The Use of Spanish Language Skills by Physicians and Nurses: Policy Implications for Teaching and Testing

Transferability of human capital is a key issue in the analysis of immigrants’ integration in the destination country, according to both empirical and theoretical literature. In addition to the problem of recognition of immigrants’ educational credentials and their lack of social networks, language is highlighted in the literature as a crucial factor regarding human capital transfer. This paper considers the role played by Spanish language skills in the integration of migrants into the labour market in Spain. It takes advantage of the fact that about half of the immigrant population have Spanish as their native language, and of the diversity levels of fluency in Spanish among the remaining immigrants. Using the Labour Force Survey special module on the labour market situation of immigrants (INE 2015), the research has two purposes: first, to measure the direct effect of language skills on employment outcomes; and second, to analyze the complementary vs. substitution hypotheses regarding the interaction between Spanish language skills and educational credentials as determining factors for employment. The results confirm that skill levels in Spanish have a significant role regarding access to employment. Regarding the complementary vs. substitution hypotheses, interesting gender differences appear that confirm the striking contrasts in the Spanish labour market for female and male immigrants. For men, their level of Spanish acts as a complement to their educational qualifications in helping them to obtain employment, but this is not the case for women. However, female immigrant workers seem to obtain higher employment returns on their educational qualifications than men when it comes to avoiding very low-skilled jobs.

Download Full-text

The relative importance of English versus Spanish language skills for low-income Latino English language learners’ early language and literacy development

Early Child Development and Care ◽

10.1080/03004430.2016.1219854 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 187 (3-4) ◽

pp. 727-743 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Susan Sonnenschein ◽

Shari R. Metzger ◽

Rebecca Dowling ◽

Linda Baker

Keyword(s):

English Language Learners ◽

Language Learners ◽

Low Income ◽

English Language ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Language And Literacy ◽

Early Language ◽

Latino English Language Learners

Download Full-text

Spanish Language Skills for Nurses

The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing ◽

10.3928/0022-0124-19820301-08 ◽

1982 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 23-25

Author(s):

Barbara R Heller

Keyword(s):

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language

Download Full-text

Audio Description and Its Application in Spanish Language Glottodidactics

Engaging Teacher Candidates and Language Learners With Authentic Practice - Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-8543-5.ch012 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 206-226

Author(s):

Agnieszka Palion-Musioł

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Intercultural Competence ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Visual Content ◽

Audio Description ◽

Language Classes ◽

The One ◽

Description Technique

Audio description is an intersemiotic translation consisting of translating visual content and images into a verbal layer. Most often, it is used in audiovisual materials, in museums, cinemas, theaters, stadiums, etc. It can also be successfully applied to foreign language classes. On the one hand, it creates excellent opportunities to practice all language skills in an integrated manner and to gain the intercultural competence. The aim of the chapter is to present the audio description technique in terms of transferring it and using it during language classes as a technique supporting the use of audiovisual materials, placing special emphasis on the student's intercultural competence, which, according to the author's assumption, is the result of the learner's ethnographic attitude. The learner, basing on the study of his own culture, being free from prejudices, analyzes the culture of a foreign language and compares it with his/her own culture in order to interpret, understand, and describe it, not to evaluate it.

Download Full-text

Design and Evaluation of a Spanish Language Therapy Support System

Journal of Language Teaching and Research ◽

10.17507/jltr.1206.01 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 853-863

Author(s):

Karla I. Arce-Ruelas ◽

Omar Alvarez-Xochihua ◽

José A. Gonzalez-Fraga ◽

Evelio Martinez-Martinez ◽

Patricia Paez-Manjarrez

Keyword(s):

Language Impairment ◽

Specific Language Impairment ◽

Speech Therapy ◽

Language Disorder ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Language Therapy ◽

Accuracy Rate ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Part Of Speech

Specific Language Impairment (SLI) is a language disorder that delays progress in mastering speech-language skills, and typically occurs in childhood. Most speech-language pathologists commonly use paper-based instruments to diagnose and treat this problem. This article describes the design, implementation, and evaluation of SATEL, an ontology-based system used both in diagnosing this condition and as part of speech therapy for children with SLI. With the help of a Kinect sensor, SATEL is able to recognize and classify pronounced words. The proposed system was designed and evaluated by a team of four speech-language pathologists and 26 children diagnosed with SLI. Results showed an accuracy rate of 94.42% and 97.75% in recognizing syllables and words correctly and incorrectly pronounced in the diagnostic and treatment modules, respectively.

Download Full-text

Connecting Spanish Heritage Language Students with the Community through Service-Learning

Heritage Language Journal ◽

10.46538/hlj.13.3.6 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 405-433

Author(s):

Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza ◽

Gabriela Moreno

Keyword(s):

Service Learning ◽

Heritage Language ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Classroom Setting ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Social And Emotional ◽

The Social ◽

Course Material ◽

High Level

In addition to enhancing language skills of their students, instructors of Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) learners seek to address the social and emotional needs of their students yet are challenged to do so only in a classroom setting. Service-learning (SL) offers the authentic opportunities in which learners can employ their language skills and evaluate how these abilities are valued outside of the classroom setting. In addition to encouraging deep grounding of the course material, SL promotes learners’ general abilities in critical thinking, self-awareness, knowledge, tolerance, and compassion (Eyler & Giles, 1999). We add to the emerging literature of SL with SHL populations (e.g., Trujillo, 2009; Martínez, 2010; Leeman, Rabin & Román-Mendoza, 2011; Petrov, 2013) and find that SL is a powerful tool to not only connect SHL learners to their identity, the Spanish language, and the community, but also to validate the high level of cultural and linguistic skills that SHL students already possess and to spur the development of more skills. Moreover, integrating SL in SHL courses aids learners in developing their knowledge of the Spanish language and of course material far and beyond what could be accomplished in the classroom alone and allows the community to provide students with valuable knowledge, skills and insights as well.

Download Full-text

Using Personalized Adaptive Learning to Promote Industry-Specific Language Skills in Support of Spanish Internship Students

Global Business Languages ◽

10.4079/gbl.v21.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

Author(s):

María Redmon ◽

Shelly Wyatt ◽

Corrinne Stull

Keyword(s):

Adaptive Learning ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Learning Design ◽

Medical Terminology ◽

Personalized Feedback ◽

Medical Settings ◽

Language For Specific Purposes ◽

Learning Content ◽

Student Interns

This essay offers a response to the challenge of preparing student interns to successfully utilize Spanish professional terminology in legal and medical settings. The authors developed a personal adaptive learning (PAL) course to address vocabulary language deficits experienced by Spanish internship students. PAL technologies provide students of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) the opportunity to engage in vocabulary learning through personalized feedback and alternative learning content. Implementing Cavanagh et al.’s (2020) Framework for Adapting Learning Design, the authors designed Spanish language modules for legal and medical terminology using Realizeit, a PAL platform that allows instructors to create their own content and assessment items. PAL modules for both legal and medical terminology were added to the Canvas learning management system of the Spanish Internship course and students could select the Realizeit module that fit their internship placement (legal or medical). PAL holds enormous potential to help LSP learners build mastery of industry-specific terminology that will be attractive to potential employers.

Download Full-text

Development of a Medical Spanish Curriculum for Fourth-Year Medical Students

PRiMER ◽

10.22454/primer.2018.738688 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Arhanti Sadanand ◽

Mark H. Ryan ◽

Steven Cohen ◽

Michael S. Ryan

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Limited English Proficiency ◽

Language Skills ◽

Spanish Language ◽

Medical Interview ◽

Faculty Support ◽

Appropriate Care ◽

The Us ◽

Effective Delivery ◽

Fourth Year Medical Students

Introduction: The US Latino population is projected to double over the next 50 years while the proportion of Latino physicians is expected to decrease over the same interval. Spanish curricula within medical schools are common but rarely assess learners for proficiency and are often not incentivized. Family physicians are well positioned to promote the effective delivery of culturally and linguistically appropriate care to Latino patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Our aim was to develop a replicable, incentivized, medical Spanish curriculum to promote fluency. Methods: We developed a peer-taught, interactive, case-based medical Spanish curriculum for fourth-year medical students at a single medical school. All fourth-year medical students were eligible to enroll. Seventeen students completed pre- and postintervention questionnaires to rate their self-efficacy in medical Spanish comprehension and vocabulary. At the end of the course, students were also assessed for oral Spanish language skills by a standardized patient (SP). Results: Students rated themselves as having improved at completing nearly all components of the medical interview and physical in Spanish after completing the course (15/16 tasks, P<0.001). Conclusion: This peer-led medical Spanish course shows promise as a feasible and sustainable curriculum for teaching medical Spanish and assessing fluency among fourth-year medical students. Establishing a cohort of peers as teachers addresses concerns about cost and reduces the need for faculty support.

Download Full-text