Professor Portillo specializes in composition and cultural rhetoric. His research interests include industrial archives, language politics and Americanization. His current project examines histories of English language education at Ford Motors and the Ford Motors English School (1914-1919). Professor Portillo is the director of the Writing Fellows Program. He is an archive assistant for The FWWCP Archival Project. He is also the Consulting Editor and Project Profiles Editor for Community Literacy Journal and is an advisory board member of the Coalition for Community Writing.