Competence In Spanish Research Articles

A longitudinal test of Mexican-origin teen mothers' cultural characteristics and children's Spanish vocabulary via mothers' Spanish language use.

The present study examined whether teen mothers' adaptive cultural characteristics (i.e., familism values, language competency pressures, and involvement in Mexican culture and U.S. mainstream culture) when children were 3 years old (i.e., Wave 4; W4) informed mothers' Spanish language use with their children when children were 4 years old (W5) and, in turn, children's subsequent Spanish receptive vocabulary when children were 5 years old (W6). The present study included 204 Mexican-origin children (58% male) and their mothers who entered parenthood during adolescence (M = 16.24, SD = .99 at W1). Five mediational processes were significant, such that mothers' higher familism values (i.e., emphasizing family support and obligations), Spanish competency pressure (i.e., stress associated with Spanish language competency), and involvement in U.S. mainstream culture at W4 were associated with mothers' lower Spanish language use with children at W5 and, in turn, children's lower levels of Spanish receptive vocabulary at W6. Mothers' greater involvement in Mexican culture and English competency pressure (i.e., stress associated with English language competency) at W4 were associated with mothers' greater Spanish language use with children at W5 and, in turn, children's greater Spanish receptive vocabulary at W6. Additionally, mothers' greater involvement in U.S. mainstream culture at W4 was directly associated with children's lower Spanish language abilities at W6. Findings highlight the importance of the family context in Mexican-origin children's Spanish language skills over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring the education in cultural competence and transcultural care in Spanish for nurses and future nurses: a scoping review and gap analysis

BackgroundGlobalization and population migration have led to increasingly culturally diverse societies, which has made nursing education in cultural competence and transcultural care a priority. This includes the ability to provide person-centered and culturally congruent care, even within one's own culture. However, this sort of training has been developed and implemented in practice comparatively more by English-speaking societies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the existing educational initiatives for nurses and future ones in cultural competence and transcultural care in Spanish and explore their didactic characteristics in terms of teaching and learning formats, contents, skills, and evaluation methods at different academic levels.MethodsA scoping review was carried out by following the specific PRISMA recommendations and those of the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance throughout PudMed, Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar, and Cinahl databases and also gray literature in the form of official documentation that later was complemented with a gap analysis including training programs published by Spanish and Latin-American educational institutions and the approaches of key academic informants.ResultsThe published evidence on nursing training in cultural competence or related topics in Spanish-speaking higher education for nurses is limited. Specific nursing programs in Spanish-speaking universities are primarily found in Spain, with fewer options available in Latin America. These contents are offered either as optional subjects or immersed in other courses and mainly taught in theoretical sessions. Practice in real contexts is supposed to be evaluated transversally under the cultural scope according to national educational recommendations though barely visible in students’ evaluation reports. Even though postgraduate training dedicated to these issues exists, it is still limited, mixed with other contents, and generally depends on a few researchers investigating and publishing on the topic from very specific universities.ConclusionsIt is essential to establish a common global strategy including Spanish-speaking countries in nurses’ higher education and professional training on topics focused on cultural competence as well as the provision of nurses’ social and cultural sensitivity towards their own culture and to define whether those that currently exist are effective. It is also crucial that this training was evaluated in practice in order to achieve enough impact on students, health organizations, and population health.

A comprehensive medical Spanish curriculum model: the Vida Medical Spanish Curriculum

IntroductionRacial and language disparities in the United States healthcare system have long undermined the quality of care provided to minority patients. With the projected growth of the Hispanic population, there is an urgent need for medical schools to integrate high-quality medical Spanish and cultural competency content. We propose a comprehensive medical Spanish curriculum aligned with the preclinical curriculum as a solution to these issues. The primary goal of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a clinically focused, culturally competent medical Spanish program and advocate for its widespread adoption in medical institutions nationwide.MethodsThe study utilized the Kirkpatrick Model to evaluate the success of the medical Spanish curriculum. A total of 111 medical students voluntarily enrolled in the medical Spanish course. Out of these students, 47 completed the final evaluation, which included a Spanish Objective Structured Clinical Examination and a 40-question Multiple-Choice Exam assessing the integration of Spanish language skills and cultural competency. Both assessment methods took place in clinical skills facilities. Descriptive statistics summarized exam results, and two-tailed t-tests compared mean exam scores between students of different proficiency levels.Results and discussionStudents achieved a mean score of over 80% on all components of the Spanish Objective Structured Clinical Examination and the Multiple-Choice Exam. Survey data suggest that students felt able to communicate in Spanish with patients after completing the course series. The study also provides a model for a medical Spanish curriculum that applies expert-recommended best practices to meet the needs of Hispanic patient populations.Limitations and conclusionsStudents who sat for the OSCE and MCE were self-selected. Baseline data on student perceptions and Spanish competency are not sufficient for making comparisons.

What Does Linguistic Distance Predict When It Comes to L2 Writing of Adult Immigrant Learners of Spanish?

This study examined whether the linguistic distance between the first (L1) and second (L2) language is a significant determinant of L2 writing skills of 292 adult immigrants from 39 different source countries, who were beginner learners of Spanish L2. Gender, age, length of residence in Spain, education level as a proxy for literacy skills in L1, enrolment in Spanish language courses, and overall communicative competence in Spanish were also considered. Using both standard procedures for assessing L2 writing and performance-based psycholinguistic measures of accuracy and text-production fluency, the findings highlight the important role of linguistic proximity in achieving greater accuracy, text-production fluency, and overall L2 writing scores. Other significant predictors were age, enrolment in Spanish courses, and education level for accuracy; and length of residence in Spain and education level for text-production fluency. Although length of residence in Spain was negatively associated with text-production fluency in L2 writing, mediation analyses revealed that the effect of age on text-production fluency was mediated by length of residence in Spain and that L2 proficiency level mediated the link between linguistic distance and text-production fluency. Furthermore, most of the errors that these immigrants made were morphosyntactic and spelling errors, while vocabulary errors were rare.

Bilingual Science Lexicon of Pre-Serviced Primary School Teachers

Bilingual teaching has experienced rapid growth in the Spanish educational panorama and numerous university programmes have emerged with the aim of training future CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teachers. However, there is little research assessing the level of linguistic competence in Spanish and foreign languages of future teachers, especially those who are studying for a bilingual degree. Although this work is part of a broader project that analyses bilingual lexical competence in subjects related to the Social Sciences and Experimental Sciences, we focus on the analysis of lexical availability of content related to the teaching of science. The sample consisted of 46 students of the Degree in Primary Education at the University of Extremadura. Using a lexical availability test, lexical production in Spanish and English is analysed and compared to determine whether the fact of studying in English affects the acquisition and consolidation of lexical knowledge in Spanish. The results show that there are no significant differences in lexical production between Spanish and English. In addition to the quantitative data, results from the qualitative analysis are presented, analysing the most available words and the organisation of the lexicon in both languages.

Do more effective schools succeed in reducing the gender gap in linguistic communicative competence in a bilingual context? (¿Consiguen los centros más eficaces reducir la brecha de género en competencia comunicativa lingüística en un contexto bilingüe?)

ABSTRACT The study aims to determine whether schools in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (ACBC) succeed in reducing gender differences in Spanish and Basque language achievement in accordance with their effectiveness level. The study was based on a census sample (30,148 girls/32,000 boys) encompassing all students in grade four of primary (9–10 years) who had completed Diagnostic Assessments (DAs) on three different occasions. We used a quantitative methodology. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to compare the scores obtained for language competence by students from schools with high and low effectiveness levels, as well as to compare boys’ and girls’ mean scores and scores across different years. The results reveal that, on average, girls scored lower than boys for language competence in Spanish and higher than boys for language competence in Basque, regardless of their school’s effectiveness. These findings suggest that although most studies report that women score higher than men for language competence, it is important to explore the specific situation of each individual language in relation to gender roles.

The Contribution of Contrastive Analysis to the Development of Spanish Language Competence and Awareness in Serbian University Students

The paper is based on the idea of the usefulness of contrastive linguistics and linguistic awareness for the development of competence and (meta)linguistic awareness in Spanish at university level, in the case of Serbian university students. The concept of linguistic awareness is briefly presented, based on the works of Schmidt 1990, Hawkins 1999, Rieder 2000, Bailini 2009, De Villa 2018 among others. The term is understood as a cognitive activity or a capacity for metalinguistic reflection, on the one hand, and, on the other, as an approach to foreign language learning (halfway between a structuralist and a communicative approach), which allows students to become “highly motivated self-taught” individuals who as such “enjoy a greater power of adaptation at the cultural level through the use of critical reflection” (De Villa 2018: 163, 172). Therefore, we advocate a cognitive approach to languages in contrastive linguistics classes to raise students’ awareness concerning the use of their own language as well as a foreign language (in this case Spanish). In order to test our hypothesis, we conducted an anonymous survey among students on the approach and usefulness of the course “Introduction to Spanish-Serbian Contrastive Analysis” taught at the University of Belgrade. The results show a very high satisfaction with the method used in class.

Acculturative Stress In Relation To Physical Activity Among Latino Immigrant Adults

PURPOSE: To examine acculturative stress in relation to minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity, perceived benefits of physical activity, and perceived barriers to physical activity among Latino immigrant adults. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from a Houston-area pilot study conducted between August 2018-April 2019. Participants were self-identified Latino immigrants ages 21-36 (n = 25). Acculturative stress was measured based on four subscales of the Multidimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory: Spanish competency pressures (7 items), English competency pressures (7 items), Pressure to acculturate (7 items), and Pressure against acculturation (4 items). Items in each subscale were summed with higher scores indicating greater acculturative stress. Participants wore Actigraph Model GT3X accelerometers on their waist during waking hours to obtain an objective assessment of minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity engaged in over a 7-day period. Participants were asked 10 questions about their perceived benefits of physical activity and 15 questions about perceived barriers to physical activity. Items in each subscale were summed with higher scores indicating greater perceived benefits or barriers. Pearson’s correlation coefficients between acculturative stress subscales, moderate-vigorous physical activity, perceived physical activity barriers and perceived physical activity benefits were calculated. RESULTS: On average, adults were 30 years of age, 96% female, and 52% with a high school diploma or more. Acculturative stress was not correlated with moderate-vigorous physical activity and perceived benefits of physical activity. Results indicated a moderate correlation between perceived barriers to physical activity and English competency pressure (r = .54, p < .01). A moderate correlation was also observed between perceived barriers to physical activity and pressure to acculturate (r = .49, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that experiencing English competency pressure and pressure to acculturate may result in higher perceived barriers to physical activity. Future larger scale studies should consider the role of acculturation experiences in physical activity perceptions that influence activity outcomes among Latino immigrant adults.

State of the art: a forty-year reflection on the Spanish language preparation of Spanish-English bilingual-dual language teachers in the U.S.

ABSTRACT This state-of-the-art paper is centered on bilingual education teachers’ linguistic qualifications with special reference to Spanish competencies needed to meet the needs of emergent bilingual education learners in the U.S. The paper spans over a forty-year period drawing on the experiences and related publications of the principal author beginning in the mid 1980s and up to the present. In doing so, key themes, questions and challenges related to the special issue are highlighted based on the series of publications from 1993 to 2020. Insights into the ways language ideologies and politics of bilingual education teacher preparation entities undermine this need are addressed. Drawing on language education policy planning, the author then offers three paths forward given that not much progress has been made since the inception of bilingual education in the U.S. with regard to the preparation of linguistically qualified bilingual education teachers with specific reference to their Spanish competency.

Self-Perception and Training Perceptions on Teacher Digital Competence (TDC) in Spanish and French University Students

The purpose of this research is, on the one hand, to analyze the self-perception of future teachers of childhood education and primary education, and those studying for a master’s degree in secondary education teacher training on their Teacher Digital Competence (TDC), as well as the potential influence of gender, country and university institution of origin in their representations. On the other hand, it seeks to analyze the perception of future teachers on the TDC of their university trainers (formative perception). In accordance with these aims, a quantitative methodology of a non-experimental nature and of a prospective cross-sectional ex post facto approach has been used. A total of 428 students from two Spanish universities and from a French university agreed to participate in the research. The results report a positive and differential self-perception by gender of the TDC acquired and unfavorable perceptions of the digital competences of their teachers. These results confirm the need to improve the technological-manipulative and didactic training of university teachers, and to adapt the teaching competences to the demands of the Information and Communication Society (ICS) and to the guidelines of the Common Digital Competence Framework.

Concordancia variable en español de herencia: estudio del grupo nominal

Los hablantes de herencia en la zona norte de Texas tienen español como lengua familiar e inglés como lengua vehicular. El español queda relegado al habla coloquial, dejando al margen el registro formal y la escritura. Por este motivo, la competencia lingüística en español de estos hablantes no es completa y existen problemas concretos con la concordancia dentro de grupos nominales con tres constituyentes (artículo, nombre y adjetivo). En esta investigación se realizaron entrevistas semidirigidas a una muestra de hablantes de herencia de tres generaciones sociolingüísticas (G1, G2 y G3) para crear un corpus oral. Se analizaron un total de 24 entrevistas para contabilizar el número de grupos nominales con tres constituyentes utilizados y relacionarlos con las variables de generación sociolingüística, género del hablante, posición del ítem con respecto al verbo (preverbal, posverbal o aislado) y concordancia interna (género y número). Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el uso de grupos nominales compuestos disminuye mientras que los casos sin concordancia aumentan porcentualmente según crece la generación sociolingüística.

Intercultural communicative competence in L2 Spanish: guidelines for teacher training programmes

ABSTRACT The need for foreign language teachers to acquire Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) arises both from recent changes to their role and from the current context of increased globalisation and society’s enhanced awareness of interculturality. Faced with such transformations, foreign language classrooms require a specific and systematic integration of the intercultural dimension. However, teacher development programmes rarely include content related to the acquisition of ICC either by teachers or learners. This paper aims to fill that gap by offering guidelines for the development of training courses for L2 teachers of Spanish and contribute to enhance their professional profile. The proposal, which considers both teaching competences and generic professional skills, is designed to be applied to diverse target groups or contexts and in different formats. To illustrate our proposal, one of the recommended aspects has been selected and a practical task designed.

The role of toponymic periphrasis in developing professional competence in learning Spanish

The role of toponymic periphrasis in developing professional competence in learning Spanish

Experiencias educativas y de vida de migrantes de retorno: ¿Una creciente generación de maestros de inglés en México?

El presente trabajo reporta los hallazgos sobre las percepciones de actuales alumnos universitarios migrantes de retorno acerca de los desafíos a los que se enfrentan a su regreso a México. Siguiendo una metodología cualitativa y a partir de autobiografías y entrevistas semi-estructuradas, los participantes dan cuenta de sus experiencias en los sistemas educativos de México y Estados Unidos, además, relatan los desafíos que enfrentan en diferentes ámbitos: administrativo y lingüístico. Los resultados sugieren que los participantes muestran cierta nostalgia al pensar en el sistema educativo de Estados Unidos. Al mismo tiempo, sugieren que uno de los principales retos a los que se enfrentan en su adaptación social, se deriva de su competencia lingüística en español y en inglés, que si bien los pone en ventaja en algunas situaciones, como en convertirse en profesores de inglés, los margina en otras. Esto nos permite avanzar en los estudios de migrantes de retorno ya que su inserción en el sistema educativo mexicano no se da de manera sencilla y demuestra las complejidades de la adaptación de los migrantes a un sistema educativo y a una sociedad que no les es tan familiar como generalmente se piensa.

Strategies for Teaching Linguistic Preparedness for Physicians: Medical Spanish and Global Linguistic Competence in Undergraduate Medical Education.

In accordance with Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) curriculum content standards, medical schools are expected to teach physician communication skills and cultural competence. Given the sustained U.S. Spanish-speaking population growth, importance of language in diagnosis, and benefits of patient–physician language concordance, addressing LCME standards equitably should involve linguistic preparedness education. The authors present strategies for implementation of linguistic preparedness education in medical schools by discussing (1) examples of institutional approaches to dedicated medical Spanish courses that meet best practice guidelines and (2) a partnership model with medical interpreters to implement integrated global linguistic competencies in undergraduate medical curricula.

Vocabulario emocional en la producción oral en español como lengua de migración

El presente estudio analizó el vocabulario emocional en la producción oral de un grupo de adultos inmigrantes aprendientes de español. Los principales resultados fueron los siguientes: (a) casi un tercio del discurso de estos informantes estuvo constituido por palabras emocionales, especialmente positivas; (b) el tiempo de residencia en España correlacionó positivamente con la cantidad de tokens y types totales y léxicos, y con el número de tokens emocionales negativos; (c) los informantes más jóvenes alcanzaron un mayor grado de precisión lingüística; (d) una mayor competencia comunicativa en la lengua meta influyó positivamente en la producción de palabras emocionales.

Spanish Language Concordance in U.S. Medical Care: A Multifaceted Challenge and Call to Action.

Patient-physician language discordance within the growing Spanish-speaking patient population in the United States presents a significant challenge for health systems. The Civil Rights Act, an Executive Order, and federal standards establish legal requirements regarding patients' legal right to access medical care in their language of origin and to culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and national competency standards for undergraduate and graduate medical education and licensing examinations support the importance of patient-physician communication. However, no requirements or guidelines currently exist for medical Spanish educational resources, and there is no standardized process to assess the competency of medical students and physicians who use Spanish in patient care. Relatedly, existing data regarding current medical Spanish educational resources are limited, and Spanish proficiency evaluations are often based on self-assessments. Future efforts should use a multifaceted approach to address this complex challenge. A standardized process for Spanish-language-concordant medical care education and quality assurance should incorporate the validation of medical Spanish educational resources, competency requirements for medical usage of Spanish, an incentivized certification process for physicians who achieve medical Spanish competency, and health system updates that include routine collection of language concordance data and designation of Hispanic-serving health centers.

Meeting Twenty-First-Century Needs: Spanish for the Professions as the Future of Spanish Graduate Education?

A possible model for future graduate education, the Spanish for the Professions, Master of Science program, which some may consider a terminal degree, was designed to meet the growing need for employees with a high-level of Spanish language proficiency and cultural competency. This exploration of the fully online Spanish for the Professions graduate program outlines program development and provides a preliminary evaluation of the program's ability to respond to learners' needs and job market demand. Program enrollment and a preliminary qualitative assessment provide evidence that the program is a sustainable and adaptive model for Spanish graduate education in the twenty-first century.

Aspects of the Phonology of Spanish as a Heritage Language: from Incomplete Acquisition to Transfer

The present study analyzes percentages of target-like production of Spanish spirantization and assimilation of coda nasals place of articulation, in three groups of bilingual children simultaneously acquiring German and Spanish: two very young groups, one living in Germany and another one in Spain, and a group of 7-year-old bilinguals from Germany. There were monolingual Spanish and monolingual German control groups. The comparison between groups shows that the Spanish of bilinguals is different from that of monolinguals; and the Spanish of bilinguals in Germany is different from that of bilinguals in Spain. Results lead to the conclusion that the Spanish competence of the bilinguals from Germany is still incomplete, and influenced by transfer of the majority language (German). Only bilingual children living in Germany show influence of the majority language onto the heritage language, whereas transfer does not operate on the Spanish competence of the bilingual children from Spain.

Written Narrative by Spanish Heritage Language Speakers

This article aims to study narrative complexity in written texts produced by Spanish heritage speakers growing up in two linguistic regions of Switzerland. Texts produced in their heritage language by children living either in French- or German-speaking parts of Switzerland were analyzed and compared to texts written by Spanish speaking children growing up in a mostly monolingual context in Argentina. According to the literature, it was expected that children’s heritage language command and literacy abilities would mask their narrative competence in Spanish (i.e., that heritage speakers would show lower narrative complexity than their monolingual peers). The participants were 138 pupils aged between 9 and 12;5 (twelve years and five months), distributed in three groups: Spanish heritage language speakers living in German-speaking Switzerland (n=66), Spanish heritage language speakers living in French-speaking Switzerland (n=25), and a comparison Group made up of Spanish speakers growing up in a monolingual context (n=47). Heritage speakers’ parents also completed a questionnaire describing the children’s linguistic background. We did not find significant differences between groups in terms of story grammar components, suggesting that command of language and writing constraints do not affect narrative complexity development in heritage language speakers.