University of Colorado Denver College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bio

Dr. Jenkins is a sociolinguist who focuses on Spanish in the southwestern United States. His current research focus is on the rapid growth of the Spanish-speaking population in the western United States and the relationship between Spanish language use and social factors in this area.

Dr. Jenkins won the CLAS award for excellence in teaching in 2005 and again in 2009, along with the award for excellence in service in 2009.

Dr. Jenkins became the new Chair of the Department of Modern Languages on January 1, 2011.

Select Publications

2010. “The state(s) of Spanish in the Southwest: A comparative study of language maintenance and socioeconomic variables.” In Spanish of the Southwest: A language of transition, Daniel Villa and Susana Mills, eds. Madrid: Iberoamericana, 133-56.

2009. “As the Southwest moves north: Population expansion and sociolinguistic implications in the Spanish-speaking Southwest.” Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 28.1: 53-69.

2009. “The cost of linguistic loyalty: Socioeconomic factors in the face of shifting demographic trends among Spanish speakers in the Southwest.” Spanish in Context 6.1: 7-25.

2005 (with R.E. McCullough). “Out with the old, in with the new?: Recent trends in Spanish language use in Colorado.” Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 24: 91-110.

Jenkins, D.L. 2003. “Bilingual verb constructions in southwest Spanish.” The Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilingüe, 27.3: 195-204.

Courses Taught

SPAN 3060: Spanish Phonetics
SPAN 3070: Bilingual Communities
SPAN 4010: History of the Spanish Language
SPAN 4020: Spanish Sociolinguistics
SPAN 4060: Dialects of the Spanish-Speaking World
SPAN 4080: Spanish in the United States