeamLaV, using her own background and experiences as a gamer-mom and her interest in digital literacies. On the other hand, Taty will also work with #Team21inP20 to expand the existing partnership with ELT Think Tank. Research Taty's research interests intend to mix digital literacies and autonomous learning, along with her ongoing concerns for teacher training. Specifically within LSLP, Taty is inquiring about issues of gamification from an unusual yet most welcome perspective: That of gamer-moms. We find her positionality to benefit our team as it adds new layers to our work on gamification. |
Julián
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Bio
Julián completed his B.A in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (2020) and joined LSLP at the end of 2017, becoming a member of #TeamLaV shortly after. He is at present an English teacher at Colegio Benedictinos and is currently pursuing his M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Langauges at UPB Julian's relationship with gaming is very special: He is a competitive gamer, with plenty of experiences (and fans, as we learned in August 2018, hence his nickname!) in Colombia and abroad. Research Julián has contributed this wealth of experiences as a professional gamer now in the classrooms to our current research on gamification. His own classroom work is setting a blueprint for our research work in that area. |
Juan Camilo
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Bio
Juan Camilo holds a B.A in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Cisco joined LSLP during the second semester of 2018 as a member of #TeamLaV, bringning extensive experience as a semi-pro gamer and gaming coach. Research Cisco's research within #TeamLaV has zeroed in on how to use game elements as part of gamification process in our classrooms. |
Maria Camila
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Bio
Maria Camila holds a B.A in English-Spanish Education (Licenciatura Inglés-Español) from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellín, Colombia and an MA in TESOL from LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia. She joined LSLP in 2013 to work in Phase One of the Urban Literacies study. At present she is coordinates the Language Center at Uniminuto in Medellín Research Cami's research agenda focuses on issues of early literacy in the Colombian context. Specifically, she would like to explore the impact of children’s first experiences with literature in teaching practices. She has also become more interested in exploring the use of multimodality as a learning strategy in second language classrooms. |
Jhon Eduardo
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Bio
Jhon Eduardo is at present an assistant professor at Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC) in Tunja. Jhon holds a B.A. in English Education and a Master´s degree in English Language Teaching from Universidad Surcolombiana, as well as a Master's in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. He joined LSLP in 2021 as a result of his already increasing enthusiasm for the area of literacy studies Research Jhon Eduardo is especially interested in critical/emancipatory or community based literacy related dynamics. At the moment, he's delving into the type of literacies that are being promoted in the context of Colombia through educational policies. |
Paola Tatiana
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Bio
Paola is an English teacher at a public school in La Dorada (Caldas). She's pursuing her doctoral degree in education at the Metropolitan University of Science and Technology in Panama; she holds a B.A. in Modern Language Education from Universidad de Caldas and an M.A. in Translation from Universidad Autónoma de Manizales. Paola joined LSLP in March 2023. Her participation at LSLP is a very special moment for us: She's the first school teacher who reaches out to us to inquire about membership in our Legion and our second researcher without any ties to our home university (@Tatygora would be the first!). This is very important to us Research Paola is interested in how to integrate literacies theory in her classroom. As she's just beginning her journey as part of our Legion, we will soon learn more about what she wants to do, so stay tuned. |
Juan david
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Bio
Juan David is an English instructor at Universidad Católica de Oriente (working with Nathalia and TatyGoRa!) and recently began his PhD in ELT & Intercultural Education at Universidad del Valle, as Dr. Berry's doctoral student. That was the motivation to invite him to join LSLP: The possibilities to expand our research as we now have Edison, Paola, and Juan David working on their doctoral degrees (with the hope that others will soon follow). Research Juan David wants to explore the nexus between critical literacy, multimodality, and interculturality, areas where LSLP already has research in progress, so we feel that Juan David's dissertation will help propel a lot of our ideas into exciting new directions. |
Tyrone Steven
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Bio
Tyrone holds a B.A. in English-Spanish Education (2018) and an M.A. in Education (2020), both from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. He joined LSLP in September, 2014. He has collaborated in the Gaming Literacies project since then, now involved in writing articles. So far he speaks Spanish, English and French, Research Tyrone is interested in Videogames and language learning, inquiring about how people develop their own ways of communication in virtual worlds, especially in English and Digital Communities. |
Diego A.
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Bio
Diego holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages, from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. He joined LSLP in 2020 to continue his research on critical literacies in his school. For his work, Diego was recently recognized as an award winner from the Medellín Secretary of Education. As was the case with Margarita, Diego was not one of Dr. Berry's graduate students. Mónica was Diego's femtor in his thesis journey. Research Diego's research lies in the field of critical literacy and its possibilities to transform English instruction in public schools. |
Ana Maria
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Bio
Ana holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages and a B.A. in English-Spanish Education, both from UPB. Ana is at present at teacher in the SILECS program at UPB and joined LSLP in 2022 (as one of Moni's grad students). Research Ana's research focuses on culturally relevant literacies in English education, an area that keeps blossoming within #TeamLiLE. |
Carla
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Bio
Carla first joined LSLP in 2013, as part of the original urban literacies study team (now #TeamCaL). She took a leave of absence and returned to the Legion once again in 2021, as she recently finished her B.A. in English-Spanish Education at UPB. Carla is a school teacher at Benedictinos School (where she and Flich are co-workers!), Research Carla continues exploring the potential for the use of podcasting in the language classroom. |
Natalia Andrea
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Bio
Natalia Ramírez holds a B.A in English-Spanish Education and an Honors M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages, both from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. She joined LSLP in 2013 to work on Phases One and Two of our Urban Litreacies studies (and we expect to assist in the consolidating phase that will begin in 2020). She is at present an English instructor at Theodoro Hertzl School. When she is not working on her MA or teaching Spanish, she is devoted to raising Sofia, her baby daughter! Research Natalia’s current research interests (which will be part of her MA thesis) involve the study of critical literacy theory and practice to explore how preservice education curricula both espouse overt and covert principles and how to infuse a stronger critical literacies perspective in said curriculum. |
J. Sebastián
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Bio
Zebs joined LSLP in August, 2016. He finsihed his BA in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín in 2018. He is currently an English teacher at Centro Colombo Americano. Research Zebs ramins interested in gaming literacies study, particularly the links between visual literacies, gaming, and identity. |
Nathalia Andrea
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Bio
Nathalia recently finished her M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and is an English instructor at Universidad Católica de Oriente. She joined LSLP in 2020. Research Nathalia's research is focusing on the intersections between Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogies and Critical Literacy, or Culturally Sustaining Literacies as she is at present framing it for her master's thesis. |
Andrés Esteban
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Bio
Andrés holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from UPB. He is an English instructor at Universidad Nacional, where he also teachers high school through one of the university's extension programs. Research His research intersects issues of critical literacy and multimodality, with a special interest in implementing the notion of Multimodal Critical Consciousness in elementary school classrooms. |
Jackeline
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Bio
Jackeline is finishing her M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages from UPB. She joined LSLP at the end of 2020. Research Her research intersects issues of critical literacy and digital storytelling. |
Catalina
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Bio
Catalina recenltly finished B.A. in English-Spanish Education at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín and is teaching English at a private school in Medellín. She remains engaged with Phase Four and involved in other work related to her award-winning thesis research project.. |
Diego
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Bio
Diego holds an M.A. in Learning and Teaching Processes in Second Languages at UPB and a B.A. in English Education from Universidad Tecnológica de Periera. He joined LSLP in early 2020 and teaches at public school teacher in Medellín and supports the city's Secretary of Education. Research Diego's research (where he gets to do a fair deal of shared work with --eliana d.) explores how to develop curricula that are inclusive toward LGBTQIA+ students (and teachers) from a critical literacy perspective. |