Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Paul Coats joined the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in 2015 in order to teach and supervise courses for the Basic Language Program (BLP). He has since taught all regular courses in the BLP as well as a 400-level course in Hispanic Linguistics. Although he has previously supervised both S100 and S150 for two years, he has recently transitioned to supervising S250. Before arriving in Bloomington, he was trained in Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, TESOL, and Literature, although his primary focus consisted of analyzing and augmenting the development of sound perception and production of foreign language learners, particularly among bilinguals learning a third language. At IU, he has applied his knowledge in these areas to assist in the development of our language program, as well as taught for the IU Honors Program in Foreign Languages in Mexico and Spain. In order to further increase participation in Spanish language learning in our surrounding community, he regularly volunteers as a director/actor for Grupo de Teatro VIDA, and is currently helping to create a two-week Spanish-language immersion program for high school students to take place on the IU Bloomington campus beginning next summer.