Sean McKinnon

Sean McKinnon is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the Global Languages & Cultures department. He holds a B.S. in Psychology and Spanish from Ohio State University, an M.A. in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain), and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from Indiana University - Bloomington.

His research focuses on sociolinguistics, particularly language variation, contact, and ideologies in bilingual communities. Key projects include studies on Guatemalan Spanish in Texas, language ideologies in U.S. Spanish-speaking communities, and phonetic variation in contact-induced language change. He has co-edited Recent Developments in Hispanic Linguistics (2024) and published widely in journals like Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics and Spanish in Context.

Teaching emphasizes advanced Spanish linguistics courses and core curriculum linguistics in English. His work bridges empirical sociolinguistics with pedagogy, exploring how critical language awareness challenges hegemonic ideologies among heritage speakers.

Recent publications analyze subject position variation in bilingual Arizonan Spanish, glottalization in Guatemalan Spanish, and rhotic contrasts in Kaqchikel-Spanish bilingualism. His methodologies integrate sociolinguistic interviews, phonetic measurements (e.g., VOT, CV intensity), and multivariate statistical analysis to uncover how social factors propagate linguistic change.