Methodology
The methodology used during the Spanish classes is based on four pillars: the communicative approach, the task-based approach, focus on vocabulary and cognitive grammar.
The communicative approach is distinguished by the following principles:
- Use of language for communicative purposes: communicative competence and negotiation of meaning
- Emphasis on natural learning processes: interlanguage and error analysis, communication and learning strategies
- Assessment of individual variables in the teaching and learning process: cognitive and affective factors
- Student-centered teaching. Development of student autonomy
- Importance of the relationship between language and the sociocultural context
The task-based approach proposes that the activities are for the use of the language and not only of structures. These activities must respond to three principles to achieve real communication:
- Information gap (there is a real need to communicate)
- Freedom of expression (the speaker decides the content, the form, the tone…)
- Feedback (verbal and non-verbal reactions specific to the target language and culture)
Focus on the vocabulary is of great importance because while the learning of grammar has a limit, that of vocabulary is never finished, not even in native speakers. It is convenient not only to work on a large number of specific, rich, varied and original activities, but that these exercises are intended to:
- Specific learning strategies for the lexicon
- Develop and improve performance by training visual and / or auditory memory
- Strategies for learning, organizing, and remembering vocabulary
Cognitive grammar basically offers another way of working on grammar that focuses its teaching in an interactive and reflective way:
- Considers language a mental ability that arises from our physical and motor interaction with the environment that surrounds us
- Invites us to think about language as a direct reflection of thought
- Defines language as experiential and representational, intended to communicate the meanings that materialize the points of view of the speakers