Divergencias significativas entre la formación académica y el perfil profesional en la especialidad de Maestro en Lengua Extranjera

Abstract

This brief paper calls attention to the current disconnection that exists between the recommendations of the Spanish Department of Education and the programs currently in use in the Spanish Escuelas de Magisterio. The present tendencies of second language teaching in Europe recommend an early exposure of students to the target language (kindergarden and first years of primary school), but in order to teach children at this level teachers must master a type of classroom speech which is often ignored in foreign language instruction at university level. In our opinion primary school teachers are not well trained to effectively communicate with very young students. So the only alternative for Spanish foreign language teachers is to carry out a traditional formal teaching of the language which is not the best way to motivate young students. The ultimate responsibility in this situation lies with professors in the Escuelas de Magisterio. In order to demonstrate these deficiencies we here use as an example the implementation of two simple child games.