Didactic Programming of Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) Pedagogical Considerations*

(Department of Pedagogy at the University of Valladolid, Spain)

Abstract: For some decades now, but increasingly, the acquisition of foreign languages has been one of the main capitals at individual, institutional and social level and is perhaps one of the main elements of personal and professional promotion; the benefits of multilingualism in intellectual development and early learning have already been sufficiently demonstrated. The progressive globalization of our world makes it an inexcusable necessity; at an institutional and social level it implies a quality mark, an added value. On the other hand, the teaching-learning process of foreign languages in all countries directly and indirectly moves an enormous amount of money; however, the effectiveness, the cost-effectiveness-results continue to be deficient; traditional teaching models continue to prove insufficient and frustrating; innovative didactics are required that take advantage of advances in neuroeducation, the use of ICT, active methodologies, cooperative learning...

However, the subject is complex; in every educational process cognitive aspects, methodological techniques... and emotional aspects are indefectibly intertwined: motivation, will, self-efficacy, attributional style..., which interact with each other powerfully and it is essential to know and manage adequately for the optimal achievement of the desired learning results. Having said this, the objective of this work is to provide a model of didactic programming of the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language, referring especially to lusophone students, which takes into account all the fundamental elements of the teaching-learning process in a holistic and integrated manner: Who to teach — contextualization, why — objectives, what to teach — content, how to teach — methodology, and how to evaluate and certify the acquired learnings.

Key words: learning, language learning, assessment, methodology, learning psychology