Serafín M. Coronel-Molina

I am an Indigenous scholar from South America and a native speaker of Huanca Quechua, an endangered variety spoken in the central highlands of Peru. I completed my Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics/Sociolinguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, and I also obtained a master's degree in Hispanic Linguistics from The Ohio State University. I am a sociolinguist, educational linguist, ethnographer, lexicographer, editor, translator, and activist. I have delivered lectures and presented papers at numerous international venues. From 2019 to 2021, I held the prestigious position of Indiana University Bicentennial Professor. I currently hold the position of Professor of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, as well as Core Faculty in the International Comparative Education Program within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the School of Education. Additionally, I serve as the Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Head Coordinator of the Global Indigenous Studies Network, and Core Faculty member of the Minority Languages and Cultures Project in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. Furthermore, I am an Adjunct Professor in the Departments of Anthropology, Spanish and Portuguese, American Studies, and the Latino Studies Program. Moreover, I hold the roles of Research Associate and Advisory Board Member in the Institute for Indigenous Knowledge and the Center for the Documentation and Revitalization of Indigenous Languages and Supporting Faculty in the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program. In addition, I am an Affiliated Faculty member at the Centers for the Study of Global Change and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

My research and scholarship adopt an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach, examining the complex and dynamic intersections of language, culture, ideology, power, politics, policy, and identity. While my primary geographic focus is on the Andes of South America, my work extends to broader contexts across the Americas and Asia, particularly China and Taiwan. By engaging with diverse linguistic and sociopolitical landscapes, my scholarship contributes to a range of fields that inform my theoretical foundations, including educational linguistics, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies, and Literacy Studies.

At the core of my research are five major strands: sociolinguistics, which explores the interactions between language and society, with an emphasis on Indigenous and minoritized languages; language policy and planning, which analyzes how language policies shape linguistic diversity, access, and rights at local, national, and transnational levels; language revitalization, which investigates strategies and initiatives for sustaining and strengthening Indigenous and endangered languages; global indigeneity, which examines Indigenous movements, epistemologies, and linguistic practices in a globalized world; and translingual literacies, which seeks to understand multilingual and multimodal literacy practices within diverse educational, social, and political contexts.

My research interests and publication projects reflect these thematic areas and include the sociolinguistics of Indigenous languages, Indigenous language revitalization worldwide, and Quechua lexicography, as well as the politics of Indigenous and endangered languages and the intersection of local and global indigeneity. I also examine bilingual and multilingual education in South America and beyond, language policy and planning in Latin America, China and Taiwan, and ethnographies of linguistic landscapes. In addition, my work explores translingual literacies, transformative education, and ethnographies of Indigenous languages, with a focus on the lived experiences, narratives, and linguistic practices of Indigenous speakers. Through these interconnected lines of inquiry, my scholarship seeks to contribute to broader discussions on linguistic diversity, equity, and the transformative power of language in shaping identity and social change.

I have contributed research to various book chapters published by top international publishing houses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, Multilingual Matters, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer, SAGE, Wilson, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UNESCO, Nova Science Publishers, and others. Besides, my research has been published in several reputable international journals. For instance, I had the privilege of serving as the Guest Editor for the Special Issue on Indigenous Language Regimes in the Americas (2017, International Journal of the Sociology of Language). Additionally, I co-edited, alongside Miguel Rodríguez-Mondoñedo, the Special Issue on Language Contact and Universal Grammar in the Andes (2012, Lingua). I also edited, with Beth L. Samuelson, the Special Issue on Translingual Literacies (2017, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development). Furthermore, I served as an Issue Editor for the thematic volume on The Politics of Language (2017, Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures). Lastly, I edited with Llorenç Comajoan-Colomé the Special Issue on New Frameworks for Language Revitalization in the 21st Century: Case Studies from the Americas and Europe (2021, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development). My published books include: The Best Seller Quechua Phrasebook & Dictionary (5th Edition, 2019, Lonely Planet); Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas (with Teresa McCarty – 2016, Routledge); and Language Ideology, Policy and Planning in Peru (2015, Multilingual Matters).

I am one of the Founding Members of the Global Institute for Transformative Education (GITE), alongside Michael Ndemanu and Daniel Baron. In addition, I am the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education (IJLCLE). I serve as the Editor-in-Chief, alongside Michael Ndemanu, for the Global Journal of Transformative Education (GJTE). Likewise, I am an Editor, together with Stephen May, Teresa McCarty, and Constant Leung, for the Book Series Language, Education, and Diversity, published by Multilingual Matters in the UK.Top of Form

Selected Publications (Special Issue Volumes in Journals)

Comajoan-Colomé, L., & Coronel-Molina, S. M. (Guest Eds.). (2021). Special issue on New frameworks for language revitalization in the 21st century: Case studies from the Americas and Europe, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 42 (10).

Coronel-Molina, S. M. (Issue Ed.). (2017). Thematic issue on politics of language, Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, 1(2).

Coronel-Molina, S. M. (Issue Ed.). (2017). Special issue on Indigenous language regimes in the Americas, International Journal of the Sociology of Language (IJSL), 246.

Coronel-Molina, S. M., & Samuelson, B. L. (Guest Eds.). (2017). Special issue on Translingual literacies, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(5).

Coronel-Molina, S. M. (2014). Monograph. Definitions and critical literature review of language attitude, choice and shift: Samples of language attitude surveys. Journal of Second and Multiple Language Acquisition (JSMULA), 2 (2).

Coronel-Molina, S. M., & Rodríguez-Mondoñedo, M. (Guest Eds.). (2012). Special issue on Language contact and universal grammar in the Andes, Lingua, 122 (5).