Ramón y Cajal Researcher · University of Seville

Language learning across digital platforms, participatory cultures, and intelligent technologies.

I study how languages are learned, taught, and lived across digitally mediated environments, including social media, fandoms, video games, online communities, and artificial intelligence.

About

My work sits at the intersection of language education, applied linguistics, digital literacies, informal learning, fandom, artificial intelligence, and teacher education.

I am a Ramón y Cajal Researcher in Language Education at the University of Seville. My research examines how contemporary communicative practices — from fan translation, memes, video games and social media to generative AI and algorithmic platforms — transform language learning, teaching, literacy practices, and teacher identities. I have led competitive projects on digitally mediated language learning and contemporary literacies, including DEFINERS, SEGUE, and Gaming as Literacy.

Research areas

I approach language learning as a socially situated, digitally mediated and culturally embedded practice.

Digital mediation

Digitally mediated language learning and literacies

Platforms, online communities, social media, video games, fandoms and intelligent technologies as environments for language learning and literacy development.

Informal learning

Informal and self-directed language learning

Learners’ engagement with languages beyond the classroom, especially across digital wilds, interest-driven communities and platform-based ecologies.

Fandom

Fan translation and participatory cultures

Fansubbing, fandubbing, fanfiction, scanlation, memes, video games and other participatory practices as spaces for language learning and identity work.

Artificial intelligence

AI, algorithms and language education

How generative AI and algorithmic systems reshape language teaching, authorship, assessment, feedback, critical literacy and teacher education.

Teacher education

Language teacher education and pedagogical innovation

Pedagogical approaches that connect contemporary digital practices with language teacher education, including memes, fan-based learning, digital storytelling and AI-supported tasks.

Postdigital cultures

Language, identity and digital participation

How learners and teachers construct identities, affiliations and trajectories through language, technology, platforms and multimodal communication.

Selected publications

A selection of publications on digital literacies, fandom, AI, informal language learning and language teacher education.

2026

‘AI is Like Fire’: a discourse analysis of language teachers’ attitudes towards artificial intelligence

Journal of Education for Teaching. With Alba Paz-López and Liudmila Shafirova.

2025

Memes and identity in language teacher education

Language Learning & Technology. With Alba Paz-López and Sergio Rey-Godoy.

2025

Catalan identity and language attitudes through fan translation of video games in the digital wilds

Journal of Language, Identity & Education. With Steven L. Thorne.

2023

The emerging phenomenon of L2 vlogging on Bilibili

Profesional de la información. With Leticia-Tian Zhang and Daniel Cassany.

2022

“¿Triste estás? I don’t know nan molla”: Multilingual pop song fandubs by @miree_music

ITL – International Journal of Applied Linguistics. With Leticia-Tian Zhang.

Projects

My projects connect research, teacher education, open educational resources and knowledge transfer.

PI · National project

DEFINERS

Digital Language Learning of Junior Language Teachers. A competitive project on digital language learning, teacher education, literacies, AI and informal learning.

PI · Research project

SEGUE

Social Media and Video Games for Language Learning and Teaching. A project on participatory digital cultures and language teacher education.

Postdoctoral project

Gaming as Literacy

A postdoctoral project on video games as academic and vernacular literacy practices among young people.

Teaching & supervision

I teach and supervise in language education, applied linguistics, language teacher education, digital literacies, English language teaching and Spanish as a foreign language.

Teaching areas

Language pedagogy, curriculum design, English language teaching, Spanish as a foreign language, digital literacies, AI in education, fandom in language education, and teacher education.

Supervision

I supervise work on digitally mediated language learning, informal learning, fandom, AI, language teacher education, ELE, English language teaching, and contemporary literacies.

Ask my Research Assistant

A research assistant will be added here to answer questions about my publications, projects, teaching, talks, open materials and possible collaborations.

Coming soon.

The assistant will use curated academic materials and will avoid inventing publications, metrics, roles, or availability.

Contact me for now