Abstract
Abstract In his contribution, José del Valle looks at the intersection of the sociolinguistic study of Spanish in the US and the transformations of Spanish language departments in higher education. Del Valle traces the history of the institutionalization of Spanish teaching and study and its effects on linguistic research’s position within Spanish departments. Shifts in approaches to the use of language in social practice, and the growing demands on language units to act as service departments for language learners, has isolated scholars in those institutional homes from broader integration into sociolinguistic research.
Highlights
In his contribution, José del Valle looks at the intersection of the sociolinguistic study of Spanish in the US and the transformations of Spanish language departments in higher education
Having 31 years of experience in US academia, I have seen how US academic and professional institutions that focus on the study of the Spanish language replicate this institutionalization and compartmentalization
Or maybe not, the lead article of the first issue was written by Spanish philologist Ramón Menéndez Pidal (1869–1968), professor at the University of Madrid, director of Spain’s prestigious Center for Historical Studies, distinguished member of Spain’s language academy, and, crucially, one of the major intellectual architects of pan-Hispanism, a geopolitical project that promoted Spain’s preeminence over its former colonies on the basis of the alleged existence and persistence of cultural-linguistic unity
Summary
José del Valle looks at the intersection of the sociolinguistic study of Spanish in the US and the transformations of Spanish language departments in higher education. 1 Pan-Hispanism and Spanish as a foreign language in the United States
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have