Spanish 476: Teaching Spanish in the US Prof.

Roman-Mendoza
Fall 2009 (703) 993-1232
Thompson Hall 227 - TR 12:00-1:15 eromanme@gmu.edu
Office Hours TR 11:00-11:45 and by appointment Skype: e.roman.mendoza

Description
Introduction to second language acquisition theory and research, and the application to teaching Spanish both as a
second language and a heritage language. Covers learning objectives, critical pedagogy, course design, grammar
instruction, computer-assisted language learning, materials evaluation, and assessment. Includes a discussion of
sociocultural and political issues surrounding the teaching of Spanish in the US.

Throughout the course, students will be asked to critically examine their assumptions about what it means to know
Spanish, about what constitutes “correct” Spanish, about the objectives of Spanish teaching, and about the societal
role of education. In addition, we will consider the ways in which teaching materials and practices may reproduce or
communicate specific ideologies surrounding these issues. The course will be conducted in Spanish. SPAN 385 or
equivalent required.

Students in this course will also have the opportunity to gain practical experience teaching, as well as additional
academic credits, by serving as interns teaching in one of several after-school Spanish programs for young heritage
language speakers. Participation in the internships is voluntary; interested students should contact me as soon as
possible to arrange an interview with the internship director, Dr. Lisa Rabin.

Objectives
Students will gain a basic understanding of second language acquisition and apply this understanding in the
consideration of various teaching approaches and methodologies. Students are expected to be able to carry out
theoretically-grounded evaluations of published pedagogical materials, as well as the design of their own materials.
In order to promote students’ critical understanding of social and political aspects of Spanish teaching, we will
review the history of Spanish teaching in the US, taking language ideologies and the broader sociocultural context
into account. We will also explore the linguistic and sociolinguistic characteristics and needs of heritage speakers of
Spanish. This course is designed to provide students with theoretical knowledge regarding the learning of Spanish
and a sociohistorical understanding of the teaching of Spanish in the US, as well as pre-service preparation for
future teachers of Spanish.

Required Materials
 Shrum, J.L. & Glisan, E.W. (2005). Teacher's Handbook: Contextualized Language Instruction, 3rd
Edition. Thomson Heinle.
 Blackboard account. For course calendar, announcements, access to readings, and emergencies.
 Delicious account (free). For tagging, commenting and sharing resources. http://delicious.com
 ePortfolio PebblePad Subscription ($30 dollars). For the e-Porfolio project and as a learning tool.
http://portfolio.pebblepad.co.uk/gmu/

In addition, readings from the following books will be assigned (see schedule for details):
 Koike, D. A., & Klee, C. A. (2003). Lingüística aplicada: Adquisición del español como segunda lengua.
New York: John Wiley & Sons.
 Reagan, T. G., & Osborn, T. A. (2002). The foreign language educator in society: Toward a critical
pedagogy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. (available online at
http://www.netlibrary.com.mutex.gmu.edu/)

Grading
The final grade will be computed as follows:
Preparation and Participation 15%
Midterm exam 25%
Essays 30%
ePortfolio project 30%
Syllabus is based on course proposal by J. Leeman 1
General Rules for Assignments
All written assignments must be in Spanish, and typed in 12-point black New Times Roman font, double-spaced
and margins of 1 inch. All written assignments need to include punctuation and spelling in Spanish and must be
submitted by the proposed deadline. A printed copy will be brought to class and an electronic one submitted by
Blackboard.

Technology: It is important to have and use an e-mail account, to access Blackboard on a daily basis for updates and
supplementary materials. According to guidelines established by the University, each student is to access and use
her/his GMU e-mail account when corresponding with the professor and with other students in a given course.

Attendance and Participation

Students are required to complete assigned readings prior to every class meeting, to attend class, and to participate
actively in class discussions. They may also be required to complete brief written assignments based on the
readings, such as answer discussion questions in writing, design a mini-teaching activity, submit questions about
issues they didn’t understand, etc. Students who miss class are required to submit all assignments on time (via
Blackboard) as well as to contact a classmate to find out about class activities and assignments. Late work will not
be accepted. If you have a legitimate reason for needing extra time on an assignment, let me know in advance, so I
can consider granting you an extension (which may imply a reduction in the grade).

Midterm
There will be a midterm in the 8th week of the course. The midterm cannot be taken at any other time, nor will be
make-ups be given. If there is an emergency, you should let me know as soon as possible.

Essays
Students will be required to write six brief essays (in Spanish), each approximately one to one and a half pages long.
The essays are designed to help students consolidate their understanding of theoretical issues discussed in the
course, and to provide them with opportunities to apply this theoretical knowledge to pedagogical practice, as well
as to prepare them for the final project. More details about the essay content and form will be provided in class.
e-Portfolio Project
Students will work throughout the semester in a PebblePAD e-portfolio that will help them reflect about the
contents of this course while practicing with a powerful learning/teaching tool. The e-portfolio will comprise:

 All assignments and essays done for this course, tagged with appropriate keywords.
 One blog entry per each week with a reflection on the activities and readings performed that week.
 List of annotated resources (based on RSS feeds from Delicious/tag=span476f09. More details in class).
 A report on the textbook selected for essays in the second part of the course (textbook evaluation)
 A statement of teaching philosophy with references to those activities, annotated resources, blog entries,
readings, etc. selected by the student.

Only the list of resources, the textbook evaluation and the teaching philosophy statement will be turned in as
webfolio, but the instructor can ask students any time during the semester to show her how they are progressing in
their projects.

Cheating and Plagiarism

Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Sources and materials need to be properly cited and
acknowledged. All written work, including exams and outside of class assignments, must be done independently.
There is no exception to this policy in this class. Please note that you are expected to work on your assignments on
your own, and you should not have them written, reviewed or corrected by anybody else. Assignments may be sent
to a plagiarism identification service.

Students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the GMU Honor Code. Please consult the Honor code
online for definitions and policies: http://academicintegrity.gmu.edu/honorcode/. Any students who are not sure of
any of the policies regarding independent work are responsible for requesting clarification from their instructor.
Syllabus is based on course proposal by J. Leeman 2
Disability Support Services
Any student with documented learning disabilities or other conditions that may affect academic performance should
make sure this documentation is on file with the Office of Disability Services,
http://www2.gmu.edu/dpt/unilife/ods// (SUB I, second floor; 993-2474) .

CLASS CALENDAR (Subject to modification)

DATES CLASS WORK CLASS PREPARATION
Sep. 1 Course introduction Read Syllabus
FL teaching as a profession
Delicious account activation
Sep. 3 History of second language teaching Koike & Klee Ch 1 Introducción a la
methods in the US lingüística aplicada (e)
The limitations of “methods” Turn in essay #1: Personal history of
language learning (How, what, where,
when, why)
Sep. 8 Why learn or teach a second Reagan & Osborn Ch 1 When
language? methodology fails: A critical look at
Why learn or teach Spanish? foreign language education (e)
Group work based on the assigned Watch the assigned video.
videos.
Sep. 10 Class observations Koike & Klee Ch 2: El campo de
Using a class observation form investigación de la ASL (e)
Sep. 15 Input, output, and interaction Shrum & Glisan Ch 1 Understanding the
The relationship between SLA theory role of contextualized input, output,
and teaching practice and interaction in language learning
Sep. 17 Constructivist approaches to teaching Reagan & Osborn Ch 4 Constructivist
and learning epistemology and foreign language
teaching and learning (e)
Sep. 22 Defining goals and content for Shrum & Glisan Ch 2 Contextualizing
Spanish instruction language instruction to address goals
The National Standards for foreign of the standards for foreign language
language teaching learning
Sep. 24 Organization and planning Shrum & Glisan Ch 3 Organizing content
and planning for integrated language
instruction
Sep. 29 The ideology of standards Reagan & Osborn Ch 5 Critical
Critical pedagogy curriculum development in the foreign
language classroom (e)
Oct. 1 Course design Turn in essay #2: What should the
goals of Spanish teaching be? (You
may write about the K-12 or college, or
both; back-up your response)
Oct. 6 Linguistic variation in the classroom Leeman 2005 Engaging critical
Heritage language speakers pedagogy: Spanish for native speakers (e)
Oct. 8 Spanish for heritage speakers Bring selected textbook to class.
Critical language awareness
Standard language ideologies
Oct. 13 COLOMBUS DAY RECESS
Oct. 15 Teacher interviews Prepare questionnaire
Syllabus is based on course proposal by J. Leeman 3
Oct. 20 Review Bring specific questions to class
Oct. 22 Midterm exam
Oct. 27 Interpretive and comprehension Shrum & Glisan Ch 6 Using an
activities interactive approach to develop
interpretive skills
Oct. 29 Teaching grammar Shrum & Glisan Ch 7 Using a story-
based approach to teach grammar
Turn in essay #3: An analysis of the
teaching of grammar in ‘your’
textbook
Nov. 3 Learning styles Shrum & Glisan Ch 10 Addressing
Diversity among students student diversity in the language
classroom
Nov. 5 Ideological constructions of the ‘ideal Turn in essay #4: An analysis of the
student’ and the learning goals representation of the “Spanish-
speaking world” or of students of
Spanish in your textbook
Nov. 10 Language materials: choosing and Savignon 1997 Selection of materials (e)
evaluating materials
Nov. 12 The sound of silence (based on Ducar
2007 The sound of silence: Spanish
heritage textbooks’ treatment of
language variation)
Nov. 17 Ideological and linguistic Turn in essay #5: An analysis of the
representation and exclusion in treatment of linguistic variation in
Spanish textbooks your textbook
Nov. 19 Oral proficiency tests Shrum & Glisan Ch 11 Assessing
What does it mean to “know” standards-based language
Spanish? performance in context
Nov. 24 An analysis of a Spanish test
Nov 26 THANKSGIVING
Dec. 1 Teaching with technology Shrum & Glisan Ch 12 Using technology
to contextualize and integrate
language instruction
Dec. 3 Discussion Turn in essay #6: An analysis of the
use of technology in your textbook
Dec. 8 Online representations of culture and
social networking as a learning tool.
Dec. 10 e-portfolio team work Bring first draft of teaching philosophy
statement to class
Dec. 15 e-Portfolio project submission FROM 10:30AM TO 1:15PM

List of complete references and additional resources to be provided in Blackboard.

Syllabus is based on course proposal by J. Leeman 4