UNAM AND CERVANTES INSTITUTE LAUNCH SPANISH OBSERVATORY
UNAM and the Cervantes Institute have inaugurated the Spanish Observatory covering Latin America and the Caribbean, an initiative designed to analyze language instruction and the impact of emerging technologies on the Spanish language throughout the Americas.
At the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), Luis García Montero, Director of the Cervantes Institute, and Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas, President of UNAM, signed an agreement to establish this research center in Mexico. The Observatory will focus on studying the evolution of Spanish, with particular attention to challenges posed by technological advancements and the language’s expanding global influence.
Francisco Moreno, Director of the Global Observatory of Spanish, and Anel Pérez, Director of UNAM’s Center for Foreign Language Teaching (CEPE), participated in the signing ceremony at Expo Guadalajara. Both emphasized the importance of understanding the dynamics of Spanish, especially in regions like the United States, where nearly 60 million people are native speakers.
President Lomelí underscored the significance of the collaboration between UNAM and the Cervantes Institute in advancing linguistic research. He noted that the Observatory would rely on support from a network of institutions across Mexico and Latin America to monitor language trends systematically. “Languages are dynamic social constructs, and there is no better way to study them than through collaboration with the Cervantes Institute,” he stated.
García Montero highlighted the Cervantes Institute’s ongoing research on Spanish usage in the United States, examining its origins, speaker demographics, and strategies for ensuring intergenerational transmission.
The new observatory will become part of the Global Observatory of Spanish (OGE) network, which includes centers such as Harvard University’s Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures Observatory and is currently working to establish a similar initiative in Africa. The Mexican center will concentrate on studying Spanish usage in Latin America and the Caribbean, addressing topics such as language instruction, translation, media communication, scientific discourse, and its role in emerging technologies.
