Competence In Spanish Research Articles

Acculturation, discrimination, and depression among unauthorized Latinos/as in the United States.

In the present study we sought to examine psychosocial factors among undocumented Latinos/as acculturating to and residing in the United States. A community sample of 122 self-reported undocumented Latino/a immigrants was asked to complete questionnaires measuring components of acculturation (i.e., national and ethnic identity, U.S. heritage-cultural knowledge, English and Spanish competency), everyday discrimination (ED), and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that, among acculturation dimensions, only ethnic identity was significantly related to increased ED whereas ED was associated with increased depression. Moreover, experiences of ED mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and depression. Results may indicate ethnic identity as a risk factor for this group through experiences of discrimination. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in terms of advancing theory and from a multicultural counseling perspective, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record

La competencia comunicativa para el aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera

<p align="justify">La competencia comunicativa para el aprendizaje de español como lengua extranjera (ELE) tuvo como objetivo consolidar la competencia comunicativa de los extranjeros. El tema surgió del proyecto de investigación titulado la <em>Implementación del nivel C1 del Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas</em>. La metodología destacó elementos y actividades más de carácter comunicativo que gramatical, pues se espera, ante todo, incentivar el aprendizaje del español como lengua extranjera. Como resultado se produjo el libro titulado: <em>Comunicarse en español: la mejor opción</em>. Se concluye con una serie de actividades en las que se aplica la competencia comunicativa para estimular el aprendizaje de ELE, para incentivar en el extranjero la comunicación, la escucha, la escritura, lectura en comprensión de textos interculturales.</p>

La identidad étnica de estudiantes Arawak en la Universidad Católica Sedes Sapientiae (Atalaya)

Este artículo describe el resultado de la evaluación de la competencia lingüística del castellano en los alumnos del Programa Magisterial de Formación de Docentes en Educación Básica Intercultural Bilingüe de la Universidad Católica Sedes Sapientiae en Atalaya (Ucayali),durante el año académico 2015. El objetivo de este estudio es mostrar el nivel de dominio del castellano de los alumnos para ejecutar la propuesta metodológica a través de los sílabos que serán aplicados en los tres primeros años de estudios universitarios. En este trabajo se explicará la metodología empleada para medir el nivel de competencia lingüística mediante la elaboración y aplicación de una prueba. Además, mediante la comparación de los resultados obtenidos en la evaluación de entrada y salida, se mostrará el avance en la adquisición del castellano como segunda lengua. La conclusión es un conjunto de recomendaciones que permiten desarrollar la enseñanza del castellano a nivel universitario en un contexto bilingüe.

Bicultural Competence and the Latino 2.5 Generation

The 2.5 generation refers to individuals who have one parent born in the United States and one born in another country. The presence of both native-born and foreign-born parents has the potential to enhance bicultural adaptation. Across two studies with Latino young adults, we examine the extent to which the 2.5 generation is distinct from members of other generations with regard to cultural orientation, acculturative stress, and parent ethnic socialization. Results suggest that the 2.5-generation individuals report greater native cultural orientation, ethnic identity, and parental socialization compared with third-generation individuals, along with greater American orientation than first-generation individuals. The 2.5 generation also reports less language use and more acculturative stress due to Spanish competency pressures than first- and second-generation individuals. These results demonstrate that the 2.5-generation individuals may have some bicultural advantages compared with third-generation individuals; however, they may also experience similar challenges with regard to language maintenance.

Tío Spanish – the virtual teacher/ lecturer of the Spanish language

Abstract. In the article were analyzed potential opportunities of using materials by the virtual teacher / lecturer of the Spanish language in the forming process of the Spanish communicative competence of pupils / students. These materials are suggested by Tio Spanish – videohosting virtual character in YouTube.

Validation of the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory on adolescents of Mexican origin.

The Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI), a 36-item measure that assesses acculturative stress among people of Mexican origin living in the United States, was tested on 331 adolescent (14-20 years of age) high school students (204 female, 127 male) of Mexican origin. Exploratory factor analyses yielded 4 factors: bicultural practices conflict (9 items), Spanish competency pressures (8 items), English competency pressures (8 items), and bicultural self-consciousness (2 items). These factors accounted for 59.5% of the variance and correlated in the expected directions with criterion measures of acculturation and the Psychological General Well-Being Schedule. Bicultural practices conflict and bicultural self-consciousness emerged as the first and fourth factors for adolescents, which differed from the last 2 factors observed in a previous study of adults by Rodriguez, Myers, Mira, Flores, and Garcia-Hernandez (2002)--pressure to acculturate and pressure against acculturation. Comparisons of the MASI factor structures between adolescents and adults also revealed that English competency pressures and Spanish competency pressures played a prominent role for both adolescents in this study and adults in the study by Rodriguez et al. (2002). The congruence and difference in factor structure of the MASI between adolescents and adults indicates that both groups experience acculturative stress because of English- and Spanish-language competency pressures, but adolescents differentially experience difficulties in negotiating between American and Latino practices and identities. The results highlight the importance of assessing acculturative stress from both Latino and American culture and recognizing the varying levels of these sources of acculturative stress by generation.

Learner corpora as a research tool for the investigation of lexical competence in L2 Spanish

This article presents a state-of-the-art discussion of second language (L2) Spanish corpus-based research on lexical competence. While L2 Spanish learner corpus research (LCR) is still in its infancy, we will review the major findings of relevant studies on the production of several lexical aspects: copula choice with ser/estar; overt/null pronoun distribution; collocations and lexico-syntactic verbal competence. Due to the highly contextualised nature of learner corpus data, many of these studies show that learners do not always behave differently from natives in terms of frequency of use, though they may differ in terms of discursive and pragmatic uses. The article ends with some theoretical and methodological caveats about L2 Spanish learner corpus research. An argument is made for the need to conduct L2 corpus-based research which (1) is theoretically motivated and explanatory (as opposed to descriptive and pedagogical), (2) uses fine-grained annotation (as opposed to coarse-grained, general tagsets), (3) exploits learner corpora that are properly designed and where learner variables are properly controlled for.

Gender Matters: The Influence of Acculturation and Acculturative Stress on Latino College Student Depressive Symptomatology.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between acculturation-related variables with depressive symptomatology among Latino college students and the extent to which acculturative stress mediates the association. The extent to which gender moderates these relationships was also examined. Participants were 758 Latina and 264 Latino college students from 30 colleges and universities around the United States. Participants completed measures of acculturation, acculturative stress, and depression. Multigroup path analysis provided excellent model fit and suggested moderation by gender. Acculturative stress mediated the acculturation-depression relationship. One indirect effect was moderated by gender with effects stronger for men: Heritage-culture retention to depressive symptoms via Spanish Competency Pressures. Acculturation and acculturative stress contribute to depression differently for male and female Latino college students. Future research should note the influence of gender socialization on the acculturation process and mental health.

Improving linguistic and cultural competence in the health sector: a medical Spanish curriculum for resident physicians

Existing medical Spanish curricula have improved language skills, but are incompatible with resident-physician schedules, and do not always integrate cultural education. A 2009 survey at our institution revealed that residents saw Spanish-speaking patients regularly and wanted a medical Spanish curriculum designed for them. Our objective was to improve medical Spanish and cultural competency among resident physicians at our institution. Kramsch's (1998) principle of combining language and cultural instruction, Gardner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences, and the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages 5Cs provided a framework for the self-directed curriculum, which consisted of nine-month long modules with online and in-person grammar, vocabulary, listening comprehension and conversation practice. We conducted pre-intervention, midterm and final assessments of language and cultural competency. We found moderate correlations between the number of modules completed and self-reported fluency, understanding of health-related cultural beliefs, and change in receptive language. While revisions are necessary, we found a self-directed resident medical Spanish curriculum, combining language and cultural instruction, to be feasible.

Socio-emotional skills, behavior problems, and Spanish competence predict the acquisition of English among English language learners in poverty.

This article analyzes the role that individual differences in children's cognitive, Spanish competence, and socio-emotional and behavioral skills play in predicting the concurrent and longitudinal acquisition of English among a large sample of ethnically diverse, low-income, Hispanic preschool children. Participants assessed at age 4 for language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral skills were followed through kindergarten. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that Spanish-speaking preschoolers with greater initiative, self-control, and attachment and fewer behavior problems at age 4 were more successful in obtaining English proficiency by the end of kindergarten compared to those initially weaker in these skills, even after controlling for cognitive/language skills and demographic variables. Also, greater facility in Spanish at age 4 predicted the attainment of English proficiency. Social and behavioral skills and proficiency in Spanish are valuable resources for low-income English language learners during their transition to school.

Child, family, and school characteristics related to English proficiency development among low-income, dual language learners.

Little is known about 2nd language development among young, low-income, language-minority children. This article examined the longitudinal English development of low-income, dual language learners (DLLs) in Miami (n = 18,532) from kindergarten through 5th grade. Growth curve modeling indicated that social skills, good behavior, Spanish (L1) competence in preschool, having a mother born in the United States, and attending larger schools with fewer DLLs were associated with higher initial levels of English proficiency in kindergarten and/or steeper growth over time. Survival analyses indicated that it took about 2 years for half of the sample to become proficient in English according to the school district's criterion. Higher initial proficiency in kindergarten, not receiving free/reduced lunch, not being Hispanic or Black, strong cognitive, language, and socioemotional skills at age 4, and maternal education were associated with faster attainment of English proficiency. It is important for teachers, parents, researchers, and policy makers to understand that DLL students come from diverse backgrounds and that poverty and other factors influence the speed of English language development for DLLs.

Paradoxical effects of feedback in international online reciprocal peer tutoring

This paper reports an online reciprocal peer tutoring project for improving language competence in Spanish and English. Students aged 9-12 years from Scotland and Catalonia were matched to act as tutors in their own language and as tutees in a modern foreign language. Students were intended to improve both their first language (through helping the tutee) and a modern language (with their tutor's help). The methodology combined a quasi-experimental design and a qualitative analysis of texts. For Catalan students, pre-post test results indicated statistically significant improvements in reading comprehension (while acting as tutors) and writing (while acting as tutees). Scottish students improved only their writing (acting as tutees). Analysis of the texts showed that when more support was given, the tutor had more learning opportunities, but then there were fewer opportunities for the tutee, and vice versa. Thus the tutee learned more with less elaborated feedback, leading to fewer opportunities for tutor improvement. This paradox could be resolved by adjusting the scaffolding support given by tutors, to create a balanced interactive learning context for both members of the pair.

On immigrant students’ linguistic competence: secondary education in Catalonia. The role of length of stay and family language

Title: On immigrant students' linguistic competence: secondary education in Catalonia. The role of length of stay and family language. Abstract: Migration flows are closely intertwined with the high presence of students of immigrant origin in schools. In this general context, two of the issues about which educational authorities are mainly concerned are: home language (L1) diversity and, specially, the different degrees of lin- guistic competence in the language of instruction in students recently in- corporated to the educational system. Bearing in mind this background, a sample of 271 students of immigrant origin was compared to a group of 332 autochthonous students, all of them attending Compulsory Secondary Education in Catalonia. We ana- lysed the levels of competence in Spanish and Catalan, and the effect of variables such as the length of stay in the host country and the family lan- guage. The results obtained indicate that the process is long and complex, even in the case of students from Latin America whose L1 is Spanish. Keywords: Catalan; Spanish; linguistic knowledge; students of immigrant origin; length of stay; family language.

A Cultural Immersion Program in Mexico to Improve Spanish Proficiency and Cultural Competency

A Cultural Immersion Program in Mexico to Improve Spanish Proficiency and Cultural Competency

Empirical study: a mixed methodology to improve linguistic and communicative competence in Spanish as a FL/SL

ABSTRACT This present article seeks to provide a mixed methodological model for the development and implementation of a Teaching Module for Spanish as a Foreign Language in the face to face environment. The primary objective is to portray how methodological principles from different language teaching approaches (such as task based language teaching and cooperative learning) can be combined effectively in designing activities for face to face contexts. In this regard, empirical evidence is analysed in order to determine the effectiveness of the mixed methodology in the teaching-learning of Spanish as a Foreign Language in the said settings, in a study based on a longitudinal experimental design with pre-test and post-test, but without control group. The findings will help to provide researchers, educators and language teachers with valid guidelines as it relates to the development of Teaching Modules and Units for Foreign Language Learning. The results show an increase in the acquisition of specific knowledge in Spanish as a Foreign Language, thus improving the students’ linguistic and communicative competence. It is therefore proposed that mixed methodological models be integrated and implemented when designing Teaching Modules for Language Learning, since they are the most suited for Second and Foreign Language Acquisition. Keywords: Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching, Task-Based Approach, Cooperative Approach, Cooperative Learning, Mixed Methodological Model, Mixed Methodology, Face to Face Method, Teaching Module, Linguistic and Communicative Competence. RESUMEN El presente artículo propone proveer un modelo metodológico mixto para el desarrollo e implementación de un Módulo de Enseñanza para el español como lengua extranjera en la modalidad presencial. El objetivo principal es evidenciar cómo los principios metodológicos provenientes de los enfoques didácticos (“enfoque por tareas” y “aprendizaje cooperativo”) pueden ser aplicados de manera efectiva en el diseño de contextos presenciales. Para ello, se explora evidencia empírica acerca de la efectividad de la metodología mixta en la enseñanza-aprendizaje de español como lengua extranjera en dichos ambientes, en un estudio basado en un diseño experimental longitudinal con pre-test y post-test, sin grupo control. Los hallazgos les proporcionarán guías de orientación efectiva a investigadores, educadores y profesores de lenguas en función del desarrollo de unidades de trabajo y módulos para el aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras. Los resultados muestran un incremento en el aprendizaje de determinados conocimientos en español como LE y por tanto, mejorando la competencia lingüística y comunicativa de los sujetos. Se propone, entonces, que en el diseño de módulos de enseñanza para el aprendizaje de lenguas se integren e implementen modelos metodológicos mixtos por cuanto son los más propicios para el aprendizaje de LE/L2. Palabras clave: Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de Lenguas Mediante Tareas, el Enfoque por Tareas, Enfoque Cooperativo, Aprendizaje Cooperativo, Modelo Metodológico Mixto, Metodología Mixta, Modalidad Presencial, Módulo de Enseñanza, Competencia Lingüística y Comunicativa.

A Quantitative Approach to Investigating Spanish HL Speakers' Characteristics and Motivation: A Preliminary Study

The present preliminary study empirically investigated Spanish heritage language (HL) speakers in Spanish for native speakers (SNS) college courses. It focused on their attitudes and motivation to improve their HL and on their varying linguistic competences in that language. A well-established second language acquisition (SLA) motivational model was used as a theoretical framework so that these affective variables could be assessed and discussed in this context. In addition, differences in Spanish competence within the sample were explored in relation to certain socioeducational factors. Three research questions centered on participants' motivational and attitudinal variables whereas the fourth research question investigated differences in Spanish language performance. Results of correlation, regression, and independent t test analyses showed: first, a significant linear relationship between integrativeness, which is defined as a general positive attitude toward the people who speak the language, and motivation to improve Spanish; second, integrativeness was shown to be a significant predictor of motivation; finally, a significant difference in performance on the Spanish test was found for use of Spanish at home and place of schooling. Results from this study and their important theoretical and pedagogical implications for the field of Spanish as a heritage language in the United States are discussed. Furthermore, a future research agenda is provided.

Acculturative Stress Among Cuban American College Students: Exploring the Mediating Pathways Between Acculturation and Psychosocial Functioning

We examined different dimensions of acculturative stress in mediating the association between acculturation and psychosocial functioning among 199 Cuban American college students (M age = 20.1 years) in Miami. Results showed that heritage‐cultural orientation was directly associated with self‐esteem. No other direct relations emerged. Spanish competency pressures and pressures against acculturation mediated the relationships between heritage‐cultural orientation and internalizing symptoms, whereas pressures to acculturate mediated the association between American cultural orientation and self‐esteem. These findings highlight the unique roles of different components of acculturative stress in the relationship of heritage and American cultural orientation to Cuban American adolescents' psychosocial well‐being. Implications regarding the multidimensionality of acculturation and of acculturative stress are discussed.

Spanish Language Immersion and Reinforcement During Residency: A Model for Rapid Acquisition of Competency

Background: Residencies serving non-English-speaking populations face the challenge of language training in addition to usual resident education issues. The clinic for the Lawrence Family Medicine residency is based in a 45,000-person Community Health Center serving a majority Spanish-language preference population. Although translators are available, they increase visit time for patients. Description: Three successive intern classes and one faculty member (n = 24) participated in a preresidency, 10-day immersion program at a nearby language institute; thrice-monthly classroom instruction for a year; and personal instruction during continuity clinics by a teacher/translator during the R1 year. Results: An independent examiner tested participants (average age = 29.5; 15 female) using a competency examination based on American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages scoring. Prior Spanish preparation averaged 2 years in high school and 1 year of college, but was variable. Results were compared with Tukey's Honestly Significant Differences test of repeated measures. All individuals improved following immersion, 4.8 to 6.3, (p <.01), and 6 months of reinforcement, 6.3 to 7.4 (p <.05). The first cohort (n = 7), including those entering with little Spanish ability, scored at a level permitting use of five verb tenses after 2 years (cost = $5,035.00/resident). Conclusions: This study demonstrates significant improvement in Spanish competency after 10-day immersion, and continued improvement following 6 months of reinforcement.

Pedagogical Intervention and the Development of Pragmatic Competence in Learning Spanish as a Foreign Language

Using a quasi-experimental design, this study investigated the extent to which peda- gogical intervention facilitated the development of pragmatic competence of fifth-semester learners of Spanish as a foreign language when performing refusals. The design included 2 learner groups. Pragmatic development was observed during 1 semester. The learner data were compared to data from L1 English and L1 Spanish. The experimental group was exposed to explicit instruction on refusals. Posttest 1 results showed that the experimental group changed from a preference for direct to indirect refusals, whereas the control group did not. Higher frequency and a wider variety of indirect strategies were also observed. Posttest 2 results showed that most pragmatic features highlighted during the treatment were retained.

Romance Linguistics: Theory and Acquisition (review)

Reviewed by: Romance linguistics: Theory and acquisition ed. by Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux and Yves Roberge Natalya I. Stolova Romance linguistics: Theory and acquisition. Ed. by Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux and Yves Roberge. (Current issues in linguistic theory 244.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2002. Pp. viii, 388. ISBN 1588114309. $150 (Hb). This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 32nd Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (University of Toronto, April 2002). The first part is entitled ‘Theory’. Six of its contributions analyze specific properties of Romance at the syntax/semantics interface. Gabriela Alboiu discusses the asymmetrical behavior of Romanian operators. J.-Marc Authier and Lisa A. Reed offer a structural analysis of the French faire-par construction. Javier Gutiérrez-Rexach and Chad Howe argue for a reconsideration of Spanish discourse connectives. Marie Labelle addresses the French sequences [End Page 691] of verbs in the imperfect where the events are understood as following one another. Karen Lahousse analyzes the types of adverbs that license NP subject inversion in French and the structural difference between VS and SV word order. Marie-Thérèse Vinet compares the distribution of the deficient form ça in Swiss French to the distribution of other French object clitics. Four of the theoretical articles address morphosyntactic issues. Susana Béjar and Milan Rezac present a minimalist approach to Romance person licensing. Ana Castro and João Costa corroborate the hypothesis that tripartite classification of pronominal forms is transcategorical, amplifying this typology and extending it to the possessive and adverbial systems of European Portuguese. María Cristina Cuervo provides an analysis of Romance ‘seem’+ experiencer constructions in terms of control structures. Heloisa Maria Moreira Lima-Salles compares the interaction between the syntax of (inflected) infinitives and finite subjunctive/indicative clauses in Brazilian and European Portuguese. Two of the articles focused on theory explore Romance morphophonology within the framework of optimality theory. Gary K. Baker and Caroline R. Wiltshire discuss palatal fortition in Argentinian Spanish, and Jean-Pierre Montreuil looks at the interaction of prosody in Central Romansch with the phenomenon of obstruentization. The theoretical part of the collection also takes up historical issues. The focus of Andrea Calabrese’s contribution is the evolution of the short high vowels of Latin into Romance and Paul Hirschbühler and Marie Labelle employ the diachronic perspective when addressing clitic distribution in French dialects. The second part of the book concentrates on first, second, and bilingual language acquisition. Larisa Avram and Martine Coene examine the early omission of articles and auxiliaries in child Romanian. Bernadette Plunkett focuses on data from European and Canadian varieties of child French in which the majority of null subjects occur with morphologically finite verbs. L2 acquisition is addressed by Barbara Bullock and Gillian Lord regarding the role of analogy in the case of Spanish stress, as well as by Philippe Prévost who writes on the nature of root infinitives in adult L2 French. Juana M. Liceras compares the processes that lead to native-like and nonnative competence in Spanish. Bilingual language learning is discussed by Julia Berger-Morales and Manola Salustri, who present German/Italian evidence to support the separate systems hypothesis, and by Aafke Hulk, Janneke Peet, and Leonie Cornips, who discuss the acquisition of beaucoup in the ‘quantification at a distance’ constructions by bilingual French/Dutch children. Natalya I. Stolova Colgate University Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America