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Show THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT EXPERTS ON TEACHING Sergio Navas Sheri Andeerson SPANISHES OF THE WORLD AUDIO/VIDEO DATABASE Sergio Navas (Sheri Anderson) Department of Languages & Literature University of Utah Students at the University of Utah in upper division Spanish courses such as, Spanishes of the World (SPAN 4900) and Spanish Pronunciation and Phonetics (SPAN 5242) learn about the different varieties of Spanish that exist around the world and the reasons why they are different in pronunciation, lexicon, and other linguistic characteristics. However, there are few resources designed for native speakers of English learning Spanish to help them develop skills in perception and production of specific Spanish dialects. For that reason, as a student of those classes, I learned the theory behind most of the Spanish dialects spoken around the world and made assumptions about how a specific dialect should sound, but did not always have an opportunity to really hear or engage with the numerous Spanish varieties. Hence, this project aims to collect videos of native Spanish speakers from around the world and make them available to second language teachers w h o will have the opportunity to complement their teachings with audio examples. By doing this, the learning experience will be more meaningful for the learner because there will be association with the concepts together with the audio. By creating this database, students will have access to listen to people from different stages of life and from different parts of the world. For example, students will learn h o w an educated young w o m a n speaks in Chile, h o w a lower class elderly person speaks in Nicaragua, h o w an educated child speaks in Cuba, etc. Having access to these videos and audio, students will be able to reinforce their knowledge acquired in class. Listening to a native speaker from a specific country (with specific demographic characteristics that affect the language) will clarify and exemplify phonological concepts. Students will be able to learn phonological processes that native speakers have in different countries through deductive and inductive methods. Teachers will be able to use this tool to be able to teach while complementing the concept. The student's understanding of Spanish will be made easier by listening to examples that have been taught and explained in concept. |