Project Objectives:
In Stage I we proposed to introduce curricular changes into Spanish 231 “to attain higher levels of intercultural communicative competence, or enabling students to communicate effectively within Spanish-speaking communities, as well as to reflect on the world and themselves through the lens of another language and culture”. We were able to accomplish this by designing and implementing four case studies into the SPN 231 curriculum. The integration of the intercultural case studies into our Spanish 231 curriculum has been smooth. We do four intercultural case studies each semester, and have integrated them into the existing components of our curriculum as follows.Each chapter of the text that we use, Más allá de las palabras, has a “miniconferencia”, which is a mini, academic lecture on a cultural topic, which the instructor delivers in class. What we’ve done is to tie the topic of the miniconferencias into the content of the intercultural case studies. So, for example, the first miniconferencia is on the function of plazas in Hispanic countries. First, the students listen to the miniconferencia in class. Then they answer questions on the miniconferencia and discuss it in class. The functions of the plaza mentioned in the miniconferencia are for Sunday, church-related rituals, festivals, music and dance, shopping, strolls, sports, and social and political protests. The final discussion question serves as a transition from the miniconferencia into the topic of the intercultural case study. In this case, we ask students if they have any Sunday rituals and if so, what they do. If not, we ask what activities they typically do in public spaces, such as going to the mall, hanging out at a café, strolling down Main St. with friends, etc. That night, students read the cultural case study at home so that they can be prepared to discuss it in Spanish in class the following day. The intercultural case study relating to plazas, for example, sets the students up in groups. The situation is that each group is working as cultural consultants on a hotline via e-mail for international students at the University of Michigan. These international students write in for advice on cultural conflicts that they are experiencing. Our students then respond with recommendations for resolving the conflicts that the international students are experiencing. The hypothetical student that writes in on the case relating to plazas says that he’s a first year student from Argentina and that he feels very lonely here at the UM. In Argentina, if you want to meet people or hang out with other young people you can go to the plaza and right away you’re connected with others. Is there any place here at the UM where people go to be together and meet up? How do you get to know people here? This student is also very interested in politics, and while in Argentina students meet to discuss politics in cafes and hold political demonstrations and rallies on the plaza, he can’t figure out how to become actively involved in the political scene here at UM. In fact, he wonders if there is any political activity on campus. The groups then brainstorm ways to respond to the letter, coming up with a list of possibilities and suggestions. They then share the ideas they’ve come up with the rest of the class, so that by the end of the class period each student has a list of possibilities to use in the next phase, which is writing a letter back to the Argentinian student with advice. This letter is written individually as a journal topic. Spanish 231 students write two journal entries per week so having the students respond to the intercultural case studies in their journals is the final phase of the process. In this particular case, having students analyze their culture in contrast to the experience of the Argentinian student provides the students with the opportunity to gain insight into the structure and values of their own culture. I piloted linking the miniconferencias to the cultural case studies in the Spring 2010 term and found that presenting the cultural content in the miniconferencias first and then following up with a related cultural case study was an even more powerful way to lead into the case studies. Having more cultural input initially allowed students to better interpret the intercultural conflicts presented in the case studies.For the final case study, we had four instructors from four different Hispanic countries talk about a proverb that’s common in their culture. We had these informal chats filmed in the LRC, and made a DVD of them as well as posting them on our Ctools site. The case study first has students come up with common proverbs in our culture. Then students are given a list of proverbs from Hispanic cultures. The students must analyze common themes in the proverbs as well as differences that stand out, taking into account the values expressed in both sets of proverbs. In the DVD, each instructor talks about how a proverb from their country reflects the values of their culture. We’re extremely proud of how well the DVD came out, and think it adds a new dimension to the case studies.Overall, all four intercultural case studies have allowed students to critically analyze cultural similarities and differences between their own culture and Hispanic culture, and have fit into our existing curriculum very intrinsically.Student response to the intercultural case studies has been very positive. One common problem for us in the basic Spanish language program is figuring out how to engage students intellectually within the constraints of the limited language skills that they possess. The intercultural case studies, paired with the miniconferencias, have allowed us to engage students’ intellect while keeping within their linguistic abilities. Students responded very favorably to this challenge. We also believe that while students may not always remember the language that they’ve learned here, they’ll be able to take along the insights into culture and the intercultural competence that they develop from analyzing these cases with them well into the future.Instructor response has been favorable, as well. We implemented a retreat for Spanish 231 instructors in the winter of 2010. At the retreat, we trained instructors in the use of the case studies in class, and provided instructors with a delicious Middle Eastern dinner and a University of Michigan mug as a way of showing our thanks for their participation in our Whittaker grant. Needless to say, the retreat was very positively received and instructors have been enthusiastic about using the cultural case studies in class. In fact, since introducing the case studies into our 231 curriculum requests for teaching Spanish 231 are so high that we’ve been unable to accommodate all of the instructors that request it!
Project Achievements:
With the assistance of the CRLT personnel, Stiliana Milkova, and Inger Bergom below is part of the their findings from their data. “Notably, in both midterm student feedback data and post-survey responses students addressed four significantly similar themes. In both types of data, students reported that the most useful aspects of the case study were:• The ability and opportunity to switch perspectives or acquire a new perspective. Students noted in the midterm feedback session, “the case studies provide opportunities to switch perspective, put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and answer the question ‘what would you do’.” In the post-survey responses, students likewise indicated that the case studies “brought new perspective to a otherwise almost completely USA focused education” and that “they put the subject and topics we were learning about into a better perspective that helped us understand the Hispanic culture.”• The opportunity to get insights into the value and belief systems of Hispanic cultures. Students reported in the midterm feedback session that the case studies gave them an “insight into moral values of Hispanic culture [which] made discussion interesting.” Similarly, in their the post-survey responses students stated that “the case studies gave interesting insight about what it is like to have a different culture and way of life.”• The chance to compare and contrast students’ own culture to different Hispanic cultures as well as differences within a culture. This common theme threads through the midterm feedback data where students reported that “comparing and contrasting different cultures, but also differences within a culture (for example, rural vs. urban plazas)” was helpful to their learning about culture. Likewise, the post-survey responses reiterate the importance of comparing cultures: as one student wrote, “through the different examples of Spanish culture, I was able to get a better understanding of the similarities and differences between our cultures.”• The introduction of new (and country-specific) vocabulary and the opportunity to practice more of the old vocabulary. In the midterm student feedback session students shared, “we learn new and more advanced words that we wouldn’t have learned otherwise.” Another reported benefit of the case studies was “learning country-specific vocabulary (for example, yo entiendo vs. yo comprendo).” Similarly, in their post-survey responses, students wrote that the case studies “provided an interesting context in which to learn/practice grammar and vocabulary.” Another comment indicated that “the case studies forced us to write about more specific cultural material, which required me to more carefully choose my vocabulary. I had to use words that were much tougher to use in other circumstances, and this helped understand them and their proper context better.”• Formulating and expressing an opinion in Spanish. Students in the midterm feedback session agreed that in-class discussions of the case studies helped them formulate and express opinions about cultural issues and debate them with their classmates. Students commented that “the discussion itself was more interesting than the case study (that is, the questions the case study poses are good for discussion).” Students made analogous comments in their post-survey responses: “I enjoyed how the case studies wanted your opinion and understanding. Makes learning the language better because it becomes more personal when you're trying to express your ideas in a foreign language vs. just talking.”
