FROM PROFESSORS TO ASSESSORS? ANALYSIS OF THE SPANISH CURRICULUM GENTE AND THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY

Resumen

In recent years, the number of students of Spanish language in the US has grown exponentially. There is a need for high quality Spanish curricula that can create intercultural competent world citizens that are also independent and active learners. The use of technology in language education has created unlimited new opportunities, but also many challenges.

From September to December 2015 the author worked as a part-time adjunct instructor in the Spanish Language Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures at The George Washington University. In addition, during that period of time the author was also a researcher at the Ed.D. doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction at the Graduate School of Education & Human Development  at The George Washington University in Washington D.C.

This paper analyzes the Spanish curriculum GENTE taught by the author while he was a Spanish language instructor and relates it with the concepts of several Curriculum Theories and technology in education.

First, the main ideas of the curriculum are introduced, and then they are analyzed through different lenses: particular theoretical positions, specific models of curriculum and specific constructs (language, culture, etc.) Second, based on the analysis and critique of the curriculum, the author discusses which elements are visible and which ones are missing from the selected curriculum. To end with, final conclusions and further research questions are stated.