Erin Mauffray, PhD
Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics
Welcome to my site! I'm Erin Mauffray, an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Modern Languages Department at the University of Mississippi.
Education
September 2019-June 2024
Ph.D., Hispanic Languages & Literatures
University of California, Los Angeles
Advisor: Dr. Victoria Mateu
Committee members: Dr. Jesse Harris, Dr. Ji Young Kim, Dr. Carlos Quicoli
Awarded Dissertation Year Fellowship, AY 2023-2024
Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy, March 2024
Awarded Rookie TA of the Year, AY 2020-21
August 2013-May 2015
M.A., Spanish Linguistics
University of Georgia
Advisor: Dr. Margaret Quesada
Committee members: Dr. Sarah Blackwell, Dr. Gary Baker
Thesis: The Acquisition of Discourse Markers through Study Abroad in Spanish L2 Learners' Oral Narratives: So and its Possible Spanish Equivalents
Program TA: UGA en Buenos Aires, Summer 2014
August 2007-May 2012
B.A., International Studies & Spanish
Croft Institute for International Studies
University of Mississippi
Advisor: Dr. Kate Centellas
Committee: Dr. William Schenck, Dr. John Sonnett
Thesis: Disaster Community: La Cultura Sísmica of Chile
Awarded Best Thesis on a Latin American Topic
Croft Institute for International Studies
Honors Study Abroad Fellow, Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College
Studied abroad at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile, July 2009-July 2010
Upcoming & Recent Events
December 2025: Talk at Going Romance. "Aux-VPE in Spanish Heritage Speakers: Consequences for Ellipsis Licensing" with with Victoria Mateu and Rodrigo Ranero.
November 2025: Talk at the 50th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. "Ellipsis in contact: VPE and sluicing in Spanish heritage speakers" with Victoria Mateu and Rodrigo Ranero.
May 2025: Panel workshop at the Creating Connections Symposium 2025: Writing Across. Food for Thought: Honoring Heritage in Writing & Language Learning.
Project spotlight: Ellipsis in Contact: VPE and Sluicing in Spanish Heritage Speakers
This study investigates English-dominant Spanish heritage speakers’ (HSs) evaluation of verb phrase ellipsis (VPE) and sluicing. Spanish permits VPE only with modal remnants, while English allows both modal and auxiliary VPE. Sluicing, in contrast, is constrained by universal voice-matching requirements. We thus test whether HSs’ difficulties with silent elements (“the Silent Problem”) are observed across structures, or whether they are particularly notable when transfer from the dominant language is available.
In a written/aural acceptability judgment task, HSs (n=24) and Spanish-dominant controls (n=33) rated expected grammatical (ModVPE and Voice Match Sluicing) and ungrammatical (AuxVPE and Voice Mismatch Sluicing) sentences. Both groups rejected voice-mismatched sluicing equally. However, HSs penalized AuxVPE less than the baseline group, suggesting English transfer. The results support the view that HSs exhibit reduced inhibition of the dominant language. We argue that constraints on silence that are universally observed are maintained more robustly in HSs’ grammars.
Mauffray, E., Mateu, V., and Ranero, R. Ellipsis in Contact: VPE and Sluicing in Spanish Heritage Speakers. Proceedings of the 50th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Teaching at UM
Span 575: Topics in Applied Linguistics
Spring 2027
Lin 2000: Introduction to Linguistic Science
Fall 2026
Span 3062: Spanish for Heritage Learners 2
Fall 2025, Fall 2026
Span 3061: Spanish for Heritage Learner 1
Fall 2025, Fall 2026
Professional Experience
Selected Work History
August 2015 - May 2019
Spanish Teacher, Speech & Debate Coach, Softball Coach
Murrah High School
Jackson Public Schools
Jackson, MS
August 2014-December 2016
Spanish Tutor
Varsity Tutors
August 2012-August 2013
AmeriCorps, Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA)
Office of the Provost at the University of Mississippi's North MS VISTA Project
In partnership with the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement
University, MS
December 2007-August 2012 (seasonal)
Translator and General Assistant
Beach View Dental Clinic
Gulfport, MS
August 2011-May 2012
Spanish Tutor
FedEx Academic Support Center
University, MS
About Me
My Background
I was born and raised in Gulfport, MS. My experience in Hurricane Katrina informed my life path: I wrote my undergraduate thesis about "disaster community", which I observed in my experience in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the February 2010, 8.8 earthquake off the southern coast of Chile. After finishing my B.A., I spent a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA, where my task was to fight poverty through education and build capacity for first year student retention at the University of Mississippi. I completed my M.A. at the University of Georgia and went on to become a Spanish teacher, speech & debate coach, and softball coach at Murrah High School in Jackson, MS. I completed my Ph.D. in Spanish linguistics at the University of California-Los Angeles in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese in June 2024, and I taught Spanish and linguistics at UCLA and Santa Monica College in the academic year 2024-2025. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Mississippi. In my free time, I spend time with my husband and my dog, Olivia (pictured left), read, listen to music, and learn about and practice mutual aid.
Community Involvement & Interests
Gardening
Small plot in community garden
P-16 Community Engagement Council
Jackson Public Schools
January 2016-July 2018
Mutual Aid
Community Fridges
Peer Support
Outreach and Distro
Los Angeles, CA
July 2020-July 2025
Mississippi Community Line
Spanish Hotline Operator
Southeast Immigrants Rights Network
September 2019-March 2020
"Necesito del mar porque me enseña: No sé si aprendo música o conciencia."