La formación de estudiantes universitarios para enseñar el español como segunda lengua a alumnos inmigrantes en España

Abstract

The subject of this study is the training and competence of university students (future teachers) to teach Spanish as a second language (EL2) to immigrant pupils in Spain. The study's participating subjects are 318 university students, mostly studying undergraduate degrees in Primary Education or Spanish Language & Literature, at the universities of Granada, Almería, Jaén, Complutense of Madrid, and Nebrija. The research instrument employed is a questionnaire comprising 58 items, which combines closed and open questions designed for the purposes of this study, that is, to assess the specific training received for teaching Spanish to immigrant students. Data analysis is performed applying descriptive analysis of frequency and inferential analysis techniques in order to establish the significant relationship of dependence between variables. The results confirm the existing imbalance between the training of future teachers and the reality of work in which they will face specific difficulties and differences when teaching foreign students. This is a lack that must be corrected urgently, because competence in Spanish as a vehicular language improves the academic performance of immigrant students. Furthermore, communicative competence in Spanish is the most effective route to immigrants’ social and cultural integration. There are no previous studies that measure the actual capability of university students to teach Spanish as a second language. In this regard, we believe that this study is pioneering as well as relevant.