Resumen del examen
Estudiante: Ursula Mendoza | Asignatura: Diversidad lingüística en el aula de lengua castellana | Idioma: EN
Pregunta 1
Formal learning versus natural learning of the goal language by migrants.
Respuesta del estudiante
Formal learning refers to structured, curriculum-based instruction in educational settings, where migrants systematically acquire the target language through explicit grammar rules, vocabulary drills, and standardized materials. This approach emphasizes accuracy, linguistic correctness, and academic proficiency, often within a controlled classroom environment. Natural learning, in contrast, occurs organically through social interaction, immersion, and real-life communication outside formal education, where migrants develop language skills by observing, mimicking, and negotiating meaning in authentic contexts. This process prioritizes fluency, pragmatic competence, and cultural adaptation, leveraging informal exposure and peer interactions. While formal learning provides systematic foundations, natural learning fosters contextual understanding and spontaneous usage. Migrants often combine both approaches, with formal learning addressing grammatical precision and natural learning enhancing communicative confidence, though the former may overlook socio-cultural nuances critical for effective intercultural communication.
Pregunta 2
Fill in the missing names in this chart, corresponding to the ten largest immigrant groups in Spain, by country of origin. (Note: Assume chart is provided)
Respuesta del estudiante
1. Romania
2. Morocco
3. Bulgaria
4. France
5. Germany
6. Colombia
7. Peru
8. Ecuador
9. Albania
10. Portugal
Pregunta 3
How has the proportion of students entering high school in Spain evolved in recent decades, considering the variable of nationality (Spanish/foreign)?
Respuesta del estudiante
The proportion of Spanish-nationality students entering high school in Spain has steadily declined since the 1980s, falling from approximately 98.8% in 1990 to 84.7% in 2022, while the proportion of foreign-nationality students has risen significantly, increasing from 1.2% in 1990 to 15.3% in 2022. This shift reflects sustained immigration flows, particularly from Latin America and Africa, accelerated by economic crises and refugee arrivals. The 2010s witnessed a pronounced surge, driven by the global financial crisis and the Syrian refugee crisis, leading to a temporary peak in foreign student proportions. More recently, since 2020, the growth has stabilized but remains substantially higher than historical levels, indicating a long-term demographic transformation in Spain's secondary education enrollment.
Pregunta 4
How does the process of exclusion take place, according to Pulido? Indicate the stages and the critical moment.
Respuesta del estudiante
According to Pulido, the process of exclusion in the educational context unfolds in three sequential stages. The initial stage involves the segregation of immigrant students into distinct educational pathways based on nationality, often through selective enrollment practices that limit access to mainstream programs. The second stage manifests as institutional discrimination, where schools implement policies and resource allocation that systematically disadvantage immigrant students, such as inadequate language support or tracking into lower-level classes. The critical moment occurs during secondary education, specifically in the transition to ESO (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria), when institutional barriers become irreversible; students are often placed in segregated tracks with limited opportunities for advancement, cementing their exclusion from the mainstream educational system. This stage marks the definitive point where exclusion is institutionalized and difficult to reverse.
Pregunta 5
Explain the main difficulty for Arabic speakers learning Spanish at the suprasegmental level.
Respuesta del estudiante
Arabic speakers face significant challenges with Spanish suprasegmental features primarily due to the contrasting stress patterns and intonation systems. Arabic typically employs a fixed stress pattern on the final syllable of words, whereas Spanish stress is variable and unpredictable, often falling on the penultimate syllable. This discrepancy causes Arabic speakers to incorrectly place stress in Spanish, leading to mispronunciation and intonation errors. Additionally, Arabic's tonal intonation system, where pitch variations convey grammatical meaning (e.g., question intonation rising), conflicts with Spanish's falling intonation for questions and falling-rising patterns for statements. The lack of vowel length distinctions in Spanish, unlike Arabic where vowel duration is phonemic, further complicates the acquisition of Spanish's unstressed syllables and rhythm. These suprasegmental differences result in speech that may sound unnatural or difficult for native Spanish speakers to comprehend.
Pregunta 6
Differences in birth rates between Spain and the countries of origin of Hispanic American immigrants.
Respuesta del estudiante
Spain's total fertility rate (TFR) is approximately 1.0–1.1, significantly below the replacement level of 2.1, reflecting low birth rates driven by economic factors, aging population, and societal trends. In contrast, countries of origin for Hispanic American immigrants, such as Mexico (TFR ~1.8), Colombia (TFR ~1.7), and Peru (TFR ~1.7), generally exhibit higher fertility rates due to lower socioeconomic development, cultural norms emphasizing family size, and limited access to family planning. This demographic disparity results in immigrant families typically having more children than Spanish nationals, influencing school enrollment patterns and demographic composition in Spanish secondary education. The difference stems from Spain's post-industrial societal structure versus the more family-oriented contexts of origin countries, where childbirth is often culturally prioritized. Consequently, Hispanic American immigrant populations in Spain contribute disproportionately to higher birth rates among foreign communities compared to the national average.
Pregunta 7
How does the chosen second language textbook approach the teaching of vocabulary? (topic 6)
Respuesta del estudiante
The chosen textbook employs a communicative approach to vocabulary instruction, prioritizing contextualized learning and real-world application. It integrates thematic units reflecting students' lived experiences, such as migration narratives and daily routines, to enhance relevance and motivation. Vocabulary is systematically presented through visual aids, authentic materials, and graded word banks, progressing from concrete nouns to abstract concepts. Explicit strategies include semantic maps for conceptual understanding, collocation exercises to develop phrasal competence, and comparative charts highlighting linguistic contrasts between students' first languages and Spanish. The methodology aligns with CEFR descriptors, emphasizing receptive and productive skills through task-based activities that foster meaningful language use, while explicitly addressing code-switching and translanguaging as valid linguistic resources within the classroom context.
Pregunta 8
What is the shortcoming of the textbook that the chosen supplementary material (topic 6) addresses, and by what means would it achieve this? Maximum 10 lines.
Respuesta del estudiante
The textbook prioritizes grammatical accuracy over sociolinguistic variation, presenting standardized Spanish without acknowledging regional differences or code-switching practices common among immigrant learners. This creates a monolingual perspective that overlooks the actual language ecology in the classroom. The supplementary material addresses this by incorporating authentic sociolinguistic contexts, including regional pronunciation patterns and pragmatic variations across Spanish-speaking communities. It achieves this through structured activities that analyze real-world speech samples and contrast formal versus informal registers. Additionally, it develops metalinguistic awareness by explicitly discussing linguistic diversity, enabling students to recognize and navigate different Spanish varieties. The approach integrates sociocultural elements to foster inclusive language use, moving beyond isolated grammar drills towards functional communication competence. This method directly supports the acquisition of communicative strategies relevant to the learners' diverse backgrounds and Spanish-speaking environments.