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This paper draws from a broader research project and reports on literacy program supports and instructional strategies in two-way immersion (TWI) classrooms (Grades 3-5) where the partner language is Spanish. The study examined TWI classrooms in which students from multiple demographics were performing at or above the state average on reading exams and highlights commonalities across classrooms. Semi-structured interviews, class observations, and documents such as lesson plans were used as primary sources and collected from nine teacher participants. Common literacy practices emerged during data analysis and coding. Using grounded theory for qualitative analysis, two programmatic structures emerged: (1) Spanish and English literacy intervention; and (2) coordination of literacy standards across languages. In addition, a focus on fluency and utilization of on-grade level texts were identified as instructional strategies in classrooms. After describing how these structures and instructional strategies were utilized, this paper discusses implications for further research and practical application for literacy instruction in intermediate, and elementary TWI programs.

Many second language (L2) learners participate in study abroad (SA) experiences believing their choice will be synonymous with increased interaction in the L2, from which enhanced linguistic gains will ensue. Nonetheless, one open question is whether SA participants actually engage in sustained L2 interaction while they are abroad. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study in which 31 SA participants (L1 = English; L2 = Spanish) completed the Daily Language Questionnaire 2 (DLQ 2), an online questionnaire designed in Qualtrics, every day during their 6-week SA experience in Spain. We show that (i) learners reported substantially less L2 use at the end than at the start of the SA and (ii) learners reported substantially less L2 use on "no-class" days compared to class days. We additionally tested correlations between the self-reported values of L2 use and the learners' L2 oral abilities. We found moderate positive correlations between L2 usage (per the DLQ 2) and initial-ability scores (per the Elicited Imitation Task); these findings are contextualized within theories of L2 interaction. Finally, we use the data of the present study to offer recommendations for administrators and instructors looking to refine the experience offered to SA participants.

This action-research study describes a course that emphasized critical language awareness (CLA)--an understanding of how language intersects with identity and power--for additional language (L2) learners of Spanish. As L2 learners have been shown to reproduce racist and monolingual discourses, educating them to recognize and question language ideologies are crucial. First, this paper explores the current state of Spanish language curricula in the United States and how CLA is a necessary, yet missing, component of L2 Spanish instruction. Second, the article describes a course that integrated critical service learning, structured reflection, and CLA to encourage participants to reflect on their beliefs about Spanish, bilingualism, and Hispanics in the United States. Next, survey and written reflection data are presented and analyzed to investigate how participating in a critically oriented course develops L2 Spanish learners' CLA.

Though considerable professional discussion has focused on the integration of K-16 curricula, the level of oral proficiency with which students "enter" college and how that the entry level relates to college programs remains untested. The entry landscape is varied, complexified by the diverse curricula that students experience, in particular within Advanced Placement (AP) programs. The present study probes the oral proficiency levels of 2071 Spanish learners and 712 French learners. The data indicate a significant difference between the oral proficiency levels of students entering college with and without an AP score, but suggest that the difference is only one sublevel higher on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages' oral proficiency scale, from intermediate mid to intermediate high on average. The paper discusses the implications of these levels, questioning whether they meet the values of the profession, whether students with these levels are prepared for study in literature programs, and whether an investment in AP programs is prudent.

This manuscript contributes to the existing body of literature on intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the context of computer-mediated communication by examining how fourth-semester learners of Spanish (n = 18) display and develop ICC over the course of a semester. Novel to this study are: (1) the use of service-provider virtual exchanges to carry out the videoconferencing conversations between second language (L2) learners and native speakers (NSs) and (2) the use of both Byram's ICC objectives and Bennett's ethnocentric and ethnorelative perspectives to analyze students' written reflection papers following videoconferencing conversations with NSs. The use of these two frameworks allowed us to map how students conceptualize and experience cultural difference during videoconferencing exchanges and show how their interpretations evolve, shaping their attitudes toward and their beliefs about the target cultures and its speakers. Our findings indicate that instead of relying solely on Byram's ICC framework, as is traditional, combining aspects of Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity with Byram's assessment guidelines is a fruitful and efficient way for foreign language instructors to accurately identify the developmental stage of their students and design appropriate instructional activities.

Explored how third-year-level university students represented an assigned reading-to-write task as indicated by the type of papers they produced, and the relationship between the linguistic quality of those papers and the type of task representation. Findings suggest that the ability to interpret a reading-to-write task appropriately is dependent on complex factors that need to be further explored. (Author/VWL)

Surprisingly little is known about the number and frequency level of words that beginner‐to‐low‐intermediate 16‐year‐old learners of French, German, and Spanish are expected to know when taking high‐stakes national exams in England. This study presents exploratory analyses of the lexical content of the listening and reading tests of these exams, a corpus totaling 116,647 running words. Specifically, it seeks to understand the number and frequency level of words that (a) this demographic seems to be expected to know and (b) could be needed for awarding organizations to create exams year‐on‐year. Key findings include that the proportion of low(er)‐frequency words in the corpus of exam papers seemed large, given the stage of the learners and the purpose of the assessments. Critically, these low(er)‐frequency words changed at a high rate between papers, likely incurring a heavy reliance on the lexical inferencing abilities of these relatively inexperienced language learners. The Challenge: Every year, approximately 250,000 16‐year‐olds in England sit high‐stakes exams in French, German, and Spanish. But how many and what kinds of words do these learners need to know to understand the listening and reading exam texts? And how often do these words change year‐on‐year? This article aims to address these questions by analyzing a corpus of exam papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the background of concerns for how paper-and-pencil testing fits into contemporary language teaching, this brief research report presents the findings of a first study on the difference in scores between in-class testing and online testing in a communicative and proficiency-oriented program. A total of 244 students of third-semester Spanish at the university level participated. One hundred twenty-four took tests online, while 120 took tests in class. Results showed no difference between the scores, suggesting that at least for this particular kind of program, in-class testing can be altered and moved online, freeing up class time for alternative measurements (in this case, curriculum-specific can-do statements).

Many recent studies have examined the effectiveness of various types of input enhancement. The following study expands this line of inquiry to include technological applications of language learning by comparing the effectiveness of the computer application of diacritics to a traditional pen-and-paper process among beginning students of French and Spanish. In addition to studying the effect of computer-mediated input enhancement on the recall of accents, this study also questions the incidental effects of input enhancement on non-target aspects of the second language acquisition (SLA) process. Results support the effectiveness of explicit and computer-mediated input enhancement. The following are appended: (1) Diacritic Handout Summary; (2) Transcribed Passages; (3) Posttreatment Questionnaire; and (4) Keyboard Combination Codes. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article addresses Spanish for native speakers (SNS) instruction from the perspective of critical pedagogy, including the critical examination of dominant educational paradigms as well as the proposal of alternative models. Emphasizing the inherently political nature of education and the role of language in the production of knowledge, culture, and identities, the author analyzes current models of SNS and argues that appropriateness-based models designed to promote expansion of students' linguistic repertoires may reinforce dominant sociolinguistic hierarchies and deny student agency. An emerging critical approach is considered, and a proposal that emphasizes the political--as well as the formal and social--aspects of language, and the promotion of student agency is presented. Specific suggestions for the implementation of the proposed approach are provided. (Contains 2 notes.)

Discusses national linguistic tensions related to the increasing number of Spanish speakers in the United States. Focuses on a group of language scholars who are engaging in efforts to change or suppress the use of U.S. Spanish, particularly in the domain of Spanish. Asserts that the arguments put forth by this group are based on attitudes of the leaders rather than carefully constructed linguistic bases. (Author/VWL)

Discusses using students' native language (L1) versus second language in testing instruments for reading comprehension in the second language (L2) classroom. Students of college-level Spanish were tested under different conditions involving combinations of the L1 and L2. Suggests using open-ended reading comprehension tests if some questions are phrased in the L1, and test takers are given the opportunity to respond in the L1. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on developing courses that facilitate progress toward American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages advanced proficiency by discussing a third-year composition and conversation course designed to increase students' communicative skills. Also examines redesigning programs to meet the diverse needs of students and suggests links to other subject matter. (Author/VWL)

Discusses classroom assessment techniques (CATs), formative assessment tools that require knowledge of one's discipline and a clear desire to increase student learning. Examples are provided from a Spanish grammar and composition course. (Author/VWL)

Reports views of Hispanic cultures held by a group of high school students who were studying Spanish as a foreign language. Students' perceptions of Hispanic cultures were culled from comments they made during an instructional activity, an interview, a questionnaire, and follow-up interviews. Findings overall revealed some degree of empathy toward Hispanic cultures. (Author/VWL)

Observed effects of dialogue journaling through electronic mail on the language produced by learners of Spanish as a second language, compared with the paper-and-pencil version. The electronic version was found to have a positive effect on the amount of language generated and on students' attitudes towards learning the target language but did not have a significant advantage on lexical or grammatical accuracy. (Author/VWL)

Describes the use of post-NAFTA bilingual or trilingual labels in content-enriched instruction in Spanish classes. Such labels provide informal exposure to the second language as well as comprehensive linguistic and cultural input.(Author/VWL)

Recounts experience with the Segovia Virtual Study Abroad Program as one attempt to use technology to expand the curriculum by incorporating study abroad into the curriculum at home. The project's success suggests that a course on contemporary Spain can be designed around a virtual study abroad Web site, incorporating civilization and culture topics and the development of written communication skills. (Author/VWL)

A survey of 358 university students enrolled in first- and second-semester French and Spanish classes indicates that students are overwhelmingly positive about the importance of knowing a foreign language. This article presents the results of this survey, along with its pedagogical implications. (Author/VWL)

Describes a team teaching program for first-year French and Spanish courses at the Plattsburgh State University of New York. Goals were to (1) facilitate pedagogical cooperation between college foreign language and literature faculty and local middle and high school students; (2) improve articulation between secondary and postsecondary foreign language curricula; and (3) maintain or strengthen the communicative skills of students, while increasing class size. (Author/VWL)

Describes the unique situation of an Anglo Spanish-speaking teacher who is assigned to teach Spanish to a group of non-Spanish-speaking youngsters of Puerto Rican descent. Successful strategies for overcoming the socio- and psycholinguistic barriers of working in this situation are listed as the teacher describes how she created a non-threatening learning environment. (Author/JL)

Presents the sources and solutions of listening-comprehension anxiety as reported by foreign-language students and discusses the pedagogical implications that relate to the results. (Author/VWL)

Examines the relationship between self-identification labels and self-reported language use, among other factors, of students who have self selected into Spanish-for-Native-Speakers (SNS) courses. A principal goal of this study is to work toward better understanding of certain identity features of students with heritage language skills in order to inform future curriculum development in student-centered SNS programs. (Author/JL)

Reports on the Minnesota Articulation Project, providing an overview of the projects' three principal working groups: political action, curriculum, and assessment. The article then outlines the theoretical underpinnings of the proficiency-based assessment instruments developed in French, German, and Spanish and describes in detail the content and format of these instruments. (Author/JL)

Using sociocultural theory as a conceptual framework, this study examined selected features of student discourse of three pairs of third-semester learners of Spanish at the university level. Specifically the study investigated how these selected features, identified in an earlier research project, developed during opportunities to engage in five different but similar jigsaw tasks. (Author/JL)

Describes intensive, community-based, experiential foreign language course titled "Spanish in Ohio" implemented to meet needs of nontraditional students bound to campus and unable to participate in study abroad opportunities. The course, offered during the summer at Ohio State University, is conducted entirely in Spanish, requires students to participate in three activities per week that are related to a particular theme, and includes weekly guest lectures. (Author/JL)

Discusses the different varieties of Spanish, the decision of which variety to teach to native speakers, and the concept of a "standard" usage. Basing the decision on sociolinguistic research, this article proposes a spoken and written variety of Spanish to be employed in teaching native speakers in the United States. (Author/JL)

Offers an alternative to the two approaches to teaching Spanish to adolescent and college-level bilingual native speakers interested in developing their Spanish abilities. This theory draws heavily from Freire's problem-posing procedure for critical dialogue and Vygotsky's theory of social learning. (28 references) (Author/VWL)

This manuscript contributes to the existing body of literature on intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in the context of computer‐mediated communication by examining how fourth‐semester learners of Spanish (n = 18) display and develop ICC over the course of a semester. Novel to this study are: (1) the use of service‐provider virtual exchanges to carry out the videoconferencing conversations between second language (L2) learners and native speakers (NSs) and (2) the use of both Byram's ICC objectives and Bennett's ethnocentric and ethnorelative perspectives to analyze students' written reflection papers following videoconferencing conversations with NSs. The use of these two frameworks allowed us to map how students conceptualize and experience cultural difference during videoconferencing exchanges and show how their interpretations evolve, shaping their attitudes toward and their beliefs about the target cultures and its speakers. Our findings indicate that instead of relying solely on Byram's ICC framework, as is traditional, combining aspects of Bennett's Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity with Byram's assessment guidelines is a fruitful and efficient way for foreign language instructors to accurately identify the developmental stage of their students and design appropriate instructional activities. The Challenge: Service‐provider virtual exchanges in which native speakers are trained and supervised by a third‐party to speak with paying L2 learners are becoming increasingly popular. Without instruction, learners may misunderstand aspects of the target culture. How can instructors guide students while also ensuring they develop intercultural communicative competence? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes two certificate programs, one in translation, the other in conference interpretation, offered at Georgia State University. The translation program includes courses in Comparative Stylistics, Advanced General Translation, and Advanced Technical Translation. The interpretation program includes courses in Consecutive Interpretation and Simultaneous Interpretation. Testing is required for admission and for certification. (SED)

"Juegos comunicativos," a software program designed for use with the Apple IIe, IIc, or II+, emphasizes "communicative" computer-assisted Spanish language learning through five educational games. The program uses Spanish vocabulary and structures to solve "problems" rather than the standard drill-and-practice format. (CB)

An approach is presented for providing students with communication practice by relating course material to the common purposes of language use. A system for classifying communication activities is outlined in order to insure realistic, varied practice. Examples are provided in Spanish. (SW)

Affirms the advantages to the child of early immersion second language learning programs. The second language proficiency of English-speaking Canadian students who received all instruction in French and English-speaking American children who received all instruction in Spanish surpassed that of students in more traditional language programs. (PMJ)

Examines form and gender correspondence rules for Spanish and attempts to evaluate them for potential utility to the foreign language user on the basis of formal and psychological criteria relating to how rules might affect performance, with specific reference to the role of rules as defined in monitor model. (Author/BK)

Many second language (L2) learners participate in study abroad (SA) experiences believing their choice will be synonymous with increased interaction in the L2, from which enhanced linguistic gains will ensue. Nonetheless, one open question is whether SA participants actually engage in sustained L2 interaction while they are abroad. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study in which 31 SA participants (L1 = English; L2 = Spanish) completed the Daily Language Questionnaire 2 (DLQ 2), an online questionnaire designed in Qualtrics, every day during their 6‐week SA experience in Spain. We show that (i) learners reported substantially less L2 use at the end than at the start of the SA and (ii) learners reported substantially less L2 use on "no‐class" days compared to class days. We additionally tested correlations between the self‐reported values of L2 use and the learners' L2 oral abilities. We found moderate positive correlations between L2 usage (per the DLQ 2) and initial‐ability scores (per the Elicited Imitation Task); these findings are contextualized within theories of L2 interaction. Finally, we use the data of the present study to offer recommendations for administrators and instructors looking to refine the experience offered to SA participants. The Challenge: Many second language (L2) learners participate in study abroad (SA) programs believing that their choice will be synonymous with increased interaction in the L2, from which enhanced linguistic gains will ensue. But, do we know what L2 learners actually do while they are abroad? Do they maintain a commitment to L2 use over the entire SA experience? Is there a connection between L2 use and L2 performance? This article synthesizes data collected through a variety of instruments, with a focus on results from the Daily Language Questionnaire that tracks L1 and L2 use over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes how the resources of nearby Spanish-speaking communities could be exploited by Spanish programs at universities along the United States-Mexican border. (Author/AM)

This action‐research study describes a course that emphasized critical language awareness (CLA)—an understanding of how language intersects with identity and power—for additional language (L2) learners of Spanish. As L2 learners have been shown to reproduce racist and monolingual discourses, educating them to recognize and question language ideologies are crucial. First, this paper explores the current state of Spanish language curricula in the United States and how CLA is a necessary, yet missing, component of L2 Spanish instruction. Second, the article describes a course that integrated critical service learning, structured reflection, and CLA to encourage participants to reflect on their beliefs about Spanish, bilingualism, and Hispanics in the United States. Next, survey and written reflection data are presented and analyzed to investigate how participating in a critically oriented course develops L2 Spanish learners' CLA. The Challenge: Critical language awareness (CLA), an understanding of how language relates to power and identity, is often overlooked for additional language (L2) learners of Spanish. How does participating in a critically oriented course that focuses on U.S. Spanish, incorporates service learning, and employs structured reflection develop L2 Spanish learners' CLA? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the impact of pedagogical intervention on students’ request performance during short‐term study abroad (SA). Prior to departure, students received explicit instruction about requests. During their time abroad, they were given tasks to strategically develop their pragmatic competence. Requests were assessed with a discourse completion task. Results indicated that over time the students improved their request performance, as rated by two native Spanish speakers. Examination of the students’ requests revealed that their use of strategies also improved. Retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) performed after the posttests indicated that during second language (L2) Spanish request production, the students attended to politeness, task outcome, and past experiences. In addition, the RVRs indicated that specific sociopragmatic factors and pragmalinguistic strategies targeted during the pragmatic intervention informed learners’ cognition during request planning and production. Findings suggest that when combined with pedagogical intervention, SA has the potential to facilitate students’ L2 pragmatic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of instructor‐led (IL) versus self‐access (SA) web‐based pragmatic instruction on novice second language learners' (n = 28) awareness and oral production of Spanish apologies. Two sections of a second‐semester Spanish course were assigned to either the IL or the SA group. The web‐based resource Dancing with Words was used to provide pragmatic instruction. Participants in the SA group worked through the materials individually, and participants in the IL group received support and guidance from the instructor. A quasi‐experimental, pre‐/posttest design was used to measure participants' pragmatic competence (i.e., awareness and production skills) before and after a 5‐week intervention period. Results indicate three major findings: (1) learners follow developmental trajectories similar to those identified in study abroad, (2) instructor guidance is important for novice learners' development of pragmatic competence, and (3) special consideration should be given to instructional materials to ensure they align with the instructional context and goals. The Challenge: Instructional pragmatics is often ignored at the novice level; however, learners must acquire both the forms and functions of their target language to achieve intercultural communicative competence. Can novice learners develop pragmatic competence? How might web‐based resources impact this development and in which instructional contexts would they be most successful? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of an empirical study designed to determine the degree to which college instructors of Spanish can distinguish between machine translation (MT) and non‐MT writing samples produced by second language (L2) learners of Spanish in an intermediate‐level writing course. We also investigated relationships between detection accuracy rates, instructor teaching experience, and text type (narrative or argumentative), as well as signs instructors consider indicators of both kinds of writing. Results demonstrated that instructors were able to distinguish MT from non‐MT writing with a high degree of accuracy by relying on a broad array of indicators. However, neither text type difference nor instructor experience related significantly to detection ability. These findings have practical implications for the L2 classroom with regard to instructor response to MT use and the integration of MT tools to support L2 writing development. The Challenge: Many language instructors seek to discourage learner use of machine translation (MT), assuming they are capable of reliably detecting such use. But are instructors in fact able to reliably differentiate between MT‐assisted and MT‐unassisted target language writing and, if so, what indicators do they rely upon when making such judgments? Given students' widespread use of these tools, what implications for practice might answers to these questions hold, particularly in terms of academic integrity policies and second language (L2) writing pedagogy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence that L2 learners of Spanish overgeneralize indirect object pronouns (OPs) to direct object contexts with human referents and direct OPs to indirect object contexts with nonhuman referents has been provided by Zyzik (2006), Malovrh (2008), and Olsen and Juffs (2022). However, the effect of instruction on this phenomenon has not been investigated. This study addresses the influence of instruction on preempting (Rutherford, 1989) an Animacy‐based system in L2 learners of Spanish by investigating whether instruction led learners to use a Case‐based OP system rather than an Animacy‐based system and at what level instruction was most beneficial. Data were collected from 115 L2 learners divided into two groups (instructed and control) who completed comprehension and production tasks at two different times (pretest, posttest). Between the pretest and posttest, learners in the instructed group received instruction on Spanish OPs using the PACE model for grammar instruction. Results from mixed analysis of variances indicate preemption of an Animacy‐based system in both learner groups. This finding is taken as evidence that the tasks themselves led learners to change their OP systems by forcing learners to process the object pronouns and notice additional possible contexts. The Challenge: Instruction is often assumed to lead to language learning, but there are many unanswered questions surrounding how instruction affects language development. How does instruction affect the interlanguage grammar? Are there particular instructional techniques that are more effective for helping learners acquire certain form‐meaning mappings? This article explores the effect of instruction on L2 Spanish object pronouns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current replication study aims to examine the effects of learners' attention to lexical and grammatical forms on meaning comprehension while listening to a passage in Spanish. The registered protocol and materials in the aural mode from Morgan‐Short et al.'s (2018) multisite replication study were used, with first language (L1) Chinese–second language (L2) English participants (N = 122) learning Spanish as the third language (L3). The results partially reproduced the previous findings that there was no effect of attending to a lexical item (sol) on meaning comprehension. However, a small to medium effect was found on comprehension scores for simultaneously attending to a grammatical form (la). This finding reveals a site‐specific effect with learners from different L1 backgrounds, suggesting that learners' attending to a grammatical form absent in their L1 is detrimental to their meaning comprehension even if this form exists in their earlier learned L2. The Challenge: Does attending to lexical or grammatical form while listening to a passage inhibit learners' meaning comprehension? A series of studies have yielded inconclusive findings. This study revisits this question in a context in which Chinese speakers learn Spanish as an additional foreign language after having learned English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This longitudinal, multi‐semester study investigates the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) in university‐level communicative Spanish classrooms to find out how instructor feedback affects student performance on IPA assessments, if at all, and in what ways do teachers and students use feedback from the IPAs in their teaching and learning, if at all, to navigate the relationship of assessment and feedback within the IPA framework. A mixed‐methods analysis of the effect of instructor (n = 7) feedback on student (n = 103) progress in the performance of oral and written communication revealed that corrective feedback benefitted learners on interpretive and presentational tasks, but hindered their progress on interpersonal tasks. The findings suggest that instructors should provide feedback in a modality that corresponds with the task type. The Challenge: The Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) framework is used as an instructional and assessment approach in foreign language classrooms. How do instructors and language learners understand the relationship between instruction, assessment, and feedback to foster language progress? This article investigates this relationship, providing instructors insight to guide students with effective feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]