Running Head: SPA 641 REFLECTIONANDCLASSROOMSTRATEGIES

SPA641
ReflectionoftheHispanicoraltraditionandassociatedclassroomstrategies

KelleyBratcher
TheUniversityofSouthernMississippi

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

Abstract
ThisreflectionessayinvestigatesthefundamentalrolethatSpanishoraltradition
playsinthelanguageclassroom.Italsosuggestsinstructiveactivitiesthatutilizethe
HispanicoraltraditionandwhicharealignedwiththeAmericanCouncilontheTeaching
ofForeignLanguage'sWorldReadinessStandards.

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

Introduction
AncientGreeksbelievedthatmusicimpliedlanguageandPlatoconsideredthata
tunewithoutwordswasasignofalackoftrueartistictaste(Kao&Oxford,2013,p.
116).Themusicandlanguageofacultureprovidearichresourceofinformation.With
thisinmind,thisreflectionessayexploresthevitalrolethatSpanishoraltraditionssuch
asSpanishjarchas,PuertoRicandcimasandSephardicballadsplayinthelanguage
classroom.Furthermore,thisessayprovidespedagogicalapplicationsalignedwiththe
AmericanCouncilontheTeachingofForeignLanguage'sWorldReadinessStandards
andthatcanfunctionwithvariousgenresoftheoraltradition.

Theroleoforaltraditionsintheclassroom
ThoughSpanishoraltraditionsmaybecenturiesold,meaningmakingneverages.
AsBobDylanexplained,"[time]letsmefindnewmeaningstoeverysong,eveninthe
olderones,andit'simportanttoalwaysbelookingfornewmeanings.Yes,thebodyof
thesongremainsthesamebutitwearsnewclothes"(Carlson,2010,p.66).Thus,one
balladcanrepresentaworldofpossibilitiesintheclassroom.Fromdebateoncurrent
politicalissuestoexamplesofgrammaticalforms,Spanishoraltraditionprovidesaworld
ofpossibilitiesinmeaningmakingandisavitaltoolintheforeignlanguageclassroom.
Oraltraditionsalsohelpliventheclassroominawaythatotherinstructional
strategiesmayfailtodo.Musiccanhelpreduceanxiety,decreasementalstressand

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

contributetoeffectivelearning(Tumanov&Tennant,2000,p.17).Learnerstendto
retainmusicalsequencesbetterthanunconnectedwordssomuchsothat,"evenwhenno
specificmelodyispresent,musictendstoberetainedinmemory...Musiccanactasa
facilitatorofcomprehensionandretentionoflinguisticinputduringauralcomprehension
exercises"(p.18).
TakeforexampletheoraltraditionofSephardicballads.Studentscanexplore
topicslikethecultureofJewishSpaniards,thesocietyofreligioustoleranceinthe
Iberianpeninsulathatexistedupuntilthefifteenthcentury,thediasporathatledtothe
spreadofJudeoSpanishpoetryandsong,ormodernrenditionsofmedievalSephardic
compositions.Thesongscouldbeusedasgrammarandvocabularyresources,aswell.
Forinstance,theSephardicsong,Labellaenmisa"couldbeusedtodrawattentionto
theGreekbasesofmanySpanishwords,toserveasareviewofSpanishtenses,toreview
vocabularyofbodyparts,provideexamplesofsimilesusedinpoetry,orspringboarda
lessononthearrayofculturesthathaveoccupiedtheIberianPeninsula.Suchlessons
lendthemselvestostudentintrospection,creativityandcuriosity.

ClassroomApplications
ThefollowingareinstructiveactivitiesthatutilizetheHispanicoraltraditionand
whicharealignedwiththeAmericanCouncilontheTeachingofForeignLanguage's
WorldReadinessStandards.Whetherstudyingmoaxajasorromances,theseactivities
couldbeadaptedtoarangeofdifferentSpanishoralgenres.

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

ActiveListeningActivity
Activelisteningiskeywhenusingsongsintheclassroom.Thefollowingisa

modifiedactivelisteningstrategyproposedbyTumanov&Tennant(2000p.24):
1)Thestudentslistentoarecordingofasongwithouttextualreferences.
2)Thestudentsusedictionariesandtextversionsofthelyricswithdeletedwords
totranscribethesongwhiletheteacherplaysandpausestheaudioversion.
3)Studentstranslatethesongtothenativelanguage.
4)Studentsareprovidedwiththecompletelyricsandlistentothesongagain.
5)Instructorguidestheclassthroughdiscussionquestions.
ThisactivityaddressestheCommunicationsstandardsthatstates,"Learners
understand,interpret,andanalyzewhatisheard,read,orviewedonavarietyoftopics"
(TheNationalStandardsCollaborativeBoard,2015,p.9).

Paesani'sModel
Anothergreatstrategyforincorporatingmusicandlanguageinstructioncanbe

adaptedfromPaesani'smodelofincorporatingliteratureintothelanguageclassroom
(2005,p.20).Itincludesfourkeysteps:1)thetargetedformispresentedtolearnersin
thecontextofSpanishoraltradition;2)learnerstaketimetorecognizegrammatical
patternspresent;3)theteachergivesanexplanationofthetargetedgrammarform;4)
studentsengageinmeaningfulpracticeandproduction(p.18).Activitiesoccurpre
listening,duringlistening,andpostlisteningandissimilartothePACEmodel.Inthis
activity,studentsareprovidedwithampleopportunitiesforpartnerwork,smallgroup
work,andindividualwork.Studentsalsohavetheopportunitytohypothesize,self

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

correctandcreate.
Paesani'smodeland"Labellaenmisa,"canbecombinedtocreatealessonfullof
grammaticaldiscoveryandculture.ConsiderthefollowingexampleusingtheSephardic
oraltradition:

Labellaenmisa
1Tresdamasvanalamisa
porhazerlaorasin.
2Entrenmediovamispoza,
laquemsquerayo.
Sayoyevasovresayo;
unxiboydealtornasin.
4Sucavesa,unatorona
suscaveyosbrilesson.
Cuandolostomapeinare,
eneyosdespuntelsol.
6Lassuscarascoreladas
mansanasdEscopiason.
Losdientestanchiquiticos
dientesdemarfilyason.
8Suboquitatanchequetica
yquenolecavenpen.
Lasusejaenarkada
rcoldetiraryason.
10Melda,melda,papazico,
demeldaryasequed.
Melda,melda,papazico,
yqueportinovengoyo.
12Vineporelhijodelreyes,
quedeamorvamueriryo.

Threeladiesaregoingtomass
tosaytheirprayers.
Withthemgoesmybride,
theoneIlovemostofall.
Shewearsmanypleatedskirts
andawaistcoatoffinecloth.
Herheadisroundlikeagrapefruit;
herhairisgoldenthread
andwhenshecombsit,
itglistensinthesun.
Herredcheeks
areapplesfromSkopje;
hersmallteeth
arealllikeivory.
Inhertinymouth
arosebudwouldnotfit;
herarchedeyebrows
areliketautbows.
Thepriest,readinghisprayers,
stoppedinhisreading.
Readon,littlepriest;
Ivenotcomehereforyou.
Ihavecomeforthekingsson,
forIamdyingoflove.

GrammarandCultureExplorationActivity
Iproposethefollowingactivityusingtheaforementionedballad:1)Formofseris

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

presentedtolearnerswithinthelyricsofthepoem;2)Learnersformgroupsto
hypothesizetheuseandconjugationofser;3)minilectureontheuseandconjugationof
ser;4)studentspracticeserbycreatingtheirownpoemusing"Labellaenmisa"asa
template.Followingthegrammarlesson,studentscouldresearchtopicsrelatedtotheoral
traditionandcultureofSephardicJews.

JournalActivities
Thefollowingactivityaddressesseveraloftheworldreadinessstandards,butspecifically
alignswiththeCulturesstandardthat,"Learnersusethelanguagetoinvestigate,explain,
andreflectontherelationshipbetweentheproductsandperspectivesofthecultures
studied"(TheNationalStandardsCollaborativeBoard,2015,p.9).Inthisactivity,the
instructorprovidestheopportunityforstudentstochooseandresearchtheirown
Sephardicballadanddocumenttheirdiscoveriesinajournal.
AdaptingKaoandOxford's(2013)threestepsforusingmusicaslanguage
learningmaterials,theactivitywouldgointhefollowingorder:1)thelearnerlocatesa
songoftheirpersonalliking;2)thelearneranalyzesthelyricsofthesongandrecords
newwordsandphrases,questions,hypothesisandfindingsintheirjournal;3)thelearner
explorestheculturalbackgroundofthemusic(Kao&Oxford,2013,p.119).This
activitymaintainslearnermotivation,allowsforselfdirectedstudy.
Anotherjournalactivityis'collagewriting.'Carlsonexplains,"Collagewriting
allowsstudentstoexperienceresearchandthereportingofitastheuntidyandoften
contradictoryprocessthatitis,notastheneatlypackagedfiveparagraphessaythatis

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

oftenrewardedintraditionalclassroom(Carlson,2010,p.66)."Thispressurefreeform
ofwritingencouragesstudentstoreflectontheirlisteningskillsandthetargetedoral
tradition.

GraffitiWallActivity
StudentscanusetheReadWriteThinkonline'GraffitiWall'softwaretohelpthem

visualizewhattheyarehearingandcreategraphicsymbolshelpsthemdevelopas
listeners.Thetoolcombinesthepracticeofdrawingwithanalyticalthinkingaboutasong
viawritingprompts.'GraffitiWall'canbeusedforwholeclassdiscussionofatext,
smallgroupwork,orindividually,wherestudentsuse"graffiti,"symbols,drawings,
shapes,andcolorstocreateagraphicofthetexttheyarereading.Thisactivityaddresses
theConnectionsstandard,"Learnersbuild,reinforce,andexpandtheirknowledgeof
otherdisciplineswhileusingthelanguagetodevelocriticalthinkingandtosolve
problemscreatively"(TheNationalStandardsCollaborativeBoard,2015,p.9).

LettertotheAuthor
Inhisarticle,J.R.Carlsonproposesthatstudentsbeaskedtowritealettertothe

authorofthesong(Carlson,2010,p.68).Usingthesong"MaldicindelaMalinche,"
studentscouldposequestionstotheMexicansingersongwriterAmparoOchoasuchas:
o Culfueelerrordelosindgenas?porqu?
o Aqurefiereelmaleficio?
o Culessonalgunosvaloreshumanosquereflejanenelcorrido?Existenhoy?
Culessonejemplos?
o qumsopcionestenaellaenestpocamsqueseguirsuscaptores?
o Fueunatraidoracontralossuyos?

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

o Aprovechsusfacultadesparaescaparesclavitud?
o Podemosecharaellalaculpa?
ThisactivityaddressestheCommunitiesstandardthat,"Learnersusethelanguage
bothwithinandbeyondtheclassroomtointeractandcollaborateintheircommunityand
theglobalizedworld"(TheNationalStandardsCollaborativeBoard,2015,p.9).Should
studentsinvestigatevariouscorridosandwriteletterstolivingsongwriters,aexhibition
ofauthor'sresponsescouldserveasanoralpresentationactivity.

Summary
Consideringthat,[Oraltradition]isapracticalinstrument,liketheclaytablet,
codex,orprintedpage,butexceptionalamongthem:itwarrantsthesingertocreate
variationswithinparametersofgenre,performance,andaudience,instructorsshould
utilizeoraltraditionresourcesintheclassroom(Zemke,2003,p.172).Oraltraditions
suchasSephardicballads,MexicancorridosandSpanishflamencoscanbeusedto
exploreculture,investigatehistory,explainpoeticfeatures,buildvocabularyand
grammarknowledge,andsupplementtheteachingsofwrittenworks.Throughsong,
studentsareencouragedtothinkcriticallyaboutquestionsbeingraisedthroughmusic.
Songscandevelopaspiritofinquiry,motivationandintriguewithintheforeignlanguage
learner.IlovetheideaofusingSpanishoraltraditionatalllanguagelevelsasabuilding
blockforlanguagelearning.

SPA 641 Reflection and Classroom Strategies

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References
Carlson,J.(2010).Songsthatteach:Usingsongpoemstoteachcritically.TheEnglish
Journal,99(4),6571.
Kao,T.,Oxford,R.L.(2014),Learninglanguagethroughmusic:Astrategyforbuilding
inspirationandmotivation.System,43,114120.
doi:10.1016/j.system.2014.01.003
Paesani,K.(2005),Literarytextsandgrammarinstruction:Revisitingtheinductive
presentation.ForeignLanguageAnnals,38:1523.
doi:10.1111/j.19449720.2005.tb02449.x
TheNationalStandardsCollaborativeBoard.(2015).WorldReadinessStandardsfor
LearningLanguages.4thed.Alexandria,VA:Author.

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Tumanov,V.,Tennant,J.(2000),Usingsongstoteachauralcomprehensioninthe
intermediateadvancedforeignlanguageclassroom.RussianLanguageJournal,
54(177/179),1333.
Zemke,J.(2003).MedievalSpanishandJudeoSpanish.OralTradition.18(2).172174.