Teaching Spanish
Authors: Randolph L.J. 
Published: April 2023

Teaching Spanish in US schools is informed not only by theories of language learning and acquisition but also by the intersections of various sociopolitical and sociocultural language ideologies. (See the separate Oxford Bibliographies articles Spanish in the United States and Spanglish for additional perspectives on this topic.) The unique status and history of Spanish in the United States combined with the historical and present experiences of people who speak the language have set Spanish apart from other non-English languages typically taught as “second,” “foreign,” or “additional” languages in the United States. Thus, research in teaching Spanish has delved into broad concepts like language acquisition, pedagogy, and programming while also accounting for certain contextual factors that uniquely apply to Spanish. For example, owing to a history of linguistic discrimination, heritage speakers of Spanish may not have the same level of access or success in developing their proficiency when compared with second-language learners. This stems in part from the fact that programming, instruction, and research in Spanish acquisition and pedagogy have historically centered on the contexts and processes in which non-heritage, nonnative second language learners have learned the language. This linguistic exclusion led to the development of heritage-language education as a subfield since the turn of the 21st century. Program development has also been an important line of inquiry. At the K–12 level, common program models include a variety of immersion programs, foreign language at the elementary school (FLES) programs, foreign language exploratory (FLEX) programs, and traditional, sequenced language course tracks. At the postsecondary level, in addition to sequenced language courses, specialized Spanish courses for specific professions and purposes are becoming more popular. Researchers have also been concerned with innovative approaches to community engagement and study abroad. Research in this arena has recognized the status of Spanish as a local language throughout many communities in the United States and has addressed the many opportunities students of Spanish have to engage in mutual endeavors that bridge the gap between institutions and communities. As the field continues to evolve, there is a strong trend toward justice-oriented learning as well as innovative approaches to programming using technological and community resources. Scholarship in this area borrows from interdisciplinary research being conducted in the fields of education and applied linguistics. This bibliography concentrates on key foundational texts in language acquisition and pedagogy as well as texts that reflect the evolution and current direction of the field. It should be noted that much of the seminal scholarship that is relevant to the teaching of Spanish has more broadly examined the teaching of languages in general. This bibliography reflects this trend of the research by including works that do not focus exclusively on Spanish but that are still useful for understanding and researching the topic of “Teaching Spanish.”