Teaching Spanish

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

If you are considering Teach for America, teaching Spanish in a private school, or working in a bilingual school, Teaching Spanish is the course for you. The course is divided into two parts, one devoted to the fundamental concepts of second language learning and teaching and a second that applies these concepts to the teaching of L2 reading, listening, speaking, and writing, as well as to testing. Topics include an introduction to cognitive theories of language learning; a brief history of teaching approaches, methods, and related techniques; and principles of communicative language teaching and task-based language instruction. We will devote special attention to the role of explicit instruction and input in language development; classroom interaction; and materials preparation. New this year, the course incorporates units on Critical Language Teaching and devotes extra attention to heritage language learners and situating language learning and teaching in the broader social context. Students will be assessed through participation in a blog, presentations, reports of classroom observations, and the development of teaching and assessment materials. The course is designed to assume the students’ active participation. The course fulfills one of the linguistics requirements for the Spanish major, the College social science requirement, and counts towards the minor in education.