The Summer Language Institute and the MA in Spanish Language Teaching program has a unique curriculum designed to strengthen your language proficiency, teaching expertise and cultural understanding, and to maximize your potential as a language teacher. The curriculum includes:
- Core required courses in areas such as second language acquisition theory, assessment, and teaching for proficiency.
- Hispanic language and culture electives.
- Pedagogy courses which accompany each language or culture elective and focus on practical application of various pedagogical practices.
- For master's candidates, a unique final Action Research project that develops reflective teaching practices.
The descriptions below provide more details on our curriculum, and on each of these types of courses.
Syllabi are posted within individual course descriptions and at the bottom of this page each spring, as they are received and we prepare for the summer sessions.
SLI Curriulum Overview
The Summer Institute for Spanish Teachers offers you the opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in Spanish Language Teaching over three summers. Completion of the MA degree program requires a total of 48 quarter credits, primarily earned over five three-week summer sessions. You may earn up to 18 credits each summer (up to 9 credits in each three-week session).
See below for information about our courses and the breakdown of credits required for the MA degree. You may also view curriculum information and general course descriptions in the SOU catalog.
A Minimum of 16 Credits in Core Pedagogy Courses:
Our core pedagogy courses are taught in English.
- FL 511 - Second Language Acquisition: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
- FL 512 - Teaching for Proficiency: Methods and Strategies (3 credits)
- FL 513 - Second Language Assessment: Principles and Strategies (3 credits)
- FL 514 - Action Research (3 credits)
- FL 515 - Technology in the Classroom (3 credits)
- FL 515 is offered online during SOU's winter term. It is typically taken by MA candidates between their first and second summers in the program.
- FL 501 - Data Analysis (1 credit)
- FL 501 is offered online in a five-week session during SOU's spring term. It is taken by MA candidates immediately prior to the summer in which they would take FL 514.
A Minimum of 28 Elective Credits in Hispanic Language and Culture:
Our elective courses are taught in Spanish and vary each summer, providing students with a variety of options. They are designed to build students' linguistic and cultural knowledge and enhance their pedagogical skills.
Each of these 3-credit courses is accompanied by a 2-credit SPAN 516 pedagogy course.
The following are our rotating elective subject areas, with examples of topics courses taught in recent years.
- SPAN 520 - Topics in Spanish or Latin American Film
- Diversity in Latin America: Race and Gender in Hispanic Film and Video, paired with: Implementation of Authentic Video in the Spanish Language Classroom: Theory and Practice
- Emotional People: Compassion, Indignation, and Anxiety in Latin American Film, paired with: Writing about Emotions and their Representations in the Spanish Classroom
- "Growing Up" in Latin American Contemporary Films, paired with: On Teaching Coming-of-Age Narratives in the Spanish Classroom
- SPAN 521 - Selected Genre or Historical Period Studies
- Spanish Theater and Society, paired with: Theatre in Language Teaching
- SPAN 522 - Major Literary Figures
- Literature and Culture in the AP Literature Class, paired with: The Role of Classroom Discourse in L2 Teaching & Learning
- Don Quixote and the Modern World, paired with: Don Quixote, an Old Superhero for the New Generations
- SPAN 525 - Topics in Contemporary Hispanic Literature and Society
- Cortos pero Grandes: Contemporary Short Stories and Films of Mexico, paired with: Incorporating Literature, Film and Culture in Spanish Teaching
- SPAN 532 - Communicative Grammar, paired with: Teaching Grammar in Context
- SPAN 541 - Topics in Hispanic Culture
- Art and Architecture of Latin America, paired with: Incorporating Art in Language Teaching
- Conquistadors, Convents and Golden Cups of Chocolate: The Gastronomical Relationship Between Spain and Mexico, paired with: Eat Your Words: A Culinary Approach to Teaching Culture and Language
- La Locura en América Latina, paired with: Bringing Place-Based Education Into the Spanish Classroom
- Technology and Resistance in the Post-NAFTA Mexican Nations, paired with: Bringing Chicanx and U.S. Latinx Culture into the Classroom
- Tourism and National Identity in Mexico, paired with: Digital Tourism in the L2 Classroom
- Youth in Latin American/Mexican Culture, paired with: Issues of Diversity in the L2 Classroom
- Latin American Music in Context: The Experience of Listening, paired with: Music in the Spanish Language Classroom
- Afro-Hispanic Identity: Race, Nation, and the American African Diaspora, paired with: Teaching for Social Justice in the Spanish Language Classroom
- The Myth of Mestizaje in Postrevolutionary Mexico, paired with: Teaching Mexican and Guanajuatense Legends: Beyond Día de los Muertos
- SPAN 581 - Topics in Theoretical and Applied Spanish Linguistics
- Bilingualism, paired with: Multilingualism and Task-Based Language Teaching
- Technology and Intercultural Communication, paired with: Hybrid/Flipped Classroom
- Bilingualism in the Spanish Speaking World, paired with: Issues in Second Language Writing
- Spanish in the U.S. paired with Methods for Heritage Language Learners
- Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics, paired with: Applied Linguistics in the Spanish Language Classroom
- Spanish Phonetics, paired with: How to Teach Pronunciation
- Spanish Pragmatics, paired with: Teaching Spanish Pragmatics
- Implicit and Explicit L2 Language Learning, paired with: Processing Instruction: A Focus on Form Approach to Teaching L2 Grammar
- Spanish Sociolinguistics, paired with: Enacting Multiliteracies Pedagogy in the World Language Classroom
- SPAN 582 - Topics in Writing and Translation
- Translation and Cultural Encounters in Latin Lamerica, paired with: Cultural Encounters in the Spanish Classroom
We also offer the following optional courses. No more than three credits of these may count toward fulfillment of the 48 credits required for graduation. Please note: students who are accepted into the program with an ACTFL oral proficiency level of Intermediate High (IH) are required to take these classes each session until they test at the Advanced Low (AL) proficiency level.
- SPAN 510 - Advanced Spanish Conversation (1 credit)
- SPAN 511 - Advanced Spanish Grammar (1 credit)
A Minimum of 4 Credits Action Research Project - Development and Presentation:
- SPAN 503 - Thesis (1 credit, repeated)
- SPAN 504 - Action Research Presentation (1 credit)
- Culmination of Action Research conducted in the student’s classroom. Consists of a presentation to faculty and students of the final version of the paper, which will also be submitted for digital storage in the library. The final written project must be approved before being presented to faculty and students.
- Culmination of Action Research conducted in the student’s classroom. Consists of a presentation to faculty and students of the final version of the paper, which will also be submitted for digital storage in the library. The final written project must be approved before being presented to faculty and students.
If you are a master's candidate, you will conduct an action research project with your own students/at your own school during the school year prior to your final summer in the SLI program, and will write a 30-40 page paper (with a bibliography and appendices) documenting the project. The action research project, presentation and paper take the place of a traditional thesis paper, and are graded based on the AR Project Rubric and the AR Presentation Rubric.
Students take the FL 514 Action Research class during the second summer. While working on their Action Research Project during the following school year, they must enroll for 1 credit of SPAN 503 per term (fall, winter, spring). Then, during their final summer, they must register for 1 credit of SPAN 504 in order to present their Action Research project.
Students who do not finish the Action Research project must register for 1 credit of SPAN 503 each term that they continue working on the project, until it is completed. If the Action Research project has not been completed after three years, FL 514 must be retaken.
2022-2023 Core Courses
Summer Session 1 (June 25- July 14, 2023)
FL 511 - Second Language Acquisition Theory and Practice
Dr. Brianna Janssen Sánchez - 3 credits
Provides students with an overview of the most current theories of second language acquisition and the teaching methodologies that result from these approaches. Students will detail differences between and similarities among the various models of second language acquisition as they learn how to identify and integrate them into the world language classroom.
8:00-9:50 AM, MTWRF
FL 514 - Action Research
Dr. Jeremy Bachelor - 3 credits
Introduces students to research methodologies that pursue action (change) and research (understanding) concurrently. Students will learn how to do a systematic inquiry into the teaching/learning environment of a classroom with the goal of developing reflective teaching practices. This course is intended as preparation for an action research project that students will conduct over the course of the following year.
8:00-9:50 AM, MTWRF
SPAN 504 - Action Research: Presentation, Session 1
Dr. Jeremy Bachelor - 1 credit
Culmination of Action Research conducted in the student’s classroom. Consists of a presentation to faculty and students of the final version of the paper, which will also be submitted for digital storage in the library. These course components are graded based on the Spanish Action Research Project Rubric and the Spanish Action Research Presentation Rubric. The final written project must be approved before being presented to faculty and students.
This credit should be registered for during the session in which a student presents their Action Research project.
Summer Session 2 (July 16 - August 4, 2023)
FL 512 - Teaching for Proficiency: Methods and Strategies
Dr. Brian Olovson - 3 credits
Explores how proficiency standards can be applied in the classroom in conjunction with state and local standards based on the national standards for foreign language education as established by the American Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Students learn how to integrate the five Cs of world language education: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities, with clearly defined proficiency standards for foreign language performance.
8:00-9:50 AM, MTWRF
FL 513 - Second Language Assessment: Principles and Strategies
Dr. Robin Barnard Bachelor - 3 credits
Equips participants with up-to-date knowledge of best practices in assessing foreign language development and provides them with meaningful opportunities to practice creating assessment tools and evaluation criteria in a collaborative setting. The approach to assessment emphasized in this course is multidimensional and Standards-based. Course participants complete a portfolio of assessment tools for classroom use.
8:00-9:50 AM, MTWRF
SPAN 504 - Action Research: Presentation, Session 2
Dr. Jeremy Bachelor - 1 credit
Culmination of Action Research conducted in the student’s classroom. Consists of a presentation to faculty and students of the final version of the paper, which will also be submitted for digital storage in the library. These course components are graded based on the Spanish Action Research Project Rubric and the Spanish Action Research Presentation Rubric. The final written project must be approved before being presented to faculty and students.
This credit should be registered for during the session in which a student presents their Action Research project.
Online Courses (2022-2023 Academic Year)
FL 515 - Technology in the Classroom (Winter Term: January 9 - March 24)
Dr. Brianna Janssen Sánchez - 3 credits
Transforms knowledge into practice about Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and pedagogy, while focusing on the use of technology in the foreign language classroom. Fosters professional development as students formulate critical skills for creating, integrating, and assessing technology into the classroom. Topics may include interactive and non-interactive hypermedia technologies, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), language testing and technology, distance learning, online discussions, and software selection.
Week 1 Article: Sydorenko, T., Hsieh, C., Ahn, S., & Arnold, N. (2017)
Online/asynchronous course.
FL 501 - Data Exploration and Analysis (Spring Term, First Five Week Session: April 3 - May 7)
Dr. Jeremy Bachelor - 1 credit
Provides an introduction to the data analysis process with the goal of helping participants analyze the data to be gathered for their Action Research Projects. Requires participants to actively think about their Action Research project design in regard to the data to be obtained and how this data will be examined in order to answer their research questions. Examples of topics to be covered include numerical and graphical summaries of data (e.g. bar graphs, pie charts, scatterplots, etc.), hypothesis testing (t-tests), and descriptive statistical procedures
Online/asynchronous course.
SPAN 503 - Thesis (Fall, Winter, and Spring Terms)
Dr. Jeremy Bachelor - 1 credit each term
Students who have completed FL 514 must enroll for 1 credit per term of SPAN 503 while working on their Action Research Project during the following school year (prior to registering for 1 credit of SPAN 504 - Action Research Presentation - during their final summer). Students who do not finish their Action Research Project during that academic year must register for 1 credit of SPAN 503 each term they continue working on the project until it is completed.
Summer 2023 Electives
Students must choose both "a" and "b" of one course pairing.
Summer Session 1 (June 25 - July 14, 2023)
1a. SPAN 541 - Imagining the Indigenous: Indigenismo, Photography and Film
Dr. Enrique Cortez - 3 credits
This course studies the representation of indigenous people in literature, photography and film in the Andean area and in Mexico. Starting with an analysis of the so-called “Indian problem” (circa 1880-1930), this course will survey how indigenous people were represented by writers, painters and photographers during the 20th century, connecting their works with historical events like the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) and the Agrarian Reform in Peru (1969). The course will also focus on the current works of indigenous cultural producers and their struggle for being accepted as indigenous and modern at the same time.
SPAN 541 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
10:00-11:50 AM, MTWRF
1b. SPAN 516 - The Indigenous in the Classroom: Strategies and Materials
Dr. Enrique Cortez - 2 credits
This course focuses on teaching about indigenous people in the classroom. Besides analyzing important topics like colonization, nationalisms and indigenismos, this course will discuss strategies and materials that teachers can use in their classrooms. We will study readings, maps, films, paintings and photography from the end of the 15th century to now, that are aimed to represent the “Indian”. We will also focus on current productions by indigenous agents and their fight for controlling the meaning of their own representation.
SPAN 516 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
2a. SPAN 521 - Spanish Theater and Society
Dr. María Paz Pintané - 3 credits
This course examines the characteristics of Spanish theater in contemporary Spain. The course focuses on plays that reflect the social transformations that took place in a country eager to leave behind the constraints of almost four decades of dictatorship and identify with a modern European nation. We will analyze plays that deal with topics that continue to be of great relevance today, both in Spain and internationally. Specifically, we will explore how gender and sexuality, race, marginality, and immigration, and the human relationship to the space (urban and environment) are developed as part of the post-dictatorship ideology. Readings will include short plays, monologues and one-act pieces by acclaimed playwrights from a variety of backgrounds. An important component of this course is related to the use of theater in the foreign language class to develop written and oral proficiency.
SPAN 521 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
10:00-11:50 AM, MTWRF
2b. SPAN 516 - Virtual Exchange in the Spanish Language Classroom
Dr. Brianna Janssen Sánchez - 2 credits
This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice supporting virtual exchange in the K–16 Spanish as a World Language context. Through use of web-based technologies, virtual exchange allows teachers and students diverse opportunities to interact and engage with Spanish-speaking individuals around the world. Virtual Exchange promotes cultural, linguistic and pragmatic development as language learners navigate identities as multilingual speakers. Students in this course will explore the research and theories that support learning in multiple virtual exchange formats, approaches to effective activity design and assessment, and the logistics of creating virtual exchange opportunities in their curriculum.
SPAN 516 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
3a. SPAN 581 - Heritage Languages and their Development
Dr. Tania Leal - 3 credits
In this course, we will learn about heritage languages and the speakers of such languages, who typically learn a minority language naturalistically, at home, while being exposed to the majority language in other contexts. Although there is considerable variation among heritage speakers in multiple dimensions, these speakers are typically dominant in the majority language, even though their heritage language might chronologically be their first—a situation that raises important questions regarding the critical period hypothesis (Montrul, 2022). We will focus especially on children and young adults who are using or learning their heritage language in school or university settings, since research with students from immigrant backgrounds in the U.S. has shown that the development of a heritage language is related to positive ethnic identity development and academic success (Kondo-Brown, 2006). We will review research that overviews the areas or resilience and vulnerability in areas like morphosyntax, phonology, pragmatics, and the lexicon, while reviewing hypotheses that aim to account for these data.
SPAN 581 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
12:00-1:50 PM, MTWRF
3b. SPAN 516 - Issues in Heritage language instruction
Dr. Tania Leal - 2 credits
In this class, we will touch upon many critical issues in heritage language education, with a special emphasis in the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language in the U.S. We will start by discussing recent proposals for developing frameworks that examine the pedagogical goals of such programs (Valdés & Parra, 2018). We will then overview the outcomes of research on instructed heritage language teaching and learning, with a special focus on two central questions: whether classroom is beneficial for heritage language acquisition and what characterizes effective instruction (Bowles, 2018). Because the goal of the class is also to gain practical experience, we will also explore models such as differentiated instruction (Carreira & Hitchins Chick, 2018), and the development and effectiveness of service-learning programs (Abbott & Martínez, 2018). Finally, we will review key issues for the development and administration of heritage language programs (Beaudrie, 2018). The class will also have a more practical component; we will also learn about research aimed at improving instruction for heritage speakers in secondary and post-secondary contexts, using them as a guide to develop activities and lesson plans.
SPAN 516 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
Summer Session 2 (July 16 - August 4, 2023)
4a. SPAN 525 - From “el Barrio” to a Global Diaspora: Cuban Literature, Art, and Film through the Lens of the Migratory Experience.
Dr. Arturo Matute Castro - 3 credits
How do we redefine ourselves when the very world that contextualizes our identities disappears and we find ourselves within new landscapes, both symbolic and geographic? This course approaches Cuban arts and literature as ones that have been determined and shaped, since their foundational sources, by migration and transnationalism. By looking at the production of Cuban artists, writers, and filmmakers, we will analyze different narratives of the self, and how migration and multiculturalism undermine the traditional definitions of cultural identity and nationalism.
SPAN 525 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
10:00-11:50 AM, MTWRF
4b- SPAN 516 - How to Incorporate Narratives of Transnationalism and Displacement into Language Teaching
Dr. Arturo Matute Castro - 2 credits
Migration and transnationalism are some of the most pervasive topics of contemporary cultural studies. A substantial portion of the student population has experienced or is familiar with personal narratives of displacement and to how to adapt and thrive within a new cultural environment. This course will introduce activities and materials that teachers can use when addressing the teaching of a language as it connects to a topic so close to the daily lives of modern citizens. Through reflective and instructive practices that can be used as part of our regular work in the classroom, we will explore and expand linguistic, symbolic, and cultural knowledges traditionally associated to concepts such as cultural identity and sense of belonging.
SPAN 516 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
5a. SPAN 581 - Tasks and Technology for Language Learning
Dr. Marta González-Lloret - 3 credits
Using tasks as the building blocks of a language curriculum ensures that we teach language that is relevant to students’ present and future. Incorporating technology-mediated tasks helps our learners to not only develop their language skills (written and oral) but also their digital skills, something extremely valuable in today’s technology-rich world. This course will present the main principles of task-based language teaching, it will discuss how to create effective, well-developed tasks (including technology-mediated tasks), and how to sequence these tasks to form a unit and, potentially, an entire syllabus. The course will also address how to assess students in a task-based language teaching environment and how to evaluate the effectiveness of our tasks.
SPAN 581 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
10:00-11:50 AM, MTWRF
5b. SPAN 516 - Designing Tasks with Technology for the Spanish Classroom
Dr. Marta González-Lloret - 2 credits
This hands-on workshop will allow participants to develop their own technology-mediated tasks with the guidance of the professor. We will explore several technologies that have proved effective for language learning (all freely available) and present already existing examples of tasks for participants to analyze for potential adoption. We will discuss how to tailor tasks to learners’ proficiency level and how to adapt the same task to different levels following principles of language complexity and knowledge of Spanish developmental sequences. At the end of the workshop, participants will have created several tasks and technology-mediated tasks that they can implement in their classroom right away as well as accompanying assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of those tasks.
SPAN 515 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
6a. SPAN 520 - Short Stories and Short Films from Latin America
Dr. Enrique Chacón - 3 credits
This course studies different short stories and short films produced in Latin America. The objective is to study particularities, importance and meaning of both genres, as well as reviewing literary theories as well as cinematographic theories and techniques. Also, this course will provide learners with tools and resources to discuss cultural issues represented in short stories and short films such as race, gender, colonialism and oppression.
SPAN 520 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
12:00-1:50 PM, MTWRF
6b. SPAN 516 - Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning
Dr. Brian Olovson - 2 credits
This course is a workshop and exploration of using pairwork and groupwork effectively in the classroom. Guiding questions include: While it may seem commonplace to use pairwork and groupwork in language teaching, what do we know about how they work (and when they don´t)? How can teachers optimize learning in peer interaction for speaking and listening, and reading and writing? How can teachers use peer interaction as a form of assessing language ability?
In the first part of the course, we will explore the theoretical and practical issues related to using pairwork and groupwork, as well as review recent research on the potential for peer interaction to foster second language development. Topics covered include guidelines for adopting and creating collaborative/cooperative learning activities, the teacher’s role in peer interaction, teachers’ concerns with interactive activities, and student variables and their effect on the outcome of peer interactions. In the second part of the course, students will create a portfolio of a variety of interactive activities, tasks, assessments, and instructional sequences with the goal of placing communication in the hands of their students.
SPAN 516 - Summer 2023 Syllabus
4:15-6:15 PM, MWF
Summer 2023 Optional Courses
Session 1: SPAN 510 - Conversación Avanzada (June 25 - July 14, 2023)
University of Guanajuato Staff - 1 credit
Designed to improve Spanish conversational skills. Students will learn about and discuss a wide variety of current topics, including historical influences on contemporary culture; art and media; and societal, religious, and political institutions.
New topics each year - syllabus will vary by instructor. No text purchase required.
4:15-6:15 PM, TR
Session 2: SPAN 511 - Gramática Avanzada (July 16 - August 4, 2023)
Universidad de Guanajuato Staff - 1 credit
Addresses selected topics in Spanish grammar, with particular focus on grammatical difficulties for English speakers with the goal of helping students improve proficiency in the language. Course conducted entirely in Spanish.
New topics each year - syllabus will vary by instructor. No text purchase required.
4:15-6:15 PM, TR
