Bilingualism in the Spanish World
Course Description:
This course will first explore the nature of bilingualism, focusing on its neurolinguistics, psycholinguistic, and linguistic aspects. Students will examine the most important concepts and research questions in these areas. In addition, the class will focus on bilingualism in the United States and the Spanish-speaking world, including the examination of bilingual education programs (e.g., immersion programs) and important political matters connected to them. By the end of the course, students will have broadened their knowledge of the latest issues and 2 studies in bilingualism, and they will be able to apply new concepts in the completion of a variety of tasks, such as the development of different mini research projects and class presentations. This class is offered in Spanish, though some of the readings will be in English.
Course Reflection:
In this course, we began by looking at various definitions of what it means to be bilingual. The concept of bilingualism was presented in relation with different countries in Europe, Latin America, and North America. For example, we discussed how bilingualism in Spain originated as a result of the contact of Spanish with other languages such as Galician, standard Basque, and Catalan. The course also centered on language acquisition, and the different studies in linguistics. For instance, we examined morphology, semantics, and phonology. We also looked at the social issues that are created when bilingualism is debated such as bilingual education implementation. Connected to this, we looked at the various perceptions that exist regarding bilingualism. Overall, I found this course to be very beneficial because as a bilingual myself, it was interesting to see how bilingualism changes according to the country where it is located.