Dr. Wílmar López Barrios

Assistant Professor

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Biography

Wílmar López-Barrios specializes in prosody—the music of language. His research lies at the intersection of Language Acquisition and Language Contact, complementing and nurturing his academic journey. Wílmar studied prosody in Palenquero/Spanish bilinguals, seeking to disentangle the melodies of African origin induced by contact with the majority language. In the classroom, he recreates communicative contexts to emulate diverse language contact situations, aiming to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities involved in learning and maintaining minority languages, particularly Spanish in the United States and Palenquero in Colombia. His publications include 'Language-Specific Prosody Statements of Palenquero/Spanish Bilinguals' (Languages, 2024) and 'Decline of Substitution in the Spanish Future Subjunctive in Northwest and Southwest Colombia from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries' (Journal of Linguistic Geography, 2022). He is currently writing a paper titled 'Language Differentiation: Generational Effects on Yes/No Question Intonation in Palenquero/Spanish Bilinguals.'

Research Interests

Requirements for Northwestern University

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3
TOEFL
Total
Required:90
IELTS
Overall
Required:7
Prerequisites
U.S. Bachelor's degree or equivalent
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Transcripts
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Statement of purpose
  • Resume/CV
  • TOEFL/IELTS scores (if applicable)
Specialization Notes

Standard PhD requirements for TGS departments including Chemistry, Physics, and Sociology.