The Undergraduate Spanish Major Curriculum: Realities and Faculty Perceptions

Abstract

This article presents the quantitative and qualitative results of a nationwide survey of Spanish department faculty on the components of their undergraduate Spanish major curriculum and their perceptions of these components, as well as their perceptions of recent Modern Language Association (MLA) reports (2007, 2009) and the reports' influence on curricular change in their programs. Results indicate that, while institutions required and offered a wide variety of courses, literature courses composed the core of the curriculum. Faculty perceptions regarding the importance of particular courses varied, but courses that were more frequently offered and required, such as Advanced Language, Culture/Civilization, and Introduction to Literature, were rated the most highly, while courses that have not traditionally been part of the major, such as Spanish for the Professions, Translation, and less frequently taught linguistics courses, were rated among the lowest. Many faculty were familiar with the MLA reports, and many departments had recently made curricular changes, some of which were influenced by the reports' recommendations. Implications are discussed, including the need for professional development and graduate student education.

The Undergraduate Spanish Major Curriculum: Faculty, Alumni, and Student Perceptions

“…Nearly half of the respondents reported that literature was their main area of expertise (50), followed by linguistics/applied linguistics (26), generalist or other (15), language (8), and culture (5). See Hertel and Dings () for further details regarding the distribution of faculty based on years of experience, rank, and area of expertise among different institution types.…”

“…A recent study reporting the survey results of faculty from around the United States (Hertel & Dings, ) found that within the previous 5 years, although the majority of Spanish undergraduate curricula still focused heavily on literature at the advanced undergraduate level, this emphasis had begun to change. Specifically, 16% of the faculty indicated that their department's Spanish undergraduate major curriculum had changed significantly, 62% indicated that it had changed somewhat, 19% noted that it had not changed, and 3% answered that they did not know (p. 533).…”

“…Specifically, 16% of the faculty indicated that their department's Spanish undergraduate major curriculum had changed significantly, 62% indicated that it had changed somewhat, 19% noted that it had not changed, and 3% answered that they did not know (p. 533). In addition, two studies (Hertel & Dings, ; Klee, ) found an increased focus on culture, both within literature courses and in additional separate courses, and an increasing number of Spanish programs that offered Spanish for Specific Purposes/Spanish for the Professions courses, including courses in medical Spanish, business Spanish, Spanish for law professions, Spanish for educators, and interpretation/translation courses. Long and Uscinski () also reported that 62% of foreign language departments in the United States offered Language for Specific Purposes courses, and that number has surely grown in recent years (p. 175).…”

“…However, very little research has focused on the attitudes of the various stakeholders toward the courses and experiences that are typically required for a Spanish major. While there have been repeated calls to re‐examine the undergraduate foreign language curriculum (see Bousquet, ; Doyle, ; Hertel & Dings, ; Maxim, ; MLA, , ; Nuessel, ; Porter, ; Sánchez‐López, ), the curriculum revision process is hindered by the lack of data on which informed programmatic changes can be based. The current study investigated the attitudes of faculty, alumni, and current students from postsecondary institutions across the United States concerning a selection of undergraduate courses, requirements, and experiences that are commonly included in most Spanish majors.…”