Northern Illinois University
World Languages and Cultures
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Nancy Domínguez-Fret is an assistant professor of Spanish linguistics and director of teacher licensure in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Northern Illinois University. She brings extensive experience teaching both Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) and Spanish as a second language at the high school and college levels. Her SHL teaching centers on the intersections of critical language awareness and Ethnic Studies.

Domínguez-Fret’s research focuses on the language experiences of heritage speakers across the educational pipeline, the role of SHL courses in the recruitment and retention of Latinx students, and the preparation of preservice language teachers. She is a co-founding member of the UIC Dual Language Bilingual Education Research Collective and provides professional development for educators teaching SHL and dual language in multiple states across the country.

Born and raised on the South side of Chicago, Domínguez-Fret is the proud mother of two bilingual MexiRican children. Her personal and professional experiences inform her deep commitment to advancing equitable access to dual language and heritage language education throughout Illinois.

Selected Publications

• Aguilera, L, Marshall, M. and Domínguez-Fret, N. (2024). “Yo sí digo haiga”: A Critical Approach to Teaching Latina/o/e Spanish Heritage Speaking Students. In Silverman Andrews, O. and Tomlin, A. (Ed.), When We Hear Them: Tools to Attune Teachers' Ears to Voices of Language-Diverse Learners. Information Age Publishing
• Morales, P. Z., Alcalá, R., Monsivais Diers, N., and Domínguez-Fret, N. (2024). ¿Estamos escuchando? Creating transformative ruptures that amplify Latinx family language maintenance expectations and rights. In Delavan, M. G., Freire, J., and Menken, K. (Ed.), Overcoming the gentrification of dual language bilingual education: Solution-oriented research and stakeholder resources. Multilingual Matters.
• Domínguez-Fret, N., and Oberto, E. (2022). Untapped potential: The state of dual language education in Chicago Public Schools. Bilingual Research Journal. 45(1), 61-81.
• Domínguez-Fret, N., and Morales, P. Z. (2021). From English language learner to Spanish teacher: The testimonios of heritage Spanish speakers who became Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) teachers. In E. B. Bauer, L. Sánchez, Y. Wang, and A. Vaughan (Eds.), A transdisciplinary lens for bilingual education: Bridging cognitive, sociocultural, and sociolinguistic approaches to enhance student learning. Routledge.
• Domínguez-Fret, N. (2021). Making research accessible to communities outside of academia: Dual language education, critical language pedagogy, and translanguaging. Literacies Across the Lifespan, 1(1),

Courses Taught at NIU

• FLSP 215 - Spanish for Heritage Speakers I
• FLSP 315-Spanish for Heritage Speakers II
• FLMT 491 - Foreign Language Teaching Methods for the Middle and High Schools
• FLPT 485/585: Student Teaching in Foreign Languages
• FLSP 482/582: Foundations in Spanish Sociolinguistics

Education

• Ph.D., University of Illinois at Chicago, Curriculum and Instruction
• M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Spanish Applied Linguistics
• B.A., University of Illinois at Chicago, Secondary Teaching of Spanish