Member info
Yolanda Fernández-Pena holds a BA (BA Extraordinary Graduate Prize in 2013) and an MA in English Philology from the University of Vigo, where she also completed her PhD in English Linguistics in 2018 (International Award, PhD Extraordinary Award in 2020).
Yolanda joined the LVTC research group in December 2012 on an MA research grant, and the Department of English, French and German at the University of Vigo in December 2013 on a predoctoral grant from the Regional Government of Galicia (PRE/2013/396). From September 2014 to December 2017, she held a FPU grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU13/01509), which also provided generous financial support to carry out research stays at the Universities of Zurich (2015), Lancaster (2016) and Leuven (2017). Yolanda was also a predoctoral visiting scholar at the Universities of Liverpool (2014) and Leuven (2016), and a postdoctoral visiting researcher at the Universities of Leuven (2019), Graz (2019-2021) and Neuchâtel (2021-2022). After working as Junior Lecturer ("Ayudante") at the University of Cantabria (April 2018-October 2019), she returned to the Department of English, French and German at the University of Vigo as a postdoctoral fellow on a competitive grant from the Regional Government of Galicia (ED481B-2019/077) (October 2019-February 2022). Since February 2022, she works as Assistant Lecturer ("Ayudante Doctora") at the University of Santiago de Compostela, where she has joined the Variation, Linguistic Change and Grammaticalization research group.
Yolanda's research focuses on language change in the recent history of the English language, particularly on the linguistic variation of verb number agreement with complex collective subjects in Late Modern and Present-Day English and the syntactic characterisation of fragments in Present-Day English, as well as on the provision of agreement morphology and overt subjects in L2 English in (non-)CLIL contexts.
Dissertations
- (2018) PhD Thesis (International Doctorate, PhD Extraordinary Award in 2020): Determinants of verb number agreement with complex collective subjects: A corpus-based analysis in English. Supervisor: Prof. Javier Pérez-Guerra. PhD examiners: Prof. Kristin Davidse (KU Leuven), Prof. Juan Carlos Acuña Fariña (University of Santiago de Compostela) and Prof. Magnus Levin (Linnaeus University).
- (2015) BA Thesis ("tesina"): A corpus-based study on verbal agreement with collective nouns in the recent history of English. Supervisor: Prof. Javier Pérez-Guerra.
- (2013) MA Thesis: Verbal agreement and animacy in British English collective noun-based constructions: A case study with of-dependents. Supervisor: Prof. Javier Pérez-Guerra.
Publications

forthc.
- An analysis of fragments in Present-Day written and spoken English. In Proceeding of the 44th AEDEAN Conference.
- Modelling verb number agreement variation with complex collective subjects in inner-circle varieties of English. In Manfred Krug, Valentin Werner, Ole Schützler & Fabian Vetter (eds.), Perspectives on contemporary English: Structure, variation, cognition. Bern: Peter Lang.
2021
- Towards an empirical characterisation and a corpus-driven taxonomy of fragments in written contemporary English. RÆL, Revistælectrónica de Lingüística Aplicada, 20(1). 136-154.
- Agreement morphology errors and null subjects in young (non-)CLIL learners. VIAL, Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics 18(1). 59-96. doi: 10.35869/vial.v0i18.3365 [First author, with Francisco Gallardo-del-Puerto]
2020
- Reconciling synchrony, diachrony and usage in verb number agreement with complex collective subjects. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-367-41715-4. doi: 10.4324/9780367815899. Reviewed in Nexus 2021.01 and English Language and Linguistics. AEDEAN Leocadio Martín Mingorance Book Award on Theoretical and Applied English Linguistics 2021 and AESLA Guadalupe Aguado Research Award for Young Researchers 2022.
- Review of Laure Gardelle's Semantic plurality: English collective nouns and other ways of denoting pluralities of entities. John Benjamins, 2019. Babel - AFIAL: Aspectos de Filología Inglesa y Alemana 29(1). 153-160. doi: 10.35869/afial.v0i29.3282.
- Complex collective subjects in inner-circle World Englishes: Verb number variation and quantifying usage. In Pilar Guerrero Medina, Macarena Palma Gutiérrez & María Valero Redondo (eds.), Advances in English and American studies: Current developments, future trends, 117-129. Córdoba: UCOPress, Cordoba University Press. ISBN: 978-84-9927-546-8.
2018
- The expression of quantification in binominal subjects integrating collective nouns. In Mª Beatriz Hernández, Manuel Brito & Tomás Monterrey (eds.), Broadening horizons: A peak panorama of English studies in Spain, 237-246. La Laguna: Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de La Laguna. ISBN: 978-84-15939-66-5.
- New insights into the idiomatisation of NCOLL-of-NPL constructions. In María Ferrández San Miguel & Claus-Peter Neuman (eds.), Taking stock to look ahead: Celebrating forty years of English studies in Spain, 197-206. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias de la Universidad de Zaragoza. ISBN: 978-84-16723-51-5. doi: 10.26754/uz.978-84-16723-51-5.
2017
- Sujetos colectivos y concordancia verbal: Un estudio de frecuencias, semántica y sintaxis (Collective subjects and verbal agreement: A study of frequency, semantics and syntax). RÆL, Revistælectrónica de Lingüística Aplicada 16(1). 70-84.
- Patterns of verbal agreement with collective nouns taking plural of-dependents: A corpus-based analysis of syntactic distance. Corpora 12(2). 207-241. doi: 10.3366/cor.2017.0117.
- Verbal agreement with collectives taking of-dependents: Syntactic and structural complexity as determinant factors. In Sofía Bemposta-Rivas, Carla Bouzada-Jabois, Yolanda Fernández-Pena, Tamara Bouso, Yolanda J. Calvo-Benzies & Iván Tamaredo (eds.), New trends and methodologies in applied English language research III: Synchronic and diachronic studies on discourse, lexis and grammar processing, 109-130. Bern/New York: Peter Lang. ISBN: 978-3-0343-2039-9, doi: 10.3726/978-3-0351-0932-0.
- Introduction. In Sofía Bemposta-Rivas, Carla Bouzada-Jabois, Yolanda Fernández-Pena, Tamara Bouso, Yolanda J. Calvo-Benzies & Iván Tamaredo (eds.), New trends and methodologies in applied English language research III: Synchronic and diachronic studies on discourse, lexis and grammar processing, 7-16. Bern/New York: Peter Lang. ISBN: 978-3-0343-2039-9, doi: 10.3726/978-3-0351-0932-0. [Third author, with Sofía Bemposta-Rivas & Carla Bouzada-Jabois]
- (ed.) New trends and methodologies in applied English language research III: Synchronic and diachronic studies on discourse, lexis and grammar processing. Bern/New York: Peter Lang. 280 pages. ISBN: 978-3-0343-2039-9, doi: 10.3726/978-3-0351-0932-0. [Third editor, with Sofía Bemposta-Rivas, Carla Bouzada-Jabois, Tamara Bouso, Yolanda J. Calvo-Benzies & Iván Tamaredo]
- Verbal agreement with collective nominal constructions: Syntactic and semantic determinants. Atlantis 39(1). 33-54.
- 'These points stated, a number of problems remain': A corpus-based analysis of the idiomatisation of collective noun-based constructions. In Sebastian Hoffmann, Andrea Sand & Sabine Arndt-Lappe (eds.), Exploring recent diachrony: Corpus studies of lexicogrammar and language practices in Late Modern English (Studies in Variation, Contacts and Change in English 18). Helsinki: VARIENG.
- Exploring the patterns of verbal agreement of collective noun-headed subjects in a parsed corpus of Present-Day English. In Chelo Vargas-Sierra (ed.), AESLA 2016 – Professional and academic discourse: An interdisciplinary perspective, 325-334. Manchester: Easychair. doi: 10.29007/8v9n.
2016
- Tracing the history of of-collectives: On the idiomatisation of a number of, a/the majority of and a group of. In Aitor Ibarrola-Armendariz & Jon Ortiz de Urbina Arruabarrena (eds.), On the move: Glancing backwards to build a future in English studies, 247-256. Bilbao: University of Deusto. ISBN: 978-84-15759-87-4.
- Revisiting the role of plural of-dependents on verbal agreement with collective nouns: A syntactic pilot study on New Englishes. In Aitor Ibarrola-Armendariz & Jon Ortiz de Urbina Arruabarrena (eds.), On the move: Glancing backwards to build a future in English studies, 237-245. Bilbao: University of Deusto. ISBN: 978-84-15759-87-4.
2015
- Verbal agreement with collective noun-based constructions: Syntactic and lexical implications of of-dependents. In Alberto Lázaro Lafuente & María Dolores Porto Requejo (eds.), English and American studies in Spain: New developments and trends, 206-217. Alcalá de Henares: University of Alcalá de Henares. ISBN: 978-84-16599-11-0.
2014
- Collective nouns in English: A corpus-based study on agreement. In Esther Álvarez López, Emilia María Durán Almarza & Alicia Menéndez Tarrazo (eds.), Building interdisciplinary knowledge. Approaches to English and American studies in Spain, 323-334. Oviedo: KRK Ediciones. ISBN: 978-84-8367-475-8.
Conference organisation
I have been involved in the organisation of the following conferences:
University of Vigo
- (23-25 September 2021) 6th Prescriptivism Conference. Modelling Prescriptivism: Language, Literature, and Speech Communities
- (24-25 May 2018) Modelling the Linguistic Architecture of English: Theories and Methods
- (28-30 September 2017) 7th Biennial International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English (BICLCE2017)
- (15-17 September 2016) 28th International Conference of the Spanish Society for Medieval English Language and Literature (SELIM 28)
- (04-06 February 2015) Exploring Liminality in Anglophone Studies (4th ASYRAS Conference)
- (04-06 February 2015) Fourth International Postgraduate Conference on Language and Cognition (ELC4)
- (18-19 October 2013) Englishes Today International Conference: Theoretical and methodological issues
- (09-10 November 2012) International Workshop: Ellipsis2012
University of Cantabria
- (27-28 June 2019) On Potentialities (6th ASYRAS Conference)
- (25-27 June 2018) V Congreso Internacional de Lingüística y Literatura: Intersecciones en el Estudio de Lenguas Modernas
Teaching
University of Santiago de Compostela
- (2021/22) English Corpus Linguistics (Master’s Degree in Advanced English Studies and its Applications)
- (2021/22) Legal and technical English 2 (4th year, Degree in Law)
- (2021/22) Learning Languages in a Multilingual Context (2nd year, Degree in Early Childhood Education)
- (2021/22) English: Comprehension and Written Expression (3rd year, Teaching Primary Education Degree)
University of Vigo
I have taught different modules
- (2021/22) Cognition and Cognitive Processes in English (Master’s Degree in Advanced English Studies and its Applications)
- (2017/18) Language and society of the first foreign language: English (4th year, Degree in Foreign Languages)
- (2014-18) Structure of the first foreign language: English (4th year, Degree in Foreign Languages)
- (2014/15) Variation and changes in the first foreign language: English (4th year, Degree in Foreign Languages)
- (2013/14) Foreign language I: English (2nd year, Degree in Early Childhood Education)
and collaborated in some others
- (2016/17) Morphosyntax of the first foreign language: English (2nd year, Degree in Foreign Languages)
- (2016/17) Modern language: Language 1, III: English (2nd year, Degree in Translation and Interpretation)
- (2014/15) History of the first foreign language: English (3rd year, Degree in Foreign Languages)
University of Cantabria
- (2019/20) English (1st year, Degree in Industrial Technologies Engineering)
- (2018-20) English (2nd year, Degree in Nursing)
- (2018/19) Language acquisition research methodology (Master’s Degree in Second Language Learning and Teaching)
- (2018/19) Conversation in English (4th year, Senior Program)
- (2017/18) English (1st year, Degree in Economics)