Lisa M. Merschel, Associate Professor of the Practice and Director of the Spanish Language Program

Please note: Lisa has left the "Romance Studies" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Director of the Spanish Language Program since 2021, and at Duke since 2001, I teach all levels in the SLP, with second-language acquisition, language technologies, and machine learning's impact on writing in the L2+ being the areas that interest me professionally. In the last few years I've been researching, writing and presenting on the teaching and learning of Spanish in light of disruptive technologies such as Google Translate and LLMs. I am interested in Spanish language education and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Currently, I am involved in a cross-disciplinary team of language faculty, conducting focus groups with undergraduate students on their perceptions of and interactions with LLMs. I am passionate about graduate student teacher training, and the undergraduate experience in the language classroom.

I directed summer study abroad programs in Mexico and Spain in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2026.

Member of American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL); American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP); American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL); and American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Directors of Language Programs (AAUSC)

Contact Info:

Office Location:	2122 Campus Drive, Box 90269, Durham, NC 27708-0269
Email Address:
Web Page:	https://romancestudies.duke.edu/undergraduate/languages/spanish

Teaching (Fall 2026):

• SPANISH 111.01, ELEMENTARY SPANISH 1 AND 2 Synopsis

  Languages 211, MTuWTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM

• MMS 273T-1.01, ADVERTISING IN SPANISH Synopsis

  Languages 114A, Tu 03:05 PM-04:20 PM

  (also cross-listed as SPANISH 275T-1.01)

Office Hours:

Fridays 12:30-2:30pm and by appointment.

Education:

Ph.D.	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	2003
B.A.	Smith College	1993

Specialties:

Spanish

Duties:

Assistant Director

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Merschel, L; Munné, J, Perceptions and Practices of Machine Translation Among 6th-12th Grade World Language Teachers, L2 Journal, vol. 14 no. 1 (January, 2022), California Digital Library (CDL) [doi]
2. Merschel, L; Munné, J; Paredes, L, Aula en Acción 2: Annotated Instructor's Edition (2022)
3. Merschel, L; Munné, J; Paredes, L, Mapas: Annotated Teacher's Edition, vol. 1-4 (2021), Difusión and Klett World Languages, ISBN 9788418625350
4. Merschel, L; Paredes, L; Gallego, M, Aula en Acción 1: Annotated Instructor's Edition (2021), Difusión and Klett World Languages
5. Merschel, L; Paredes, L; Munné, J, Proyectos: Annotated Instructor's Edition (2020), Difusión and Klett World Languages, ISBN 9788417710002

Selected Invited Lectures

1. iPods and the Spanish Language Classroom, 2005, American University    

Selected Talks

1. The Role of Assessment in Spanish Service-Learning Courses, February, 2009, Elon College    
2. Task-Based Assessment in Lower and Intermediate Spanish (lecture given in Spanish), November, 2008, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)    
3. iTalk and iListen in Spanish, May, 2008, CIT Showcase at Duke University    
4. Still iPodding after all these years..., April, 2008, CIT Showcase    
5. iTalk and iListen in Spanish, 2006, Duke University CIT Showcase [pdf]    
6. Benefits of Blackboard in a Standardized Language Program, 2004, Duke University