Learning Spanish and Supporting Erasmus Students’ First Language in the Interactive Classroom

Abstract

This chapter discusses of the role of Spanish as the language of instruction in a multilingual classroom with Erasmus students at the Faculty of Teacher Training of the University of Valencia (Spain). The author also examines the role that first languages play in multilingual classroom integration as they have little place in the school system.

The author also discusses the use of digital technology as a means of expression and defense of the linguistic rights of minority languages. In that respect, collective linguistic production and the use of different languages relates to the aim of preserving mother tongues in their original contexts.

The current study focuses on a key element: artistic productions using new technology are characterized as having great communicative value, and an important potential for social change, which can improve the linguistic attitude of minority language speakers toward their mother tongue and reinforce their awareness of participating in a process of collectively and interactively creating the final product. This is a highly important collaborative tool meant to help preserve and maintain one’s language and identity.

The chapter concludes that education through multilingual language learning and mobility remains an important means of supporting and sustaining the first languages of Erasmus students, the successful acquisition of Spanish as the official language of the host country, and the use of English as an additional language in order to help students gradually master curriculum content, while improving their linguistic skills and language proficiency.

Citation

Chireac, S.-M. (2020), "Learning Spanish and Supporting Erasmus Students’ First Language in the Interactive Classroom", Mather, P.-A. (Ed.) Technology-enhanced Learning and Linguistic Diversity: Strategies and Approaches to Teaching Students in a 2nd or 3rd Language (Emerald Studies in Higher Education, Innovation and Technology), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-128-820201003