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Designing Four New Undergraduate Certificates in Spanish for Professions�

�Ann Warner-Ault

Isabel María Kentengian

Regina Morin

Department of World Languages & Cultures

NEALLT�April 1, 2023��

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Overview

of the

Presentation

Rationale

TCNJ Context

Builds Upon Existing Strengths

Technology in the Medical Spanish Curriculum

Practical Tips and Resources

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Rationale for the Certificates

Rationale: There is a large unmet need for linguistically & culturally proficient professionals in healthcare, law and justice, mental health, and business. The certificates respond to community needs, to student needs, and prepare critical career skills.

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Spanish for Professional Purposes Certificate Program

Bilingualism is a valuable credential in today’s labor market. Spanish is spoken by more than 559 million people globally, is the native language of over 40 million people in the United States, and is one of the three most commonly used languages in the world.

From government agencies to education, psychology and counseling, healthcare, law and criminal justice, to marketing, international business, and NGOs, building our students’ Spanish language competency and intercultural skills will help them to communicate with future colleagues and clients, and provide them a competitive edge in the job market.

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According to Census Bureau projections, the Latino/Hispanic population will account for 28% of the U.S. population by 2060.

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TCNJ is enrolling growing

numbers of Spanish-speaking Hispanics. The 2026 entering class is close to 18% Latino/Hispanic

12.9% of Undergraduates Self-Identified as Latino or Hispanic in SY2018-2019.

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Bilingual Spanish Speakers at TCNJ

Many are first generation college students
Most are second generation US born or generation 1.5
About one third have been in the EOF program
Live in urban, suburban and rural areas
Identify with varied heritages, including mixed parentage.

Reflect the variety of backgrounds of our region:

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Bilingual Spanish Speakers at TCNJ

In the last five years, students enrolled in Spanish courses have represented all Spanish-speaking countries except for Paraguay and Ecuatorial Guinea.

Dominican Republic	Colombia	Spain
Guatemala	Venezuela	Bolivia
Perú	El Salvador	Chile
Ecuador	Cuba	Argentina
Puerto Rico	Nicaragua	Uruguay
Honduras	México
Costa Rica	Panamá

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Four New Undergraduate Spanish Certificates:

Spanish for Law and Justice Practitioners
Spanish for Healthcare
Spanish for Counseling and Human Services
Spanish for Business

Each of the certificates builds students’ Spanish language and

intercultural skills as well as their cultural humility so they can

interact respectfully and appropriately in Spanish in their chosen professional area.

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TCNJ Spanish for Professional Purposes Certificate Program | Department of World Languages and Culture

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Source of Figure: https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/guidelines/ACTFLProficiencyLevels11x17withFunctions.pdf

Backward Design: Identify Students’ Entry and Exit Skills Thresholds

In our certificate programs, we do not expect students to obtain full professional fluency, but instead to obtain cultural competence and enough fluency in the language to know when they need an interpreter and when they don’t.

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Career Pathways

The Spanish for the Professions certificates equip students with language and intercultural competence in preparation for careers in business, counseling, education, interpreting, law and justice, medical professions, and others.

Each certificate consists of three core courses beyond the elementary Spanish sequence, with at least one core Spanish for the Professions course. Classes focusing on specialized professional vocabulary will equip heritage speakers (students who speak Spanish at home) with the writing skills and professional vocabulary for their chosen professional area. The courses will also help non-native speakers to develop linguistic and intercultural skills to build their language skills and professional vocabulary to become culturally responsive practitioners.

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Spanish Certificates for the Professions Build Upon Existing Strengths

Draw upon existing strengths in World Languages, Global Public Health, Biology, Psychology, Criminology, Business and other fields across campus.�
Facilitate interdepartmental and inter-school coordination.�
Provide linguistic and intercultural career-aligned training for departments across campus.�
Incorporate Community Engaged Learning in curricular offerings.

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Spanish for Healthcare

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Rationale: There is a large unmet need for linguistically and culturally proficient health care providers in NJ.

Language and other socio-cultural barriers compromise the quality of health and health care delivery for millions of Spanish-speaking, limited English proficient, and other Latino patients each year. U.S. Latino patients, for example, are more likely to be uninsured, and suffer from higher rates of diabetes, and other illnesses. As the U.S. Latin American and Latino populations continue to grow, the healthcare sector increasingly needs doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals who are prepared to work compassionately and effectively with Spanish-speaking patients.

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Our Students:

Most of our students major in:

Public health
Pre-medical/physicians’ assistant
Nursing
Psychology
Spanish

We enroll both L2 and HL speakers

Most have enrolled in the certificate; a few are minors or majors

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Teaching Approaches

Medical Spanish courses frequently incorporate innovative, non-traditional, high-impact language teaching approaches.

(Miller De Rutté, Kentengian, & Ortega, 2022)

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Conversational Exchanges

Types:

•Commercial platforms

•Instructor-initiated exchanges with other colleges or universities

•COIL

Excellent resources on virtual exchanges include O’Dowd & Lewis (2016) and González (2016)

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“Mini-Presentations”/Poster Sessions

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Project-Based Learning

Students investigate relevant, real public health issues

Our goals at the undergraduate level include developing critical thinking and research skills.

Excellent resources on PBL include Beckett & Slater (2019) and Gras-Velásquez (2019)

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Websites and other useful web-based resources

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Spanish for Law and Justice Practitioners

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Rationale: Need for Spanish Speaking Law and Justice Practitioners

Few lawyers or justice practitioners have the language skills or intercultural awareness to provide legal services in Spanish, making both Spanish fluency and cultural competency high-demand skills for future lawyers and justice practitioners.

A recent study from the U.S. Bar Association found that only 5% of U.S. lawyers are Hispanic. Furthermore, although the U.S. Latino/ Latin American population is one of the population sectors most in need of legal services, they are among the least likely to seek legal assistance.

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Product details

Pearson; 1st edition (November 5, 2004)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Spanish for Law Enforcement is the fourth book in the Spanish at Work series. This one-volume text integrates thematically related vocabulary, grammar, and culture, and focuses students on the pragmatic, real-world language they will need to communicate with Spanish speakers in law enforcement and corrections settings. With an emphasis on learning to communicate appropriately in real-life situations, students master need-to-know phrases and vocabulary quickly and efficiently.

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