Colorado State University – Pueblo announces changes to Spanish program

The Spanish program at Colorado State University – Pueblo has undergone radical changes in order to become aligned with the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning.

According to William Sheidley, chair of the Department of English and Foreign Languages, the program’s new goal for Spanish majors is that they will “achieve a level of proficiency in Spanish communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and in the understanding of Hispanic cultures sufficient to allow them to function effectively in careers in teaching, business, the media, government, the arts, etc.”

In order to achieve this goal, the program has articulated a new curriculum and aligned it with nationally recognized proficiency standards formulated by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

The Department of English and Foreign Languages has hired Dr. Eric Kartchner, an expert in proficiency-oriented teaching/learning, to oversee the elaboration and implementation of the new program, and is advertising for another tenure-track faculty member with comparable expertise.

Meanwhile, the program is providing training in proficiency-oriented pedagogy, assessment, and methodological approaches to current Spanish faculty. The new program emphasizes a step-by-step increase in proficiency-level expectations from Spanish 101 through the Senior Project. Program graduates must have a second major or minor, and the new, proficiency-oriented approach ensures that graduates will be much more capable of functional performance in the language in whatever career they pursue.

The new program also will emphasize encouraging Spanish majors to prepare to be K-12 teachers in order to meet the increasing demand for Spanish teachers throughout the region.

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