Resumen del examen
Estudiante: Valeriano Machado | 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 of the target language by migrants occurs in structured educational settings, such as language courses or academic programs, where instruction follows a predefined curriculum, explicit grammatical rules, and systematic progression. It emphasizes accuracy, metalinguistic awareness, and standardized assessment, often prioritizing written and formal registers. In contrast, natural learning (or acquisition) takes place through immersion in real-life communicative contexts, such as social interactions, work environments, or daily routines. This process is implicit, meaning-driven, and focuses on fluency and pragmatic competence, with language development arising from exposure and interaction rather than direct instruction. While formal learning provides a controlled and scaffolded approach, natural learning fosters spontaneous and contextually relevant language use, though it may lead to fossilization of errors or gaps in grammatical precision. Both approaches can complement each other, with formal learning offering foundational knowledge and natural learning facilitating practical application.
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. Morocco
2. Romania
3. United Kingdom
4. Italy
5. China
6. Colombia
7. Ecuador
8. Germany
9. Bulgaria
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
In recent decades, the proportion of foreign students entering high school (ESO) in Spain has significantly increased. During the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Spain experienced a rise in immigration, leading to a growing presence of foreign-born students in the education system. In the 1990s, foreign students represented a minimal percentage of the total student population, but by the 2000s, their numbers rose sharply, particularly due to immigration from Latin America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe. Official data from the Spanish Ministry of Education indicates that the percentage of foreign students in compulsory secondary education grew from around 2% in the early 2000s to over 10% by the mid-2010s. However, in recent years, this trend has stabilized or slightly declined due to changes in migration patterns, economic factors, and demographic shifts, with foreign students now accounting for approximately 9-10% of the total high school population. Meanwhile, the proportion of Spanish students has decreased proportionally, reflecting broader demographic changes in the country.
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 unfolds in three stages:
1. **Initial contact**: The migrant enters the host society and faces cultural, linguistic, and social differences, which generate initial barriers.
2. **Marginalization**: The individual experiences systematic exclusion due to institutional, economic, or social structures, leading to limited access to resources, opportunities, and social networks.
3. **Exclusion consolidation**: The migrant is permanently relegated to peripheral or subordinate positions, reinforcing cycles of inequality.
The **critical moment** occurs during the transition from marginalization to exclusion consolidation, when structural barriers become entrenched, making social mobility nearly impossible. This phase is marked by the internalization of exclusion, where the individual accepts their marginalized status as inevitable.
Pregunta 5
Explain the main difficulty for Arabic speakers learning Spanish at the suprasegmental level.
Respuesta del estudiante
The primary suprasegmental difficulty for Arabic speakers learning Spanish lies in the acquisition of stress patterns. Arabic employs a fixed stress system, typically placing stress on the penultimate or final syllable of a word depending on syllable structure and morphological rules, which creates a predictable rhythm. In contrast, Spanish features variable stress that can alter word meaning (e.g., *público* vs. *publicó*), and its rhythmic structure is syllable-timed, leading to a more fluid and less predictable stress placement. Arabic speakers often transfer their native stress patterns to Spanish, resulting in misplaced stress that disrupts intelligibility and natural prosody. Additionally, the absence of vowel reduction in Arabic contrasts with Spanish’s tendency to reduce unstressed vowels, further complicating the perception and production of Spanish stress and intonation.
Pregunta 6
Differences in birth rates between Spain and the countries of origin of Hispanic American immigrants.
Respuesta del estudiante
Hispanic American immigrants in Spain typically originate from countries with significantly higher birth rates than Spain. While Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world (around 1.19 births per woman in recent years), many Latin American countries of origin—such as Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia, or the Dominican Republic—maintain fertility rates well above the replacement level (2.1), often ranging between 2.0 and 2.5 or higher. This demographic contrast reflects broader socioeconomic and cultural differences, including younger population structures, lower access to family planning, and distinct social norms regarding family size in the countries of origin. The result is a generational gap in reproductive patterns, which influences migration dynamics and the demographic composition of immigrant communities in Spain.
Pregunta 7
How does the chosen second language textbook approach the teaching of vocabulary? (topic 6)
Respuesta del estudiante
Second language textbooks typically approach vocabulary teaching through a combination of explicit presentation, contextualized practice, and gradual reinforcement. Vocabulary is introduced in thematic units (e.g., daily routines, travel, or work) with visual aids, glossaries, or bilingual lists to support initial comprehension. Words are often presented in meaningful sentences or dialogues to highlight usage, collocations, and grammatical functions. Exercises include matching, gap-filling, or categorization tasks to reinforce retention, while communicative activities (e.g., role-plays or discussions) encourage active use. Some textbooks incorporate spaced repetition, cultural notes, or lexical fields to deepen understanding. Additionally, metacognitive strategies (e.g., word maps or mnemonics) may be suggested to help learners organize and recall vocabulary independently. The approach balances frequency-based selection with relevance to learners’ needs, integrating vocabulary into broader language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing).
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 primary shortcoming of conventional second language (L2) textbooks is their limited focus on contextualized, communicative, and culturally responsive vocabulary teaching, often presenting isolated word lists or decontextualized exercises that fail to reflect real-world language use or students’ diverse linguistic backgrounds. Supplementary materials address this gap by incorporating authentic, multimodal resources—such as audiovisual content, interactive tasks, and culturally relevant texts—that embed vocabulary in meaningful contexts. They also employ inductive learning strategies, encouraging students to infer word meanings through exposure to natural discourse, and prioritize high-frequency, functional lexis aligned with learners’ immediate communicative needs. Additionally, these materials often integrate metalinguistic reflection, contrastive analysis with students’ L1, and collaborative activities to foster deeper lexical retention and intercultural competence.