"You know Spanish, right?

" Language for Specific Purposes and the Challenge of Teaching

Content Areas and Lexical Domain
Author(s): Douglas A. Jackson and Shannon M. Polchow
Source: Hispania, Vol. 98, No. 2 (June 2015), pp. 198-199
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24368280
Accessed: 24-06-2019 19:23 UTC

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 "You know Spanish, right?"
Language for Specific Purposes
and the Challenge of Teaching
Content Areas and Lexical Domain

Douglas A. Jackson
University of South Carolina Upstate

Shannon M. Polchow
University of South Carolina Upstate

Y;
CC 7"ou know Spanish, right?" Most undergraduates with a bachelors degree in Spanish
or another world language will, sooner or later, have to answer this question or one
similar. This is particularly true for students educated in South Carolina, a state
that houses over 1,200 international businesses within its borders ("International Presence")
and which has one of the fastest-growing Hispanic populations in the United States (Krogs
tad and López). In a typically monolingual state (see the Modern Language Association Language
Map), those students who do possess a second language are poised to better integrate themselves
into this international business community. However, what many monolinguals inaccurately
assume is that being bilingual also means that one will be a skillful translator or interpreter, but
this is not the case. Possessing a Spanish degree does not indicate proficiency in, for example,
metallurgy or emergency medicine, in which it is necessary to provide quality language services.
Unless students have been exposed to a variety of subjects relating to law, health care, business,
and educational services in both English and Spanish, they will find themselves unprepared for
the demand the community will place on them just because they are bilingual.
With conversation, composition, literature, and culture classes providing the bulk of the
core curriculum for the language major, how do language departments address the communities'
needs for quality translators and interpreters? Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) not only
provide a solution for the community, but they also allow connections with other disciplines.
LSP is not a new concept, but rather a flashback to when the grammar-translation method was
still considered the go-to teaching method. Due to the increased need for Spanish speakers, just
being able to speak English and Spanish is not enough for language students to have an impact in
their field. Students will find themselves hurled into a new profession, or even one for which they
are supposedly prepared. As educators, have we explored every possible option for vocabulary
acquisition in order to prepare students to understand the new lexical domains imposed on
them by their jobs?
As universities decrease, and even eliminate, world language requirements in their general
education curriculum, while some are cutting language programs altogether, languages for a
specific purpose become even more vital and must begin at the lower levels. First, language
departments must identify the most critical needs on their campuses and evaluate their available
staffing resources. Genesis of such a program might start with the biggest opponents of world
languages on a campus. Once the detracting disciplines are identified, language instructors need
to demonstrate the value for these classes. For example, if one can develop a first-year Spanish

AATSP Copyright © 2015 Hispania 98.2 (2015): 198-99

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course for health professionals, this type of class would appeal to nursing majors along with
pre-med and possibly psychology students. However, the difficulty in starting such a class is
finding an instructor who 1) is able to convince students of the relevancy of the course in their
future professions; 2) has a thorough understanding of the field in both English and in Spanish;
and 3) is willing to invest a lot of time in the class since the textbooks that are currently available
are rudimentary at best.
When developing LSP programs at the upper-division level, there are several thoughts that
each department needs to entertain. While developing translation and interpretation programs,
such as minors or majors, departments need to be asking themselves: What is the end goal?
How will departments measure student success? Is the department going to provide classes in
a variety of areas such as Spanish for educators or legal Spanish? Will the department focus on
one specific domain such as English to Spanish interpretation in educational settings? As states
such as South Carolina contemplate a statewide licensure for interpreters, how will this affect
university programming? As for the students, not only do they need the appropriate language
skills in Spanish and in English, but they need to understand their role in the service that they
will hopefully provide. They need to understand that their chosen field will define them. Their
development as an interpreter will be an ever-evolving process, one that will require further
information as they become "experts" in their chosen fields. Just as doctors continually practice
their craft and participate in professional development, translators and interpreters will need
to do the same.
Language departments must evolve to meet the demands of an ever-changing world. Being
bilingual does not make a student an adept interpreter. However, with proper training and the
incorporation of languages for specific purposes into the curriculum, language departments will
give their students a better chance for success post-graduation.

WORKS CITED

"International Presence." South Carolina Department of Commerce. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, and Mark Hugo López. (2014). "Hispanic Nativity Shift: US Births Drive Populat
Growth as Immigration Stalls." Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project. 29 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.
"The Modern Language Association Language Map." Modern Language Association. Web. 18 Dec. 201

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