Bilingual Course Designation
At the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, we view our students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds as valuable resources. Spanish language and bilingual courses capitalize on the rich cultural and linguistic heritage that many students bring into our classroom and prepare our students to serve their surrounding community. When UTRGV was founded in 2013, the UT System Board of Regents called on UTRGV to explore biculturalism, bilingualism, and biliteracy as part of its fabric, and teaching Spanish language and bilingual courses respond to that call.
We define a bilingual course as a course where academic content is taught in Spanish and English. The use of English and Spanish is intentional and purposeful. In order to qualify for the bilingual course designation, the course must include instruction and content/materials in both languages and require that all enrolled students write and speak some amount of Spanish during the course.
We encourage all professors to use Spanish as a resources and practice bilingual/ translanguaging and culturally relevant pedagogies when a bilingual course designation may not be possible. These pedagogies are very meaningful and impactful to our students. We will be developing a separate certificate for instructors integrating Bilingual & Culturally Relevant Pedagogies in their courses.
Planning Your Bilingual Course
We embrace a dynamic view of bilingualism, and we appreciate that each bilingual course will look different. Below are some ideas of how you might integrate Spanish and English into your instruction, course content and materials, and student assignments. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your course, please contact us at b3institute@utrgv.edu
- Instruction: Provide lectures and instruction in Spanish and English.
- You may lecture entirely in Spanish, or you may lecture every other day in Spanish. You may also lecture half of the class in Spanish.
- Other types of instruction such as activities, discussion questions, videos, and modules should similarly include both languages.
- Content/Materials: Provide course content and materials in Spanish and English whenever possible.
- Provide instructions, exams, assignment sheets, and other course materials in both languages.
- If your course has a pre-determined textbook in English, provide some additional supplementary materials in Spanish.
- B3 Institute will facilitate connections with library resources, or you may communicate directly with your academic area library liaison. Find your library liaison here.
- Demonstrations of Learning (Student Work): All students in the course must produce oral and written Spanish through activities and/or assignments at some point.
- Written assignments may be low stakes assignments, such as reflections, journals, and/or discussion boards. If desired, the professor may also include larger written assignments such as papers or reports. The professor does not need to correct grammar or accents. Instead, as usual, they may grade for content.
- Spoken Spanish may include class discussions, presentations, videos, or other demonstrations of learning through spoken Spanish. Similarly, these may be low stakes assignments, and the instructor may grade for content.
Sample Syllabus for Bilingual Course
Application Process
To have your course designated as bilingual (X), you will submit the following items:
- Short letter of interest in Spanish indicating your plans for teaching a bilingual “X” course. (1 page max.) The letter should include the following:
- Why should this course be taught bilingually? How will students benefit from the course being taught bilingually?
- How will both languages be represented in the course?
- How will Spanish be represented in 1) instruction, 2) content/materials, and 3) demonstration of learning (student work)?
- CV
- Syllabus
- The syllabus should be bilingual or made available in both English and Spanish (Contact Translation & Interpreting Office at tio@utrgv.edu to translate to Spanish)
- The syllabus should include a short bilingual teaching philosophy statement (See example.)
- The syllabus should explain clearly how Spanish and English will be used in instruction, content/materials, and assignments/activities. (See Example Syllabi)
- Bilingual Language Profile - This short form allows us to keep a record of instructors’ language background and experiences for accreditation purposes.