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Bibliografía - Germán Zárate-Sández

Spanish teachers’ beliefs on the usefulness of pronunciation knowledge, skills, and activities and their confidence in implementing them

Charles Nagle, Rebecca Sachs, Germán Zárate-Sández (2023)

En Language Teaching Research 27 - 3

Despite substantial advances in the field of instructed second language acquisition (SLA) with regard to our understanding of second language (L2) pronunciation development and pedagogy, many language instructors continue to report a lack of confidence in incorporating pronunciation instruction (PI) into their classes. This survey study examined 100 Spanish instructors’ perceptions of the usefulness of various types of knowledge, skills, and approaches to PI, as well as their confidence in those domains, and the extent to which their previous training in teaching methods was related to their ratings of usefulness and confidence. After running principal components analyses to identify factors in the survey data, we fit mixed-effects models to each factor, then delved more deeply into some descriptive trends to offer recommendations for professional development opportunities. The latter results suggested that Spanish teachers might have greater appreciation for, as well as confidence in, focusing on segmentals over suprasegmentals, practice activities over assessment, perception assessment over production assessment, and implicit over explicit feedback. Consistent with previous research, some of the highest confidence levels were expressed regarding controlled techniques, alongside relatively low confidence in familiarity with research. Concerning metalinguistic tools, respondents seemed to value diagrams and descriptions over terminology and transcription, but they viewed these tools as less useful than perception, production, and communication practice. While greater training was often associated with higher perceptions of usefulness and confidence, there were cases where respondents with the least training showed the highest confidence. These results suggest some key priorities for teacher training.

Toward inclusive and relevant second language education for Black students

Germán Zárate-Sández (2021)

En Second Language Research & Practice vol. 2-1

Texto completo

In this report, I describe the research and curricular changes I am implementing to deal with issues of inequity encountered by Black students in the Spanish program I direct at Western Michigan University. In the first stage, a comprehensive analysis of student demographics, enrollment, and academic performance over six years revealed that Black and African American students begin Spanish education at high rates but are less likely to advance to courses beyond second-year Spanish and more likely to obtain lower final grades than other groups. These findings are consistent with literature showing similar patterns of participation and achievement among Black students in language learning across secondary and higher education. Following methodologies used in previous studies, the second phase of the project consists of a comprehensive needs analysis composed of surveys, interviews, and class observations aimed at better understanding Black students’ experiences and needs in my department’s Spanish program. Based on results from the needs analysis, the last part of the project will educate personnel in the program on issues of equity and diversity and will implement changes in the curriculum to make our Spanish courses more relevant for Black students.

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