SPAN 276
Spanish as a First and Second Language, fall 2020 (sophomore year)
Course Description
Students explore the processes involved in the acquisition of Spanish as a first and second language and the variation present in the language of both native and non-native speakers of Spanish from Spain, Latin America, and the U.S. Hispanic linguistics are studied with special attention paid to socio-cultural as well as structural aspects. The course includes the study of at least one substantive literary work.
Course Content
Rationale
From my original proposal: The vast majority of people in this country whose first language is not English have Spanish as a native or heritage language. Therefore, it is important to examine linguistics from a Spanish-speaking point of view. This course, taught in Spanish, looks at linguistic theory applied to Spanish rather than English, which helps to interpret the reasons why some individuals who speak Spanish communicate the way that they do.
Learner Language Analysis
For this class, we had to make a recording of our “linguistic autobiographies” and analyze the recordings in multiple ways. The following recording and analyses are in Spanish, so may not be accessible for all. However, the assignment had me both analyze my own learner language speech and pinpoint areas for improvement in my own language use. This project included a transcription, lexical diversity analysis, several smaller exercises to analyze our speech, and a final report on our findings and what we learned from this process.
Learner Language Sample
Final Presentation
For my final presentation, I wanted to examine the impact of English on the use of heritage Spanish in the U.S. The following presentation slides, again in Spanish, examine the phenomenon of “Spanglish” and the impact that English has had on Spanish speakers in a majority-English society.
Takeaways
In this course, I was able to do deep reflection on my own use of learner language and how I can improve my Spanish abilities. This course also included some introductory linguistics material about Spanish itself, which was quite interesting, as I had not taken a linguistics class with a focus on a Romance language. This course taught me how to reflect on my second language use and also some foundational linguistic theory about the Spanish language, including variation between dialects.
Connections
The audio recording analysis project for this course was quite similar to the audiology project done in LNGST 301 (Germanic Multiethnolects). For this course, we did many of the same analyses done here, except that sample was done in my native language and did not have a focus on learner language. The course page is linked below.
The discussions of bilingualism and identity in this course related heavily to EDUC 250 (Second Language Acquisition) and LNGST 250 (English Language and Linguistics). These courses, with full information about related assignments, are linked below.