Devin Jenkins

Devin Jenkins is an Associate Professor in World Languages and Cultures at the University of Utah and Director of the Second Language Teaching and Research Center since 2024. He previously served as Chair and faculty at the University of Colorado Denver (1999-2024) and Virginia Tech (1999-2001). His research focuses on sociolinguistics, heritage language maintenance, and second language acquisition, particularly in Spanish-speaking communities in the Western United States.

• Ph.D., M.A. in Linguistics from the University of New Mexico
• B.A. in Spanish from the University of Colorado

Research trends in his work include language shift analysis, vowel quality in L2 learners, and sociolinguistic implications of demographic changes. He has published extensively on Spanish maintenance in Utah, Colorado, and the Southwest, examining correlations between language use and socioeconomic factors like education and income.

• CLAS Award for Excellence in Teaching (2009, 2005)
• CLAS Award for Excellence in Service (2009)

Grants include funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (2025), SITFAC (2023), CLAS ACT (2013), and multiple YUMPs awards. He teaches courses such as Intro to Hispanic Linguistics and L2 Methodology, with a focus on phonetic instruction and language policy.