Designing Strategies and Activities to Teach Spanish through the Colombian Culture to Young Adult Learners at the College Level

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to design effective activities for incorporating elements of the Colombian culture to teach Spanish as a foreign language at a beginning level of college, providing the students with an authentic view of Latin American culture while learning basic concepts and vocabulary of the Spanish language. This study develops a set of criteria, essential to the development of the activities to teach language and culture proficiently, and focused on a general cultural theme, "La cumbia," through which students will be able to reach a high level of cultural and linguistic competence by experiencing this traditional dance from Colombia. The Spanish unit serves as a model for language teachers to design efficacious activities for incorporating culture in the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language and increase the student's participation and interest in learning the Spanish language.