Linguistics grad Emma Montilla among Bruins selected for Fulbright U.S. Student Program
Courtesy of Emma Montilla
The recipient of an English Teaching Assistant Award, Emma Montilla is working at two rural schools in Taiwan.
| February 4, 2026
Emma Montilla, who graduated in June 2025 graduate with a bachelor’s in applied linguistics, is among 12 UCLA students and recent graduates selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in 2025–26.
As an undergraduate, Montilla was deeply involved in research on language acquisition and cochlear implants at UCLA’s Speech and Cognitive Development Lab under Meg Cychosz, former assistant professor of linguistics. The experience convinced her to pursue a career related to language learning and language development for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
Through the Fulbright program, she is teaching English to elementary and junior high students in two rural schools in Taiwan while working on her Mandarin.
“I love learning Mandarin, and I get to keep working on my language skills here while I am also working,” she said. “Teaching will inform my future career and make my research or clinical work informed by children’s real-world needs.”
After her grant ends, she hopes to become a pediatric audiologist and earn both a clinical degree and a doctorate.
With a dozen honorees in all selected for the program, UCLA was among the top producers of Fulbright students in the nation for 2025–26. Funded primarily through the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program fosters international academic and professional exchanges that build mutual understanding among Americans and people of other countries.
Read about UCLA’s other Fulbright student program participants on UCLA Newsroom.