Finding Your “Spanish Voice” Through Popular Media: Improving Students’ Confidence and Fluency (original) (raw)
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Teaching Hispanic Linguistics: Strategies to Engage Learners
Even though many post-secondary institutions offer a variety of Hispanic linguistics classes (Hualde 2006; Lipski 2006), research on the pedagogy of Hispanic linguistics is an underdeveloped or non-existent area of the discipline. Courses in Hispanic linguistics can present not only linguistic challenges for non-native speakers of Spanish, but also conceptual obstacles, for many students lack a background in linguistics as an academic subject. While some students might prefer a traditional lecture-style approach to the course " Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics, " the authors advocate for a student-centered, hands-on approach to the course and recommend that instructors of this course seriously consider incorporating collaborative learning techniques, as well as some or all of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' (ACTFL) World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, particularly those relating to all genres of communication. Keywords: collaborative learning/aprendizaje colaborativo, Hispanic linguistics/lingüística hispánica, World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages/los Estándares para el Aprendizaje de las Lenguas Extranjeras, pedagogy/pedagogía, post-secondary/educación postsecundaria, Spanish/español, student-centered learning/aprendizaje centrado en el estudiante
Hispanic Linguistics Instruction: How Should We Teach It?
Lengua y Sociedad
Despite the increasing demand for Hispanic Linguistics courses in Spanish programs across US universities, there is scarce research on how to implement communicative and content-based instruction. This article introduces an overview of best practices for introductory courses on Hispanic Linguistics with a focus on problem-solving activities and collaborative learning since instructors must always have in mind the course objectives; in the same vein, they have to be able to provide a descriptive approach to Linguistics to eradicate the myths that exist about language.
Review of: Pym, R. & Allinson, M. Te toca: A new communicative Spanish course
Modern Language Journal 89, p. 158
The MLJ reviews books, monographs, computer software, and materials that (a) present results of research in-and methods of-foreign and second language teaching and learning; (b) are devoted to matters of general interest to members of the profession; (c) are intended primarily for use as textbooks or instructional aids in classrooms where foreign and second languages, literatures, and cultures are taught; (d) convey information from other disciplines that relates directly to foreign and second language teaching and learning. Reviews not solicited by the MLJ can neither be accepted nor returned. Books and materials that are not reviewed in the MLJ cannot be returned to the publisher. The MLJ invites written responses to the reviews published here. Responses should be typed with double spacing, signed by their authors, and submitted in duplicate with a diskette copy (IBM or MAC acceptable, WordPerfect preferred). Address responses to Sally Sieloff Magnan, Editor, The Modern Language Journal,
Teaching English in a Spanish Setting. 123-136. , 2001
The purpose of this article is to present a proposal for using media resources in the classroom. The underlying reason is to raise awareness of the potential that the mass media product offers in teaching a foreign language and to point out that we have more material within easy reach than we believe. First, I will discuss the role of mass media in language development and language teaching in particular. Second, I will put forward a proposal for using mass media products which involves discussing the role of mother tongue and of genre theory with regard to dealing with diversity or different levels in the classroom. Third, I will give some examples of the types of exercises that may be useful and easy to design for using mass media resources in teaching English, or any other foreign language.
TEACHING THE SPANISH LANGUAGE IN A CULTURAL ASPECT.
2020
In recent years, approaches to teaching foreign languages have changed, which is associated with the humanization and humanitarianization of the educational system. Increasingly, language is seen not as the primary means of communication, but as a way of knowing the values of other peoples and cultures. Learning a foreign language through the prism of culture is the basis of the cultural approach. The article considers this approach, defines its criteria, characterizes the methods and principles of this technology. The authors prove that the cultural approach reflects modern requirements for teaching a foreign language and allows students to master linguistic knowledge and communication skills, together with a whole range of cultural knowledge. In the framework of this approach, the object of education is culture, and speech becomes an auxiliary means of obtaining information. The cultural approach involves the formation of lingua-cultural competence - a system of knowledge about culture and the totality of abilities and skills to operate this knowledge in a specific speech situation. The article considers the role, content, and leading aspects of the cultural approach in the process of teaching foreign languages. The concepts of cultural approach and cultural education are considered. The functional features, tasks, and conditions for using the cultural approach in the process of teaching foreign languages are determined. Despite some differences in the scientific concepts discussed in the article, the conclusion about the necessity and importance of teaching a foreign language as a component of culture is universally recognized. It is concluded that these studies became major works that set the vector for studying a foreign language for the coming decades. The need to further develop issues of co-learning a foreign language and culture lies in the upbringing and educational potential: it contributes to a better understanding of different cultures, helps to realize the diversity and richness of cultures, and to understand the native culture better. This phenomenon will influence not only the formation of the cultural identity of students but also allow them to obtain the necessary skills and abilities to communicate with representatives of other cultures.
2012
million people around the world were studying Spanish as a second language, a number surpassed only by the number of English learners. In the US alone, there are 6 million students of Spanish. In Europe, Spanish has 3.5 million students scattered throughout 38 countries. In Ivory Coast, in the African continent, 74% of all high schoolers choose Spanish as their required foreign language, and in China the number of students registered in Spanish classes has grown 160%. Since 2006, Brazil has instituted Spanish as a high school requirement, adding 11 million students and bringing the total number to 25 million learners of Spanish as a foreign language worldwide (Instituto Cervantes 2006). Calculations place the wealth generated by activities associated with the teaching of Spanish at 15% of Spain's GDP (Delgado, Alonso & Jiménez 2007) of which one third comes from courses. Unfortunately, we lack numbers for Latin American countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica, which also attract growing numbers of students through study abroad programs. The future of the teaching of Spanish is as promising as it is challenging: shortage of qualified teachers, small presence of Spanish on the Internet, and the need to adapt teaching approaches to optimize language learning in different contexts. For example, US Latinos cannot be taught Spanish as if it were a foreign language.
L2 Journal
This article investigates a project that used student-centered teaching and languages for specific purposes to increase university students' motivation to study Spanish and willingness to communicate. After reflecting on their personal goals and interests, students were required to choose a purpose or context in which they might use Spanish in their future. Then students were encouraged to seek opportunities to foster their own language and culture learning related to the unique purposes that each student had selected. Data sources included an anonymous online survey with Likert scale responses and open-ended written responses, plus personal observations of the teacher. Results indicated that many students' perceptions of Spanish speakers and their cultures changed in positive ways and that students were more willing to communicate with native speakers. However, students reported only a marginal increase in their motivation to continue studying Spanish. The author concluded that student-centered teaching and languages for specific purposes can be effective in lower-division Spanish but may require adjustments on the part of students and more guidance than anticipated from instructors.
El español como lengua de herencia en los Estados Unidos: retos y consideraciones pedagógicas
1 'Pa' lo que sirve el español, ya lo hablo suficiente (I speak Spanish well enough for what it [the language] is good for). This statement was shared in class by one student of Spanish as a heritage language when the professor challenged him to get more engaged in classroom discussions and activities. The sentiment that Spanish is not as valuable as other languages "to Heritage Language Healing Sánchez-Muñoz, rejection of the heritage language by younger generations (Beaudrie and Fairclough 2012; Schwarzer and Petron 2005).
This research aims at finding a way to improve the awareness of intercultural communicative competence in the students of English through TV series and movies based activities. In order to accomplish this achievement it was decided to work with a sample group of fifty three pre- intermediate English students at a private university in Cali whose ages range from seventeen to twenty eight years old, most of them belonging to the middle and low socio-economic strata. For the purpose of improving the intercultural communicative competence, different surveys, questionnaires and journals were developed. As a result, the instruments mentioned allowed to obtain information to identify the type of activities and features activities should have to improve the awareness of the intercultural communicative competence in students of this particular context through a didactic unit using TV programs and movies. The results obtained encourage teachers and curriculum planners to replicate this experience with the same purpose, keeping in mind the characteristics or each context.