Isabel Cobo Palacios

About

I am a Teaching Fellow in Hispanic Studies and the Language Centre at the University of Warwick, where I teach Spanish language and culture across undergraduate and university-wide programmes. I am also Lead Year Abroad Coordinator for Hispanic Studies, with responsibility for study placements in Latin America and work placements.

My current research focuses on the Year Abroad and the challenges involved in supporting students’ academic, linguistic, intercultural and professional development during and beyond their time abroad. This work builds on a Returners Fellowship project exploring the need to provide continuous language and intercultural learning opportunities for students who do not undertake a traditional Year Abroad experience, as well as ways of supporting students’ learning throughout their Year Abroad.

My doctoral research, undertaken as part of the AHRC-funded Language Acts and Worldmaking project, examined Spanish language teachers’ mediation practices in Higher Education. This work continues to inform my interest in mediation, interculturality and the role of language teachers and Higher Education institutions in supporting students across different linguistic and cultural contexts.

Research interests

My research interests centre on language teaching and learning in Higher Education, with a particular focus on mediation, the role of language teachers as mediators between languages, cultures and perspectives, and how to support students maximizing their year abroad experience.

My doctoral research examined Spanish language teachers’ mediation practices in Higher Education, exploring how teachers understand and enact their role as mediators in the language classroom. This research was undertaken as part of the AHRC-funded Language Acts and Worldmaking project, within the strand on diasporic identities and the politics of language teaching.

My current research interests include:

• Language teacher mediation
• Teacher identity and professional development
• Mediation and multilingual practices in Higher Education
• Language teaching and technology
• The Year Abroad as a site of language, intercultural and professional learning
• Spanish language teaching in Higher Education

Teaching and supervision

I teach Spanish language and culture across Hispanic Studies and the Language Centre.

Within Hispanic Studies, I am Module Convenor for HP102 Modern Spanish Language for Beginners and teach on HP101 Modern Spanish Language I. My teaching includes Spanish language combined skills, translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening.

Within the Language Centre, I currently teach Spanish 2 and Spanish for students in Warwick Business School (WBS).

My teaching interests include language learning, mediation, intercultural learning, translation and writing, and the development of students’ communicative competence through engaging and inclusive classroom practices.

Administrative Roles

• Lead Year Abroad Coordinator for Hispanic Studies, with responsibility for study placements in Latin America and work placements.
• Module Convenor for HP102 Modern Spanish Language for Beginners.
• Coordinator of a Special Interest Group (SIG) on the Year Abroad, bringing together colleagues interested in the academic, pedagogical and professional dimensions of the Year Abroad.

Recent Publications

• Álvarez, I., Cobo Palacios, I., Fuertes Gutiérrez, M. and Puntil, D. (2022). ‘Language teachers and researchers as worldmakers’. In C. Boyle and D. Kelly (eds.), Language Acts and Worldmaking. London: John Murray Learning, pp. 1–40.

Conferences and Research Activities

• Joint Keynote presentation 'Doctoral research and all that
  jazz. Putting your best foot forward' at PGR Summer Conference 2026, The Open University.
• Cobo Palacios, I. (2025). ‘¿Mediación o re-mediación?’. ELEUK 2025 Conference.
• Cobo Palacios, I. (2018). ‘HE Spanish Teachers’ Mediation Practices’. Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL), University of Warwick.
• Member of ELE-UK and Member of ASELE in Spain. Member of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland, Member of AILA and AESLA,
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Qualifications

• PhD in Spanish Language Teachers’ Mediation Practices in Higher Education, The Open University, 2023.
• MA in Applied Linguistics of Spanish as a Foreign Language (MLAEELE), FUNIBER / University of Jaén, 2014.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, Coventry University, 2013.
• Certificate of Pedagogical Aptitude (CAP), University of Jaén, 2009.
• BA in English and Tourism, University of Jaén, 2008.