Spanish Classes Research Articles

El tratamiento de la cultura en las clases de español del primer ciclo de la enseñanza secundaria en Senegal

Studies on the cultural component in the Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) classroom have seen significant growth in recent decades, although they have been limited in the Senegalese context. Therefore, through this article, we aim to contribute to this field of study. Our objective is to explore the balance of different aspects in the treatment of culture in the teaching of Spanish in the first cycle of secondary education in Senegal: the three cultures, the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, and the culture of the target language in relation to the student's culture. To achieve this, we have reviewed the Senegalese education curriculum and one of the most commonly used textbooks, Horizontes, while also investigating the teaching practices of educators in this stage through a questionnaire. We have observed an imbalance in that "Culture" has a greater presence than "culture", and "culture” is absent from Spanish classes. Additionally, local culture, which is not often approached from an intercultural perspective, is also addressed in the classroom, albeit to a lesser extent than the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, with Spanish culture predominating among them.

Salgo de casa? Salgo a casa? Salgo la casa? Analysis of the crosslinguistic influence on preposition use in motion verb constructions by multilingual German learners of Spanish

The use of prepositions is one of the most difficult grammar topics for Spanish learners. The high frequency prepositions ‘a’ (‘to, at, on’), ‘de’ (‘from, of’) and ‘en’ (‘in, on, into’) are often confused or omitted, especially in motion verb constructions (e.g., Campillos Llanos, 2014). This can be due to their polysemous character and the low salience. In addition, crosslinguistic influence (Jarvis and Pavlenko, 2008) from the first language as well as additional acquired foreign language(s) play a significant role.In order to analyse the complexity of interlanguage phenomena in the construction [motion verb + a/de/en + noun] to improve acquisition in Spanish classes, it is necessary to study authentic learner data. In this paper, I will discuss the results of an explorative pilot study on crosslinguistic influence carried out at a German grammar school in the federal state Baden-Württemberg in order to find out after which verbs of motion these prepositions are omitted or confused, how often this occurs, and which languages might influence it. The results of two groups of pupils at beginner level with the mean age of 14,03 are compared: The first group (n = 21) learns Spanish as the third foreign language, in addition to English and French, while the second group (n = 16) learns Spanish as the second foreign language after English. Both groups learn the named foreign languages in an instructed setting at school.The pilot study reveals that the prepositions ‘a’ and ‘de’ are much more often confused or omitted in the construction types [llegar/volver/venir + a + noun] (‘arrive/come back/come + to/in + noun’) and [salir/ir + de + noun] (‘leave/go + noun’) compared to [ir + a + noun] (‘go to + noun’). A possible explanation is positive and negative intra- and interlingual transfer of equivalent constructions from different languages. These results form a hypothesis basis that a systematic application of Pedagogical Construction Grammar (Boas, 2022; De Knop and Gilquin, 2016) and multilingual didactics (Fäcke and Meiβner, 2019; García et al., 2020) in Spanish classes to teach these polysemous prepositions could probably be helpful to avoid errors.

Teaching Afro-Hispanic Literature in the Undergraduate Introductory Literature Course: A Pedagogy for Antiracist Teaching

Abstract: This essay posits that an institution's program design mandates the curriculum for the classes we teach and that curriculum affects the concept of "canonical" literature, teacher preparation, textbook content, and comfort with discussing difference in the second language classroom for undergraduates. For that reason, this essay argues for the need for intentional curricular design that incorporates the ethnic diversity of Spanish-speaking communities at all levels of undergraduate Spanishlanguage instruction and proposes that literature written by Spanish-speaking writers of African descent should always be an integral part of the introductory literature course. In this course, literature is examined as an expression of culture and used as a tool for the development of both critical thinking skills and intercultural competence. While inclusive teaching methodologies are inherently universal and have application in teaching literature in any language, what follows describes an approach to teaching Afro-Hispanic literature in undergraduate Spanish classes that ensures the development of intercultural competence, endorses a pedagogy with a foundation in antiracist philosophy, and is rooted in inclusive and equitable teaching practices that is both deliberate and student-centered.

Developing translingual competence and awareness in a study abroad Spanish language classroom

ABSTRACT Recent research highlights how agentive capacities for complex meaning-making can be developed among language learners during study abroad (SA) (e.g. Diao and Trentman 2021. Language Learning in Study Abroad: The Multilingual Turn. Multilingual Matters). In this regard, we focus on students’ translingual development, or their emerging capacity to communicate across sociopolitically-constructed linguistic and cultural borders (Canagarajah 2013b), during a 12-week program for U.S.-university students in Guatemala. Drawing on ethnographic data, particularly audio-recordings from a small, intermediate-level, second language (L2) Spanish class, we compare classroom interactions from the beginning and the end of students’ sojourn. Our qualitative findings demonstrate participants’ increasing utilisation of diverse semiotic strategies – along with linguistic resources associated with multiple languages and varieties – to make meaning and further their Spanish learning. In so doing, students and their instructor transformed their classroom into a translanguaging space where their full linguistic repertoires and identities were activated and encouraged (Wei 2018. “Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language.” Applied Linguistics 39: 9–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039). We further note students’ translingual development in their emerging ability to engage in transcultural reflection and communication as time progressed. As such, this paper argues for the promotion of translingual development in SA and L2 pedagogies.

The Influence of Pre-Trip Medical Spanish Education on a US-Based, Medical Student Service Trip: A Cohort Study

Background: International service trips are increasingly common in medical school curricula. Medical Spanish is an essential tool in healthcare interactions with Spanish-speaking patients globally. Medical Spanish classes are offered at many medical schools, but it is not known whether they increase confidence for medical students on Spanish-speaking service trips. Methods: A prospective cohort study of medical students attending one of two sister campuses who completed pre- and post-international medical service trip questionnaires. Data collected includes demographics, confidence, and perceived experiences. Data analyses involved a multivariable regression assuming an ordered multinomial response, FREQ procedure, and the GLIMMIX procedure on SAS STAT v.9.4. Results: Demographics significantly associated with confidence categories are female sex, length of Spanish education, previously having lived in a Spanish country, and experience speaking Spanish with patients. Confidence communicating in Spanish shows the highest gain in significant categories post-trip while confidence working with interpreters and feeling adequately trained to treat Hispanics showed the lowest. Participants having taken Medical Spanish before did not improve their confidence. However, participants with prior Medical Spanish experience reported significantly higher benefit from this education in that it gave them an advantage and helped them connect better with patients. Conclusion: Our findings reinforce the importance of language-concordance and confidence in patient interactions while demonstrating that prior Medical Spanish experience may not significantly improve confidence on a Spanish-speaking international trip, especially among non-fluent students. Spanish experience and proficiency should not be a deterring factor for students looking to go on a medical trip.

University students’ perceptions of team teaching by native and non-native speakers in a Spanish course

Abstract This study investigated the perceptions of 200 Korean students of Spanish as a foreign language regarding team teaching by a Korean Spanish teacher (KST) and a native Spanish-speaking teacher (NST) in a university Spanish course. The survey focused on the students’ views on the weight and demand of learning areas in the lectures, the teaching method and attitude of each instructor, and the advantages and disadvantages of each teacher. The questionnaire asked the students to evaluate the overall team teaching to discern their expectations of the Spanish classes. The results showed that the students had high demands for speaking in both the KST’s and NST’s classes and indicated the advantages and disadvantages of both types of teachers. A relationship was found between the language proficiency level of the students and their preference for instructors, and the use of the first language was considered positive. Overall, the team teaching was evaluated as ideal.

Teaching spanish to migrants in the Soconusco region, Chiapas, Mexico

This research was conducted in the state of Chiapas, throughout the Soconusco region. Students from BA in English Language Teaching at UNACH (Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas) participated as teachers in basic Spanish courses for the migrant population, from January 2020 to April 2021. This paper aims to give an account of the partial results of a study; its main objective is to analyze the nature of teaching Spanish to migrants and people in mobility from different countries. Migratory movements are a phenomenon of special incidence in contemporary societies according to the Manifest of Santander (2009), one of the first works carried out in Spain in terms of language teaching to migrants and refugees. Given the need to incorporate the teaching of the target language into the global policies of care for immigrants, since their learning of the target language depends a lot on the active insertion in the host community (Manifest of Santander cited in Garcia et al. 2014). The Language school at the UNACH is a public educational institution with social responsibility that has collaborated with COMAR (Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) seeking to protect the rights and welfare of refugees, migrants and people in mobility during their stay in Mexico. Thus, the Language School has carried out the implementation of teaching basic Spanish courses as a foreign language to refugees and migrants from countries such as Haiti, Surinam, the United States, Jamaica, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. However, due to the COVID-19 contingency, these courses were changed from face-to-face sessions to virtual mode during that period and after the contingency, the courses had been taught in face-to-face sessions again. In this sense, this research yields interesting contributions that can be taken into account for a significant teaching-learning process of Spanish as a foreign language or as a second language in the region of Soconusco answering the following research questions: What is the training of teachers who teach Spanish as a second language in the Soconusco region? What difficulties did they have while teaching Spanish as a second language? How effective were Spanish classes for migrants and refugees?

Elección Y Explotación Del Material Auténtico En Clases De Español Lengua Extranjera En Camerún

In this article, it is a question for us to bring new orientation in an election and exploitation of didactic material generally and in strength languages particularly in Cameroon. In effect, the both notions constitute in reality the fundamentals elements in teaching learning process of strength languages. It is moreover the reason why we found it necessary to carry out this research which focuses on: The election and exploitation of authentic materials in spanish class as strength language. Although the existence of diversity of didactic material in Cameroon, we realize that the election and exploitation of this, determine the quality of the teaching learning process of strength languages. Then, we want to focus on certain elements such as: the election of material for a teacher, the exploitation of this in class in order to propose an example of activity to better resolve the problem.

Digital Multimodal Composing in Beginning L2 Spanish Classes: Student-Created Children’s Books

Digital Multimodal Composing in Beginning L2 Spanish Classes: Student-Created Children’s Books

Studying the novel "Celestina" in Spanish classes at the university

The subject of the study is the novel "Celestina" ("Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea") by Fernando de Rojas. The author examines in detail the introduction of this literary work into the process of teaching Spanish as a foreign language at a university. The methods used in the course of our work are the analysis of literary, historical and pedagogical literature on the problem of studying the novel "Celestina" in the process of teaching Spanish, and the synthesis of the knowledge gained in order to form the concept of working with the novel in the university audience of future translators. Research objectives: - to analyze the "Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea" from the point of view of potential interest for Spanish classes not only at the text level, but also from the standpoint of a deeper acquaintance of students with the history, cultural and social features of the country of the end of the XV century. - to present the author's approach of introducing the literary text "Celestina" into the process of teaching Spanish to students – future translators; to highlight the basic principles that allow to work productively with this text in the classroom. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the author has proposed a new approach to work with a book widely known in Spain, but not used in the Spanish teaching in Russia. The argumentation of the need to include the novel "Celestina" in the process of teaching Spanish based on the analysis of its deep meanings in the historical and social context, contains recommendations that may be useful to fellow Hispanists. The result obtained in the course of the research was the opportunity to use the text of the late XV century "Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibei" in the process of teaching Spanish as a foreign language at the university.

„weil es halt schwieriger ist zu reden als es einfach selber zu machen“ – Lernenden-Engagement und Escape Games im Spanischunterricht

Educational Escape Games (EEG) are learning scenarios in which participants must solve a series of puzzles with a clear educational purpose in order to escape from a (fictional) locked room under time pressure. This paper examines two EEGs designed by teacher education students and play-tested with two Spanish classes (10th and 13th grade). The study focuses on the construct of learner engagement from the perspective of conversation analysis and investigates the extent to which learners engage cognitively, affectively, and socially. The results demonstrate that the participants jointly accomplished the task of solving the puzzles as a shared activity, underscoring the high potential of EEGs in promoting engagement with the target language. However, the interaction in the target language still presents a significant challenge.

Indexing Deficiency: Connecting Language Learning and Teaching to Evaluations of US Spanish

The examination of language attitudes towards US Spanish variables unearths indexical meanings rooted in deficit perspectives, particularly in educational contexts. Standard language ideologies undergird pedagogical practice and learning experiences in second language (L2) and heritage language (HL) Spanish classes. The present study utilizes dual research paradigms of social cognition (matched guise technique (MGT); implicit association test (IAT)) to determine if varying experiences with (Spanish) standard language ideologies in academic settings condition bias towards standardized Spanish (SS) and US Spanish (USS) repertoires. L2 and HL students as well as teachers of Spanish (n = 81) have more positive associations of SS in both the MGT and IAT, demonstrating that standard language ideologies influence perceptions of language acquisition and academic language learning. No correlations between the bias measures were reported yet attitudes did not differ, suggesting that attitudes are stable and reflected in both early learnings of social information and lived experiences throughout formative education. These results contribute to a growing body of research that examines how monoglossic ideologies reinforce and reproduce the stigma associated with features of US Spanish(es).

Negotiated interactions in cross-cultural video-mediated virtual exchanges

Motivated by the increasing popularity of service-provider virtual exchanges (SPVEs), in which native speakers (NS) are trained, supervised, and paid by a third-party company to converse about cultural topics with second language (L2) learners, this study examines the potential of L2-NS videoconferencing conversations to foster negotiation of meaning and form-focused interactions. Students enrolled in fourth-semester Spanish classes (n = 20) were tasked with completing four SPVEs using TalkAbroad. Videoconferencing recordings from 40 thirty-minute conversations were transcribed and turns involving negotiated interaction were identified and coded according to who initiated the negotiation (L2 or NS), the negotiation type (i.e. general, cultural, lexical, or grammatical) its success (i.e., successfully or unsuccessfully resolved), and whether there was uptake or not. A Logistic regression was used to identify the factors that predict each type of negotiation and mixed effects model analysis was carried out to determine differences over time. Results indicate that the main factors predicting negotiation in SPVEs are length of negotiation and conversation recurrence. Length of negotiation was found to have a negative impact on the amount of negotiation, negotiation of form, success, and uptake. Conversation recurrence has a detrimental effect on the amount of negotiation and uptake. Familiarity with the interlocutor has a positive impact on grammatical negotiations. These results offer insights into the nature of L2-NS videoconferencing exchanges and provide leads on how to implement this type of virtual exchanges to maximize their effectiveness.

소통강화를 위한 교양 스페인어 문제중심학습 모형

This study aimed to design a problem-based learning model for general Spanish course to strengthen communication using learner-centered teaching methods. The subjects of this study were divided into two classes for a total of 80 freshmen students taking Spanish classes in a university in Daejeon City for 10 weeks in the second semester of 2022. After reviewing the validity of five experts, the final model was completed through learner evaluation after applying it to actual classes. The results of the expert validity test showed that the average of suitability, explanatory power, and usefulness items was 3.0 or higher, but the average of comprehension items was 2.8 and less than 3.0. The final model of problem-based learning design was completed by reflecting the results of expert validity verification and learner evaluation.

Prosody of Preferred and Dispreferred Speech Acts: L2 Spanish Learners’ Intonation and Fluency in Acceptances and Refusals

Abstract This exploratory study examined L2 Spanish learners’ tone choices and oral fluency when producing preferred and dispreferred speech acts, specifically acceptances and refusals. Participants were 27 college students enrolled in intermediate-level Spanish classes. They completed a video-based speaking task that elicited four acceptances and four refusals in response to imaginary scenarios (two status-equal and two status-unequal scenarios for refusals and acceptances, respectively). After reading a scenario, they watched a short video depicting the scenario and then produced an acceptance or refusal directed to the person in the video. All responses were recorded and analyzed using the Spanish Tones and Break Indices framework (Sp_ToBI; Estebas-Vilaplana and Prieto, 2009). Participants’ tone choices (rising or falling) and speech rate (average number of words spoken per minute) were analyzed and compared between acceptances and refusals. There was a tendency of the participants using more rising tone and less falling tone in refusals in comparison to their acceptances. Similarly, there was a tendency of them speaking more slowly in refusals than acceptances. However, these tendencies were not statistically significant, indicating that intermediate-level learners were not able to differentiate intonation and fluency between preferred and dispreferred speech acts.

Examining Oral (Dis)Fluency in—uh– —Spanish as a Heritage Language

Silence, self-interruptions, or hesitations in spontaneous speech are often interpreted as markers of oral disfluency as they lead to difficulties in delivering a message and in processing it. The main purpose of this study is to examine how such markers of discourse structure factor into the overall oral fluency of 58 US Spanish heritage language learners enrolled in Spanish classes at the college level. Participants were grouped according to age of onset of bilingualism (i.e., sequential or simultaneous) and the order in which they acquired each language (i.e., English first or Spanish first). After completing a semi-controlled oral production task, in both Spanish and English, breakdown pauses and repair pauses were extracted and then analyzed in terms of quantity, quality, and mean duration. Our findings revealed (i) that all groups produced shorter pauses in English, their dominant language; and (ii) that all experimental groups behaved very similarly in Spanish despite having had different experiences with bilingualism growing up. Albeit tentatively, given the sample size and the nature of the present study, we take these findings to suggest that type of heritage bilingualism and the order in which each language was acquired does not seem to play a significant role in terms of production of breakdown and repair pauses.

Multimodal Writing in The Spanish Classroom: A Pedagogical Tool to Empower and Heal from The Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper explores the multimodal compositions of seven students in an intermediate Spanish class which took place during the Summer of 2021. The class met virtually by zoom due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which limited face-to-face interactions. The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound effect on people's lives around the world, causing not only physical health issues but also mental health problems such as stress, anxiety, and depression among others. Multimodal writing is a tool to empower students and help them heal from the trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, multimodality allows students to produce texts that reflect their experiences, identity, and voices through the various modes of communication available on the internet. Even though writing has become an important language skill due to technology and all the social platforms, some scholars don’t give the same importance to writing than to other skills in language learning (Valdez et al., 1992). Multimodal texts combine two or more modes of communication, such as written language, spoken language, visual, audio among others (The New London Group, 1994). As Edwards-Groves (2011) strongly stated “A contemporary focus on writing highlights how technology use also enables new possibilities for creativity – new creativities – in multimodal text construction and meaning making (p. 51).

Medical Student Perceptions of Sociocultural Issues in Healthcare: A Multisite Study of Medical Spanish Education

Theory Cultural competence and humility are core elements of medical education in a diverse society. Language is inseparable from culture, as language informs, indexes, frames, and encodes both culture and worldview. Spanish is the most common non-English language taught in U.S. medical schools, yet medical Spanish courses tend to artificially separate language from culture. It is unknown to what extent medical Spanish courses advance students’ sociocultural knowledge or patient care skills. Hypotheses Based on current predominant pedagogy, medical Spanish classes may not adequately integrate sociocultural issues relevant to Hispanic/Latinx health. We hypothesized that students who completed a medical Spanish course would not demonstrate significant gains in sociocultural skills following the educational intervention. Method An interprofessional team developed a sociocultural questionnaire, and 15 medical schools invited their students to complete the questionnaire before and after completing a medical Spanish course. Of participating schools, 12 implemented a standardized medical Spanish course and three served as control sites. Survey data were analyzed regarding: (1) perceived sociocultural competence (recognition of common cultural beliefs, recognition of culturally normative non-verbal cues, gestures, and social behaviors, ability to address sociocultural issues in healthcare context, and knowledge of health disparities); (2) application of sociocultural knowledge; and (3) demographic factors and self-rated language proficiency (Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, or Excellent) on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale for healthcare (ILR-H). Results Overall, 610 students participated in sociocultural questionnaire between January 2020 and January 2022. After the course, participants reported an increased understanding of cultural aspects of communication with Spanish-speaking patients and the ability to apply sociocultural knowledge to patient care (all p < 0.001). When analyzed by demographic factors, students who identified as Hispanic/Latinx or as heritage speakers of Spanish tended to report increased sociocultural knowledge/skills following the course. When examined by Spanish proficiency, preliminary trends showed that students at both ILR-H Poor and Excellent levels did not demonstrate gains in sociocultural knowledge or ability to apply sociocultural skills. Students at sites with a standardized course were likely to improve sociocultural skills in mental health conversations (p < 0.001) while students at control sites were not (p = 0.05). Conclusions Medical Spanish educators may benefit from additional guidance on teaching sociocultural aspects of communication. Our findings support that students at ILR-H levels of Fair, Good, and Very Good are particularly well-suited for gaining sociocultural skills in current medical Spanish courses. Future studies should explore potential metrics to evaluate cultural humility/competence within actual interactions with patients.

Fostering crosslinguistic knowledge about language in young learners: effects of explicit L2 Spanish grammar learning on L1 English grammar

This study explored the effects of learning activities which encouraged positive crosslinguistic influence from L2 Spanish to L1 English grammar in young learners. The learners (N = 82) were studying Spanish as their compulsory foreign language at an English state primary school in the UK. As part of ten timetabled Spanish classes over a period of six months, 40 pupils, aged 10–11, engaged in self-study activities involving aspects of Spanish grammar. The activities incorporated thematic content and metalanguage based on the grammar, punctuation and spelling exam (GPS), a national English grammar test taken at the end of primary education. A control group of 42 children engaged in self-study activities with no focus on grammar. L1 English grammar knowledge pre- and post-intervention was assessed using GPS scores. At post-test, a small, non-significant positive effect on attainment in L1 English grammar was observed. Although preliminary and involving only a small effect, the results are promising, showing that engagement with Spanish grammar activities might lead to better performance on English grammar. These findings are consistent with recent research which has established that the cognitive maturity required to develop and deploy metalinguistic awareness is present in children at a younger age than previously assumed.

Subject position and verb class in L2 Greek and L2 Spanish

Greek and Spanish are two languages that display a similar subject distribution with unergative/unaccusative verbs, but different word orders with focused subjects (SV in Greek and VS in Spanish). Here we consider subject–verb word order in second language (L2) Greek and L2 Spanish in order to test the Interface Hypothesis (IH). To this end, we report a word-order selection task, with a Greek and a Spanish version. The two versions of the task were administered to L2 intermediate and advanced learners and native speakers of Greek and Spanish. The results show that the first language (L1) Spanish learners of Greek approximated more closely native word orders than the L1 Greek learners of Spanish. For the Spanish learners of Greek, the advanced group performed at ceiling, while the intermediate group performed native-like only with unergatives in neutral and direct interrogative subject-focused contexts. On the other hand, for the Greek learners of Spanish, the intermediate group failed in all contexts, while the advanced group performed native-like with unaccusatives in neutral contexts. This asymmetry between L2 Greek and L2 Spanish reveals that the L1–L2 combination determines the learners’ performance, and this is unexpected under the IH.