Teaching Language Skills and Cultural Awareness with Spanish Paintings

Marian Mikaylo Ortuño

Hispania, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Sep., 1994), pp. 500-511American Association of Teachers of Spanish and

Portuguese

• Advantages of using reproductions of Spanish paintings from the sixteenth to twentieth centuries in the promotion of language learning and cultural awareness

• Suggestions on how to incorporate some paintings into the curriculum at various levels

“How does the instructor create the optimal learning environment in which to develop the four skills - comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing- along with an awareness of cross-cultural similarities and differences?”

• Visually engaging authentic materials have been shown by some studies as facilitators of language acquisition and the formation of cultural attitudes

Incorporation of art works into the curriculum in one of the following ways:

• As a cultural supplement at any level of instruction,

• in a cross-disciplinary course, or • to prepare students for study abroad.

Learning in Context

• Spanish paintings can encourage students to engage in creative discourse.

• Visual sensory stimuli embedded with cultural connections have the power to convey emotions.

• They attract the student’s attention and can cause an affective reaction (shock, surprise, disapproval, or even laughter).

Learning in Context

• Even the most inhibited students are able to risk grammar mistakes to comment on colorful visual symbols

Learning in Context

Magdalena Penitente - El Greco

Learning in Context

• “¿Qué ve usted?”, “Diga algo sobre esta pintura.”

• Offer clues about the identity of the person depicted on the painting

• When, where, and why • Background information on the painter and

theme

Learning in Context

• Colors, clothing, parts of the body• Agreement in number and gender • Different tenses. Students can ask one

another: – ¿Qué está haciendo María Magdalena?– ¿Qué hizo con el perfume?– ¿En qué estará pensando?

Learning in Context

Compare and Contrast

• List of similarities & contrasts• Analytical thinking skills

La Reina Mariana de

Austria - Velásquez

Learning in Context• Using paintings can help incorporate culture in the

language learning experience and make it both enjoyable and intellectually profitable

• Standards for Foreign Language Learning – CONNECTION:– Paintings are well suited to the teaching of history,

literature, and art itself along with language and culture– Provide students with a global context, on which the

society and institutions of a culture are reflected as they respond to social, religious, and political forces

Transition from Language to Literature

• Students can feel at a loss during the period of transition because they lack:– Historical background, – Confidence, – Language skills, – Interest in literature