Course Description:

One key component of language teaching and language learning that is often neglected is the incorporation of knowledge regarding the variation that exists across Spanish-speakers. To make appropriate linguistic choices one must understand the role of geography, gender, social class, ethnicity, and the situational context. Still, this skill is rarely taught and is difficult to learn. This course unites information about second language acquisition and current practices in language teaching with research on sociolinguistic variation and the particulars of Spanish grammar. The ultimate goal of the course is to examine how the former is improved by knowledge of the latter. The course begins with an overview of variation in the Spanish language and addresses issues such as the identification of a linguistic standard, prescriptive grammars vs. descriptive grammars, and linguistic bias. Taking such knowledge as a starting point, current practices in language teaching are assessed and evaluated based on the degree to which they incorporate such knowledge. This course will be especially helpful to students interested in teaching Spanish in the future and to those who enjoy examining the varieties of Spanish spoken by populations around the world.

Metas del curso

·        Conocer los conceptos básicos del estudio de la lingüística aplicada, tanto la sociolingüística como la adquisición de lenguas

·        Desarrollar habilidades críticas para poder leer artículos originales sobre diversos temas en el campo de la sociolingüística en el futuro y aplicar estos hallazgos a la enseñanza de segundas lenguas.

·        Llevar a cabo un proyecto en el cual se desarrolla un conjunto de materiales pedagógicos que reflejan un conocimiento profundo de la variación sociolingüística y de la adquisición de segundas lenguas