Associate Professor
Gabriel is a seasoned practitioner and researcher in the field of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). He created the first community of blogs dedicated to the interchange of languages (2007), co-founded Team Tandem (2015), connecting Spanish and English learners in Salinas, California, and co-authored the third edition of Brave New Digital Classroom (2020), an overview on key concepts and challenges of teaching and learning languages with technology, with a new focus on social CALL. His own doctoral dissertation centered on virtual exchanges and the use of language learning social networks in the context of hybrid language education. Gabriel is currently working on the intersection of virtual exchanges and project-based language learning and created the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) curriculum for all McGraw Hill Spanish textbooks (2022).
At the Institute, Gabriel teaches language education, ICC, and content-based Spanish courses. He was also Director (2019-2020) and Spanish Coordinator (2017-2019) for the Summer Intensive Language Program and recently led the creation of a language specialization for professional purposes.
In the past, he has been a recipient of the prestigious AECID Spanish Lectureship, a study abroad coordinator, a web developer, and a reporter who published more than 300 articles in Spanish. His teaching has been recognized with the Excellence in Teaching Year Award from the UC Davis Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the HOPE Award from the Southern Methodist University. For more information, please see his personal site.
ICCO 8570 Upcoming
Comm in Multicultural SettingsCourse Description
Communication in Multicultural Settings
When we talk about language, we are not merely referring to the spoken or written word. Instead, we are delving into a social, complex, and adaptive system that encompasses verbal and non-verbal communication, the context in which language is used, and our collective and individual identities, life experiences, biases, and agendas. Through relevant materials, reflections, discussions, and projects, we will explore the multifaceted dimensions of communication in multicultural settings, honing our skills as global professionals.
Terms Taught
IEPG 8593 Upcoming
EcoRestoration in ColombiaCourse Description
This course Exploring Sustainable Agriculture Transitions in Rural Colombia will consist of an 8-day visit to the town of Libano, Colombia, over spring break March 16-24, 2024 with an additional travel day on each end of the trip.
The creation of a sustainable global food system is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. High-input, animal-based, industrial agricultural practices drive land concentration, deplete soils, and generate deforestation, including the loss of soil and forest carbon -In total, the agri-food system accounts for 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Promising innovations are emerging, especially around the principles and practices of regenerative agriculture, in both developing and developed countries. The overarching aim of regenerative agriculture is to create farming and grazing systems that are in harmony with nature while generating sustainable livelihoods for farmers. It is a whole-of-ecosystem approach, with soil health at the center. Healthy soils have a high level of biodiversity and capacity to store both water and carbon.
This “exposure tour” in Colombia will provide students an opportunity to explore how an agricultural community in a developing country is grappling with the challenges and opportunities to transition to regenerative agriculture in the context of global and local supply chains, as well as a country engaged in post-conflict reconciliation.
Terms Taught
LING 8500 Current
Language AnalysisCourse Description
Serves as an introduction to linguistic analysis. Includes projects based on fieldwork in phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse, and pragmatics. Discusses importance of language awareness. Includes pedagogical strategies for consciousness-raising.
Terms Taught
LING 8531 Upcoming
Pedagogical Grammar in FLTCourse Description
This course is designed to provide teachers of different languages with opportunities to investigate and practice pedagogical subject matter knowledge and grammar teaching strategies in the language that they teach. There will be a number of different languages represented in the class, which will afford multiple opportunities to explore, investigate, and share a variety of pedagogical perspectives and linguistic experiences.
The course will combine a focus on recent theoretical approaches to grammar (cognitive grammar, construction grammar, systemic – functional grammar) with innovative and practical approaches to teaching and learning in an authentic, action-based and interaction-rich setting.
Terms Taught
MIIS 8520 Upcoming
Pedagogical Grammar in FLTCourse Description
Pedagogical Grammar in FLT
"This course is designed to provide teachers of different languages with opportunities to investigate and practice pedagogical subject matter knowledge and grammar teaching strategies in the language that they teach. There will be a number of different languages represented in the class, which will afford multiple opportunities to explore, investigate, and share a variety of pedagogical perspectives and linguistic experiences.
The course will combine a focus on recent theoretical approaches to grammar (cognitive grammar, construction grammar, systemic – functional grammar) with innovative and practical approaches to teaching and learning in an authentic, action-based and interaction-rich setting." (Open to Junior and Seniors only) (Open to students who have taken Language Analysis or equivalent, you must contact Kathi Bailey from Monterey (kb@middlebury.edu) for review of MIDD course background.) The dates of this course are JANUARY 31 through MAY 20. Registering for this course signals your interest in taking the course.
Terms Taught
SPAN 3301
Adv Intermed SP:Comm in ContxtCourse Description
Advanced Intermed Spanish: Resources for Communication in Context
This course will stress the expansion of the student's active vocabulary and language skills at the third-year level. Classroom activities will center on a thorough review of the most important aspects of Spanish grammar, as well as active oral use of the language. The oral exercises will expose students to extended discourse and will develop content and context as appropriate for students moving from the intermediate to the advanced proficiency levels. The grammar explanations will be complemented by extensive oral and written exercises in contextualized and communication-based activities. This approach, together with the other courses taught at the third-year level as well as the linguistic experiences the student has outside of the classroom, will provide immediate reinforcement of new structures and are intended to maximize the student's linguistic competence. This course meets for two hours each day. (1 unit)
Terms Taught
SPLA 8243 Current
Spanish in the CommunityCourse Description
This course allows learner to develop intercultural communicative competence in Spanish. Each Friday, students will travel to Salinas and interact with English learners who are speakers of their target language. Through a sequence of tasks and projects, learners will develop language skills, creativity, critical thinking, community awareness, intercultural competence, language confidence, and learning autonomy.
Terms Taught
SPLA 8293
ColombianSustain:VivirSabrosoCourse Description
Colombian Sustainability: Vivir Sabroso
Colombians are reshaping the national narrative and the slogan “vivir sabroso” (to live joyfully) encapsulates a new way of being in the world, living without fear and with dignity, guaranteed rights, and in harmony with the environment. This course will allow Spanish students at the intermediate level and above to explore the topic of Colombian Sustainability from a multidimensional perspective, considering recent events, the natural complexity of this nation, and the case of Norte Nativo, a non-profit organization in Líbano, Colombia, working on sustainable agricultural practices.
Terms Taught
SPLA 8321 Current
Spanish in the CommunityCourse Description
This course allows learner to develop intercultural communicative competence in Spanish. Each Friday, students will travel to Salinas and interact with English learners who are speakers of their target language. Through a sequence of tasks and projects, learners will develop language skills, creativity, critical thinking, community awareness, intercultural competence, language confidence, and learning autonomy.
Terms Taught
SPLA 8322
Spanish in theGlobal CommunityCourse Description
This Team Tandem course will be an opportunity for Spanish students to participate in an online exchange program, allowing them to develop intercultural communicative competence, learning autonomy, global citizenship skills, and proficiency at the intermediate high/advanced levels. Students will be collaborating with Spanish speakers in English and Spanish and work together on a relevant advocacy project.
Terms Taught
SPLA 8421 Current
Spanish in the CommunityCourse Description
This course allows learner to develop intercultural communicative competence in Spanish. Each Friday, students will travel to Salinas and interact with English learners who are speakers of their target language. Through a sequence of tasks and projects, learners will develop language skills, creativity, critical thinking, community awareness, intercultural competence, language confidence, and learning autonomy.
Terms Taught
Gabriel is passionate about Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), project-based language learning (PBLL), service-learning, and film studies.
Professor Guillen has been teaching at the Institute since 2014.
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| by Sierra Abukins
In a small town in the mountains of Colombia students explored sustainable coffee-growing practices, biodiversity, and rural revitalization.
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
What is the social impact of language learning apps? What is the role of technology in the classroom? Middlebury Institute Professor Gabriel Guillén publishes research on challenges and benefits of incorporating the digital world into the language class.
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
The Middlebury Institute community found meaningful ways to celebrate the very real accomplishments of graduates through a series of virtual events, even starting a few new traditions.
