Spanish students' perceptions of the creation of a course for the communication degree course

Authors

  • Edgar Mauricio Vargas Blanco New Mexico Highlands University
  • Kenny Montgomery New Braunfels ISD

Keywords:

linguistic motivations, Spanish for the professions, qualitative and quantitative methods, curriculum, Houston

Abstract

El siguiente estudio describe las percepciones de los estudiantes de cursos de español como lengua extranjera sobre la creación de cursos de español con fines específicos (EFE) o español para las profesiones, específicamente para la carrera de comunicación en la Universidad de Houston en los Estados Unidos. Con el uso de métodos cualitativos y cualitativos se entrevistaron 60 estudiantes del área de comunicación para reconocer el interés de los participantes en un curso enfocado en su carrera y sobre los contenidos de este. Los resultados mostraron que un 88 % de los participants están interesados en tomar cursos de EFE porque lo ven como una necesidad en la ciudad de Houston y en Los Estados Unidos. Dentro de sus motivaciones principales están: mejorar oportunidades de trabajo, obtener créditos para su carrera y comunicarse con hispanos en la ciudad. Con respecto al contenido del curso, los encuestados afirmaron que desean recibir un vocabulario enfocado en lo que estudian, conocer los detalles culturales relacionados con la carrera y tener acceso a ejercicios donde mejoren sus habilidades interpersonales.

 

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Author Biographies

Edgar Mauricio Vargas Blanco, New Mexico Highlands University

Edgar M. Vargas Blanco holds a Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and the Director of the Language Learning Center at New Mexico Highlands University.  He teaches classes in second and Heritage language, Spanish for the professions, linguistics, and translation. His research interests are Heritage language teaching and sociolinguistics. He has published articles and pedagogical materials in international and American publishers. He is working on a book on Parents’ Strategies to maintain the Heritage language in the USA. His latest achievement was to participate in a Fulbright project to Central Asia during the summer of 2018.

Kenny Montgomery, New Braunfels ISD

Kenny Montgomery holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Houston and she is a current Spanish and French instructor at New Braunfels ISD.  She was born in Venezuela where she started her studies in Modern Languages at the University of Zulia. Her field of research deals with Spanish language acquisition and development in the USA. She earned a B.A. in Spanish and French, as well as an M.A in Spanish Linguistics at the University of Texas-Pan American. She has been an international and visiting student at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, France, and at The University of Laval in Québec, Canada.  She has fifteen years of experience as a high school French and Spanish teacher and four years of experience as a Spanish and French professor at the university level in South Texas.

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Published

2019-06-29

How to Cite

Vargas Blanco, E. M., & Montgomery, K. (2019). Spanish students’ perceptions of the creation of a course for the communication degree course. Revista De Lenguas Para Fines Específicos, 25(1), 127–140. Retrieved from https://ojsspdc.ulpgc.es/ojs/index.php/LFE/article/view/1006