Teaching Spanish through Hispanic movies and literature.

Teaching Spanish through Hispanic movies and literature.

Grant:
Lecturers' Professional Development Fund (LPDF)
Academic Year:
2018 - 2019 (June 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019)
Funding Requested:
$2,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
ciglesia
Overview of the Project:
I want to gain some new insights into how I could incorporate Hispanic movies and Literature into the curriculum of a future Spanish 280 Conversation class. This proposal seeks funds to attend a 40 hour course entitled “De la literatura al cine en el aula de ELE ”, which roughly translates as “From Literature to Movies in the ELE Classroom” that will take place at the Centro Universitario CIESE-Comillas (Santander, Spain).
This course is designed for teachers who wish to know how to make literature and movies a part of the ELE classroom in an effective way. There will be a special emphasis on popular genres (such as noir or fantastic) but also on movie adaptations of written works. Attendees will learn about the main periods in Hispanic Literature and Cinema as well as the main genres and their effective implementation in the ELE classroom.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

The course I attended is designed for teachers who wish to know how to make literature and movies a part of the Spanish classroom in an effective way. There was a special emphasis on popular genres (such as fantastic), movie adaptations of written works, commercials and short movies. We explored the main periods in Hispanic Literature as well as different genres and their effective implementation in the classroom. The main obejective of the course was that participants worked on creating new materials to teach Spanish with Hispanic movies and literature as the main driving force.

Project Achievements:

Participating in this particular course provided me with new perspectives on on how to utilize Hispanic Literature and movies/shorts with my undergraduate students at the University of Michigan. The LPDF grant allowed me to learn new ways to implement "not so main stream" forms of popular culture (such as short stories or commercials) in order to foster students’ interest and motivation in the Spanish courses I teach within the Elementary Language Program (ELP) at the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. I learnt how to design activities with authentic materials and suitable pedagogical techniques in order to foster the students’ autonomy and motivation when learning Spanish.Thanks to this course, I will be able to offer a more appealing curriculum to over 125 undergraduate students that I am scheduled to teach each academic year.

Continuation:
The project itself will not be continuing beyond the grant period. However, I plan on developing new and engaging materials for my ELP Spanish classes based on the information I learned at the workshop. I will also be creating a new 280 course (Spanish conversation through movies) with the specific knowledge and practical tools that I acquired.
Dissemination:
There is always an interest in using literature & movies/shorts in the Spanish classroom so I am planning on spreading this new knowledge with my colleagues by sharing activities and materials that I will create. Another way to contribute to my department's enrichment will be by participating in the Share Fair, an event held at the Romance and Languages Department every semester.
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