Ellen J. Serafini

Ellen J. Serafini is an Associate Professor of Spanish Applied Linguistics and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Spanish Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University and an M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Arizona.

• Her research examines the intersection of individual differences, pedagogical approaches, and sociocultural factors in language learning outcomes.
• She specializes in critical language pedagogy, heritage language education, and task-based language teaching.

Her publications appear in journals like The Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and Journal of Spanish Language Teaching. Recent work includes co-editing the 2025 volume Manual para la formación de profesores de español (Wiley), focusing on critical pedagogy in Spanish teacher education.

Teaching interests include graduate-level courses on curriculum design, task-based teaching, and bilingual education, as well as undergraduate offerings in heritage Spanish instruction and service learning.