Marcos Rohena-Madrazo
Office
Carr Hall 207
Tel
(802) 443-5659
Email
mrm@middlebury.edu
Office Hours
Tuesdays 2:15-3:00, Wednesday 9:30-11:45, and by appointment (During office hours I'm available in person and on zoom; see my webpage for the zoom link)

Links for the first day of class & Office Hours

Marcos Rohena-Madrazo is Associate Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies & Linguistics. Their research interests revolve around phonetics and sociolinguistics, specifically on the production and perception of linguistic change in Spanish and the languages with which it is in contact. Of particular interest are how apparently small factors, such as the pronunciation of a single consonant, can have a substantial effect not only on the creation of the speaker’s identity, but also in the subjective reactions and attitudes that they evoke in the minds of the listeners. 

Prof. Rohena has been at Middlebury since 2011. In addition to teaching Spanish at all levels, they teach linguistics courses (in Spanish and English) that interrogate how language is organized in speakers’ minds and in society, as well as the multiple ways in which language is linked to aspects of identity, such as gender, race, generation, nationality, among many others!

Marcos was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, although they’ve been fortunate enough to live and study in various countries such as Argentina, Taiwan, Russia, Spain, and most recently in Jordan. Outside of academia, Marcos is interested in language learning, food, travel, music, sci-fi/fantasy, queerness and all the intersections thereof! :-)  

How I pronounce my name*

(*hint: the ‘h’ is silent) - Marcos Rohena-Madrazo

  • In English (informal transcription): MAR-kos ro-ENN-uh ma-DRAW-so
  • In English (IPA): [mɑɹko͡ʊs ɹo͡ʊɛnə mədɹɑso͡ʊ]
  • In Spanish (IPA): /maɾkos roena madɾaso/

Appropriate renditions of my surname

  • For academic purposes: Rohena-Madrazo
  • For non-academic purposes: Rohena Madrazo
  • Informal abbreviation: Rohena

Alphabetize under ‘R’ for all renditions

Courses Taught

Course Description

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Bad Bunny: Genre, Gender & National Identity
Bad Bunny has transcended the Puerto Rican and Spanish-language music scene to become one of the most streamed artists in the world. In this course we will focus on Bad Bunny as a case study to explore the origins, development, and globalization of the Caribbean music genre and cultural phenomenon of reggaetón. Through an interdisciplinary lens, we will analyze songs, videos, performances, social media, and scholarly and mainstream articles, in order to explore topics such as the transnational dissemination of Puerto Rican lexicon, Bad Bunny's perpetuation and subversion of gender normativity in Latin American music culture, his activism against political disenfranchisement, gender and racial discrimination, neocolonialist gentrification of Puerto Rico, among other social issues. (Placement of SPAN 0104 or higher, or instructor's approval) (Course taught in English.)

Terms Taught

Winter 2024

Requirements

AMR, SOC, WTR

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Course Description

Race, Capitalism, Decolonization
What does decolonization mean in the present context? What does race have to do with capitalism and profit, exploitation and dispossession? In this course we will consider the intersections of race and capitalism in shaping contemporary epistemologies, institutional practices, and lived experiences in local and global contexts. We will consider how present-day formations of race and capitalism are related to histories of imperialism and the global extraction of labour and resources. (Pass/Fail)

Terms Taught

Winter 2021

Requirements

WTR

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Course Description

The Sounds of Language: Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology
In this course we will study the description and analysis of speech: how the sounds of language are physiologically produced, acoustically represented, and psychologically perceived and categorized. Through acoustic and phonological analysis, students will develop the skills to distinguish and produce the sounds of the world’s languages, as well as explore the sound systems of different languages, in order to determine which patterns differ and which patterns are common to all. Students will hone their analytical and technical skills by solving phonological problem sets as well as by using computer software (Praat) to analyze the acoustics of speech. 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020

Requirements

SCI

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Course Description

Independent Work
(Approval Required)

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2021

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Course Description

Beginning Spanish I
This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of grammar and focuses on the development of four skills in Spanish: comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Emphasis will be placed on active communication aimed at the development of oral and comprehension skills. This course is for students who have not previously studied Spanish. Students are expected to continue with SPAN 0102 and SPAN 0103 after successful completion of SPAN 0101. 5 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022

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Course Description

Intermediate Spanish
This accelerated course is designed to review, reinforce, and consolidate the linguistic structures that students need in order to reach the intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish. A grammar review will accompany intensive language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, readings, discussions, and compositions. (Placement test required) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. drill.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

Intermediate Spanish II
A course for students seeking to perfect their academic writing skills in Spanish. The course is also an introduction to literary analysis and critical writing and will include reading and oral discussion of literary texts. The course will also include a thorough review of grammar at a fairly advanced level. This course may be used to fulfill the foreign languages distribution requirement. (SPAN 0201, SPAN 0210, or placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

Spanish for Heritage Speakers
This course is specifically designed for heritage speakers, i.e., individuals who grew up speaking Spanish at home but were formally educated in another language, or individuals from similar contexts. In this course students will learn about different aspects of their own varieties of Spanish, social perceptions towards them, and how these varieties are valid forms of communication. Additionally, students will study grammatical differences between their varieties of Spanish and a more formal, academic Spanish. The grammatical aspects will primarily focus on written Spanish, vocabulary, and verb tenses that tend to vary in different varieties of Spanish. (by placement exam or waiver) 3 hrs. lct.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

Introduction to Spanish Phonetics and Pronunciation
In this course we will study the sound system of Spanish with the aims of introducing the fields of phonetics and phonology while improving pronunciation. Students will become familiar with phonetic transcription, comparing and contrasting articulatory and acoustic characteristics of Spanish as well as English in order to understand and implement different phonological patterns produced by native speakers of Spanish. This analysis is both phonetic and social, in that students learn the social meanings of different pronunciation patterns across these Spanish-speaking countries as they relate to race, ethnicity, class, education, gender, age, and other social factors. Additionally, we will discuss major pronunciation differences across the Spanish-speaking world. (SPAN 0220 or placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2023

Requirements

CMP, LNG, SOC

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Course Description

Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
This course is an introduction to the theory and methodology of linguistics as applied to the study of Spanish. The course’s goals are to understand the basic characteristics of human language (and of Spanish in particular), and to learn the techniques used to describe and explain linguistic phenomena. We will study the sound system (phonetics/phonology), the structure of words (morphology), the construction of sentences (syntax), as well as the history and sociolinguistic variation of the Spanish language, as spoken in communities in Europe, Latin America, and Northern America. We will examine texts, speech samples, and songs, illustrating these linguistic phenomena. (SPAN 0220 or placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2024

Requirements

CMP, LNG, SOC

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Course Description

Advanced Conversation
In this course we will focus on the development of oral skills in Spanish at the advanced level. Students will also be exposed to cultural context in Spanish, through which they will be introduced to social and political trends in the Spanish-speaking world. Through oral exams, presentations, debates, and other forms of oral assessment, students will deepen their oral skills, as well as their understanding and production of oral expression in the target language. The course will give special attention to communicative skills in Spanish, particularly speaking (including pronunciation) and listening. The instructor may choose specific grammar points for review when necessary. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

Independent Study
The department will consider requests by qualified juniors and senior majors to engage in independent work. (Approval only)

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025

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Course Description

Senior Honors Thesis
The department will award honors, high honors, or highest honors on the basis of a student's work in the department and performance in SPAN 0705. (Approval only)

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Winter 2025, Spring 2025

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Areas of Interest

Sociolinguistics, Phonetics, Language Variation and Change, Perception and Production of Obstruent Voicing, Cross-Language and Cross-Dialect Speech Perception, Comparative Spanish Phonology, Argentinean Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish, Language & Identity, Attitudes towards Accented Speech, Language and Popular Culture

Academic Degrees

Ph.D. in Linguistics, New York University (2011)
M.A. in Linguistics, New York University (2007)
M.A. in Spanish Lexicography, Real Academia Española (2004)
B.A. in Russian Language and Literature, Columbia University (2002)

Publications

Baird, B. O., Rohena-Madrazo, M., & Cating, C. (2018). Perceptions of lexically specific phonology switches on Spanish-origin loanwords in American English. American Speech93(1), 79-107. https://doi.org/10.1215/00031283-6904043 

Gilbert, M. B. & Rohena-Madrazo, M. (2017). Revising the canon: Social and Stylistic Variation of Coda (-ɾ) in Buenos Aires Spanish. In R. E. V. Lopes, J. Ornelas de Avelar, & S. M. L. Cyrino (Eds.), Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 12: Selected papers from the 45th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (LSRL), Campinas, Brazil (vol. 12, pp. 63-78). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/rllt.12.05gil 

Rohena-Madrazo, M. (2015). Diagnosing the completion of a sound change: Phonetic and phonological evidence for /ʃ/ in Buenos Aires Spanish. Language Variation and Change27(3), 287-317. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394515000113 

Rohena-Madrazo, M. (2013). Variación y cambio de sonoridad de la fricativa postalveolar del español de Buenos Aires. In L. Colantoni & C. Rodríguez Louro C (Eds.), Perspectivas teóricas y experimentales sobre el español de la Argentina (pp. 37-57). Iberoamericana/Vervuert. https://doi.org/10.31819/9783954871971-004 

Rohena-Madrazo, M. (2013). Perceptual Assimilation of Occluded Voiced Stops by Spanish Listeners. In C. Howe, S. Blackwell, & M. Lubbers Quesada Selected Proceedings of the 2011 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 140-156). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Simonet, M., Rohena-Madrazo, M., & Paz, M. (2008). Preliminary evidence for incomplete neutralization of coda liquids in Puerto Rican Spanish. In L. Colantoni & J. Steele (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Laboratory Approaches to Spanish Phonology (pp. 72-86). Cascadilla Proceedings Project.

Rohena-Madrazo, M. (2007). Superlative Movement in Puerto Rican Spanish and General Spanish. NYU Working Papers in Linguistics, 1(Spring 2007), 1-32.