Glaucia Silva

Glaucia Silva is a Professor in the Department of Portuguese at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, specializing in heritage and foreign language learning with a focus on Portuguese.

Education:

• PhD, University of Iowa (1999)
• MA, University of Iowa (1991)
• BA, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (1988)

Professor Silva's research focuses on Portuguese language education, particularly heritage language contexts and language inclusiveness. She has made significant contributions through her co-authorship of four Portuguese language textbooks and her scholarly monograph Word Order in Brazilian Portuguese (De Gruyter, 2001/2013). Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical pedagogy, addressing the needs of heritage speakers in the United States.

Professor Silva teaches undergraduate courses including POR 301: Portuguese Composition and Conversation I, and graduate courses such as POR 763: Dissertation IV and EDU 602: Action Research for in-service teachers.

Her graduate students have investigated diverse topics including attitude and motivation in language learning, service encounters in Portuguese-speaking communities in Massachusetts, sociolinguistic variations in Rio de Janeiro, language anxiety, and innovative teaching approaches using music and task-based instruction.