Code-Switching Speaker Series Comes to SPS
Last year, in collaboration with Dr. Aaron and Dr. Valdés Kroff, Dr. De Prada submitted a proposal for a speakers series entitled “Shifting Between Perspectives: Examining Code-Switching in Hispanic Populations” to the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere Support for Workshops and Speaker Series in the Humanities (2015-2016). Code-switching, the intentional alternation between languages during bilingual conversation, is a multi-faceted linguistic skill employed by many bilinguals in Florida and across the world. The idea behind the workshop was to examine this unique phenomenon from a variety of disciplines.
Thanks to the generous support of the Center, three well-known bilingualism scholars were invited to campus: theoretical syntactician Dr. Kay González Vilbazo (October 2015), psycholinguist Dr. Rosa Guzzardo Tamargo (Novembre 2015), and variationist Dr. Jenny Dumont (March 2016).
During their visits, students and faculty have had the opportunity to meet individually and in groups with each distinguished scholar.
Spanish for Educators – Jennifer Wooten
Students in DR. WOOTEN’S Spanish for Educators class spent 183 hours combined in Spanish classrooms in local middle schools and high schools during Fall 2015. The goal was for UF students to collaborate with educators and learners to see how linguistic proficiency and intercultural competency are fostered in classroom settings. Students got involved in the classroom by tutoring learners, facilitating small-group activities, leading whole-group activities, and even evaluating learners’ performance. Such work allowed them to do and reflect on best practices discussed in the class at UF – including the need to provide ample opportunities to use language in context, to critically explore cultures, and to connect material to other academic disciplines and to students’ lives – as a means to ultimately promote and advocate for language learning in US classrooms and beyond. Click here to learn more about the work learners in Spanish for Educators did in Fall 2015.
Bilingual Program
SUSANA BRAYLAN is the coordinator of our Bilingual Program, designed for those students who have learned Spanish informally, at home or abroad. UF is one of the few universities in the country that offers three distinct levels of courses in our bilingual (or ‘heritage’) track: Introduction to Reading and Writing for Bilingual Speakers (SPN 2340), Spanish Grammar and Composition for Bilingual Speakers (3350) and Advanced Composition and Syntax for Bilingual Speakers (4314). A common misconception is that these are more difficult class – but they are not, they are simply different. Our goal is to help that particular group of students to improve and build on what they already know. In these classes, students make friends, learn about their roots, read interesting stories, and explore our degree programs.
La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica, Sigma Delta Pi
On Monday November 16, 2015 we celebrated Sigma Delta Pi’s 96th birthday. Events included a reading of original poetry by Clara Sotelo and Víctor Jordán, the annual initiation ceremony, and a cake and punch reception. The cake was photographed for entry into the national Sigma Delta Pi cake-decorating contest. This event was co-sponsored by SPS and the Beta Rho Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi at UF.