Faculty Profile

Sarah Sinnott

Associate Professor, Spanish

Sarah Sinnott is an associate professor of Spanish at the University of Sioux Falls. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Spanish Education and her Master's degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Northern Iowa. She earned her PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from The Ohio State University with concentrations in Pragmatics and Historical Linguistics.

Dr. Sinnott is passionate about the impact of educational travel and has participated in and led programs throughout the Spanish-speaking world. 

Education

  • B.A., Spanish-Teaching, University of Northern Iowa, 2002
  • M.A., Spanish Language and Literature, University of Northern Iowa, 2005
  • Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics, The Ohio State University, 2010

Courses Taught

  • SPA 101 - First Semester Spanish
  • SPA 102 - Second Semester Spanish
  • SPA 201 - Third Semester Spanish
  • SPA 202 - Fourth Semester Spanish
  • SPA 303 - Survey of Latin American Literature and Cultures through the 19th Century
  • SPA 304 - Survey of Latin American Literature and Cultures: 19th Century to Present
  • SPA 325 - K12 Content Methods for Teaching World Languages
  • SPA 340 - Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
  • SPA 341 - Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
  • SPA 345 - Special Topics in Hispanic Linguistics
  • SPA 350 - Spanish Composition
  • SPA 360 - Introduction to Translation
  • SPA 361 - Spanish for the Professions
  • SPA 450 - Spanish Senior Capstone
  • SPA 491 - Women's Rights in the Spanish Speaking World

Professional Memberships

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language
South Dakota World Language Association

Expertise

  • Hispanic Linguistics
  • Pragmatics

Research

Dr. Sinnott's research is currently focused on proficiency-based language teaching. 

Scholarships and Creative Work

Articles
  • "Discourse Markers in Variation: por tanto vs. por lo tanto." Varieties of Spanish: Language Variation and Contact-Induced Change. Cambridge Scholars. Edited by Jeremy King and Sandro Sessarego. 2018
  • "The Role of Cognitive Semantics in Discourse Marker Variation." Theoretical and Applied Developments on Spanish Variation. The Ohio State University Press. Edited by Juan JosĂ© Colomina Alminana. 2017.
  • "The Role of Implicature in Castilian Pronominal Address Forms." Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics 6(2).301-324. 2013
  • "Generalized Conversational Implicatures and Indexical Fields: The Case of Address Forms." Selected Proceedings for the 6th International Workshop on Spanish Sociolinguistics. Cascadilla Press. 53-62. 2013
Books
  • "Address forms in Castilian Spanish: Convention and Implicature" Dissertation. 2010.
Presentations
  • An Undergraduate Curriculum Overhaul. Presented at the ACTFL 2019 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. Washington D.C. November 22. 2019.
  • Impact of Immersion Day. Presented at the South Dakota World Language Association Conference. October. 2018.
  • Cultural Competency for Language Teachers. Paper Presented at the ACTFL 2016 Annual Convention and World Languages Expo. Boston, MA. November 18-20. 2016.
  • A Cross-Dialectal Study of Pragmatic Markers. Paper presented at The XLIV Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest. Arizona State University Colleges at Lake Havasu. September 10-12. 2015.

Service/Volunteer Work

Rotary Club

President 2018-19

Public Image Chair 2017-present

Rotary Youth Exchange Committee 2018-present

Past President 2019-president

Fundraising Chair 2020-present

 

USF Research Symposium Coordinator

2018-present

Mujeres de Fe

Board member of Sioux Falls organization dedicated to serving the needs of the Hispanic population.

Hispanic Business Network

Local organization dedicated to uniting the Sioux Falls community.

Cinco de mayo festival

Regular volunteer

Student Volunteer coordinator

Service Learning Committee Co-chair

2013-2015