Course Goals & Description
The course covers both external factors as they relate to bilingualism, including general language policy and bilingual education and internal, cognitive factors as well as the relationship between both. Readings focus on bilingual societies in Latin America and Spain, and on US Latinos.
The course encourages students to participate in the Community-based Credit Learning Program. Other than Spanish majors and minors, the content should be attractive to linguistics and psychology majors, as well as SFS students. This course fulfills the social science requirement.
Course Goals:
1.Identify common patterns and differences among Spanish bilingual speech communities in the US, Latin America, and Spain.
2.Understand the external conditions, including language policy and bilingual education, that determine the development of individual bilingualism.
3.Understand the relationship between cognitive development and cognition and the individual’s ability to speak two languages.
4.Critical thinking, Research Methods: Develop students’ abilities to critically review the literature in the area, generate a hypothesis, and design an empirical study to test said hypothesis.
5.Language Skills: Develop students’ academic Spanish, both oral and written, with special attention to the development of descriptive and argumentative abilities and formatting details.
Texts & Readings
Textbook: Baker, C. (1997). Fundamentos de educación bilingüe y bilingüismo. Madrid: Cátedra.
A collection of book chapters and articles will be available in pdf format on Blackboard.
Course Syllabus (rough draft)
I. Introduction
Week 1: Bilingualism. Definitions and Distinctions
II. Societal Bilingualism: Language Policy and Bilingual Education
Week 2: Bilingualism in Latin America
Week 3. Bilingualism in Spain
Week 4: Bilingualism in the US
Week 5: Exam 1
Week 6: Language revival and reversal
Week 7: Bilingual education: Types & effectiveness (1)
Week 8: Bilingual education: Types & effectiveness (2)
Week 9: Exam 2
III. Individual Bilingualism: Cognitive development & Cognition
Cognitive theories of bilingualism
Week 10: Individual variables: level of bilingualism, biliteracy, and
aptitude
Week 11: The cognitive neuropsychology of bilingualism
Week 12: Multilingualism: Learning a third language and beyond
Week 13: Exam 3
Conclusion: Bilingualism and the interaction among external and internal variables
Week 14: Oral presentations of proposals
Assignments & Expectations of Students
Evaluation
1. Proposal (term paper)(written, includes rewrites) 30%
2. Proposal (oral presentation) 15%
3. Oral Presentation of a chapter/article 15%
4. Short exams (3) 30%
5. Participation 10%
What Students Should Know
Community-based Credit Learning Program
The Washington DC Metropolitan area offers the possibility of hands-on research on Spanish/English bilingualism. If students are interested in working with children, or in adult education, legal counseling, or health issues, many DC non-profits focus on the Latino population, especially in Adams Morgan, Arlington, and Mount Pleasant, all on the Metro bus/subway system.
This is a great opportunity for students to practice their Spanish, learn more about societal and individual bilingualism through direct contact with the community, and to contribute the community with their service.
These are the requirements: 1. Write a one paragraph statement of interest; 2. Contact the agency, get their approval (GU will help you with that); 3. Obtain my approval; 4. Keep a diary of their experiences as they relate to the topic of the course; 5. Turn in the diary twice, once after the 8th week and then at the end of the semester. I expect more than a description or a narrative: Students should include reflections on their attitudinal changes (or lack thereof) towards Spanish bilingualism and bilinguals in the US.
For further inquiries, please contact Professor Cristina Sanz (sanzc@georgetown.edu)