El Espanol. .. a distancia! : Developing a Technology-Based Distance Education Course for Intermediate Spanish

Abstract

Many educators consider exposure to a foreign language as an inte gral part of undergraduate general education, not just within the liberal arts curriculum, but throughout a wide variety of disciplines. Methodologies for language instruction have changed radically over the past 30 years, evolving from the traditional, or grammar trans lation, approach, through the audio-lingual method with its repeti tive practice drills, to contemporary communicative and proficiency based instruction. At the same time, there has been a boom in sec ond-language acquisition research, much of it focusing on class room acquisition (see Lee & VanPatten, 1995; Lightbown & Spada, 1993; Omaggio-Hadley, 1993; Savignon, 1983). These new approaches to and perspectives on foreign language teaching parallel continuing reassessments of the role of general education in the university curriculum. Language departments typically participate in general education programs, not only by providing students with linguistic training, but also by offering courses on culture and civilization, film, and literature in transla tion. In this way, the foreign language component of the general education curriculum helps university students to become more aware of the positive aspects of cultural diversity.