Lizette Wences ’15
Linguistics

Lizette Wences ‘15 Linguistics with a Spanish Emphasis, Minor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Lizette Wences love for language sparked her research at UCSB. her personal experiences as a Latina student speaking American Spanish is what motivated her to pursue research about conflicts in language ideologies and cultural beliefs that Latina youth face in their daily lives. Her active participation in class is why her Linguistics professor and mentor Mary Bucholtz encouraged Lizette to explore the McNair Scholars Program. “I had no idea how I was going to become involved in research, and looking back I’m still in disbelief,” explains Lizette.

Lizette didn’t do research just to fulfill a requirement but to personally discover how Latinas are affected by American Spanish language ideologies. With funding and support from URCA, Spanish/Portuguese department and Associate Students, Lizette was able to pursue a research project that intersected her academic interests and her personal life. Lizette will continue her research on speech-language pathology and hopes to attend grad school once she leaves UCSB. Lizette says, “if opportunity comes knocking on your door, roll with it. One thing can lead to another and before you know it, you will be doing things you never dreamed you would be doing.”