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Sara Young

Senior Lecturer of Spanish

New Cabell Hall 466

Education

M.A., Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures, concentration in Hispanic Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2013)

M.A.T., concentration in Secondary Education (6-12), James Madison University (2009)

B.A., Modern Foreign Language, concentration in Spanish, minors in Pre-Professional Secondary Education and Teaching English as a Second Language, James Madison University (2008)

Teaching

University of Virginia (2016-Present)

SPAN 2010: Intermediate Spanish

SPAN 1060: Accelerated Elementary Spanish

SPAN 1020: Elementary Spanish

Elon University (2014-2016)

SPAN 122: Elementary Spanish II

SPAN 124: Intensive Elementary Spanish I and II

SPAN 121: Elementary Spanish I

Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute (2014, 2016)

RW 450: Reading and Writing 450

GLS 350: Grammar, Listening, and Speaking 350

GLS 150: Grammar, Listening, and Speaking 150

Beginning Conversation Spanish (online)

Other Teaching Experience (2009-2011)

High School Spanish Teacher: Spanish 1-AP

Service

Member, Sponsored Events Committee, University of Virginia, 2026-Present

Speaker Series Coordinator, Institute of World Languages, University of Virginia, 2025-Present

Co-Creator, Club de corredores y caminantes, University of Virginia, 2023-Present

Pre-Major Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, 2023-2025

Member, Committee for Three Assistant Professors of Spanish (AGFM), University of Virginia, 2024

Spanish Faculty Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, 2021-2023

Creator, Free Spanish Tutoring Program (SPAN 1060-2020), University of Virginia, 2017-2023

Co-Organizer, ePortfolio Peer Consultant Program, University of Virginia, 2021-2022

Member, Committee for Lecturer of Chinese (AGFM), University of Virginia, 2021

Member, Fall 2020 Planning Committee, University of Virginia, 2020

Summer Faculty Academic Advisor, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, 2019

Grants & Awards

Language Commons Activity Award: "Spanish Corner: Partner Practice with AI," University of Virginia, 2026

Thrive Small Pilot Grant with Jennifer Hogg: "Self-Regulation in Language Learning," University of Virginia, 2024-2025

Learning Technology Incubator Grant: “Volunteer Tutoring Program for Lower-Level Language Learning,” University of Virginia, 2018-2019

Presentations

Young, S., “Volunteer Tutoring Program for Lower-Level Language Learning: A Pedagogical Model,” SOLPHE 2025: Symposium on Language Pedagogy in Higher Education, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), University of Minnesota, Online, October 3, 2025.

Language