In this blog post, we will compare our experiences and outcomes as two primary Spanish majors, secondary linguistics majors, and TESOL certificate students. We hope to shed light on the opportunities for students pursuing these studies and potential career paths. 

Kaylie’s Experience:

Upon arriving at UMass as a Spanish major, I always planned on adding a second major or minor, but I did not have any ideas as to what that second course of study might be. After researching majors that pair well with Spanish, I thought Linguistics was the most relevant and interesting choice, so I added it as a secondary major. After looking more into the minors and certificates that coincided with Linguistics, I chose to work towards obtaining the TESOL certificate, as I thought teaching English to Spanish speakers would be fascinating. Pursuing this certificate completely transformed my experience as a Spanish major at UMass. Through taking classes for both of my majors and my TESOL certificate, I learned how languages were acquired, which helped me learn and teach Spanish. In addition, these classes informed me about language attitudes and linguistic discrimination involving Spanish speakers in the US. Feeling passionate about fighting these injustices I was learning about, I was inspired to work towards a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn languages with adequate resources geared toward their needs. During the spring semester of my junior year, I studied abroad in Alicante, Spain. Through my study abroad program, I had the opportunity to teach two English classes in a Spanish elementary school. I also tutored a young Spanish girl in English speaking once a week. As a senior, I am currently an ESL intern at UMass. This is a position I was able to obtain by completing the TESOL certificate. As an intern, I create lesson plans to co-teach an ESL class to local community members and also tutor ESL students on campus. These are fundamental experiences in my education that have led me to determine that I want to work in language program administration, creating and ensuring that language curricula are available to all. I was able to come to this conclusion by taking what I learned in each class and piecing together my interests. I am grateful for the experiences and opportunities I’ve had through both the Spanish and Linguistics departments at UMass and I am excited for what the future holds!

Sarah’s Experience: 

Before entering UMass, I thought that my ideal career was teaching. As a high school senior, I had the opportunity to be a peer mentor for the ESL students in my school. This experience opened my eyes to some of the greater issues in English as a second language learning programs, such as not being able to provide sufficient resources for students. I really wanted to make a difference in ESL programs in the US to improve the educational experience for learners. Therefore, I decided to become an Education major at UMass Amherst. However, in my sophomore year, I quickly realized that the Education major was not for me. Because of my passion for speaking and learning Spanish, as well as my interest in one of my Gen-ed Linguistics classes, I decided to switch to a primary major in Spanish and a secondary major in Linguistics. Both of these majors solidified my love for language and gave me multiple perspectives on the future. Through my linguistics courses, I have learned about the structure of language and how it differs across cultures, the reasoning behind why we produce sounds in the way we do, and how we can create and receive messages through words. Without majoring in Linguistics and taking phonetics and phonology classes, I would have never discovered the curiosity and interest I have in those subjects. Similarly, when I studied abroad in Granada, Spain, I took a lot of courses in Spanish. My favorite classes were, ‘Diversity of Spanish in the World,’ and ‘Spanish Linguistics.’ These two classes helped me gain perspective on how phonetics and phonology apply in the context of the Spanish language, and how there can be intercultural miscommunications in both English and Spanish that I could potentially help mitigate.

Furthermore, it was not until switching to both of those majors that I discovered the TESOL certificate program at UMass. This certificate program involves courses that teach people how to teach English as a second language, develop lesson plans, and improve leadership skills. Pursuing this certificate has helped me to understand more about myself and what I want to do in the future. Learning how to make lesson plans that would best benefit non-English speakers has given me a wider perspective on education. There are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration when determining lesson plans, such as how varying subjects can make students react differently. As I am finishing up my certificate program, I am realizing that I want to use these skills and apply them to a different field: bilingual speech-language pathology. Not only does this field apply the skills I learned from the certificate program, but it will also combine my passions for phonetics and phonology, Spanish, and helping people improve their lives. I am very grateful to have had access to all of these programs in my four years at UMass, and I feel that my experience has set me up for a successful career in Speech-Language Pathology. 

Although both of us completed the same paths of study, we had different experiences and outcomes during our four years at UMass. Kaylie’s experience has allowed her to discover her passion for Language Program Administration and teaching, whereas Sarah’s experience has steered her towards Bilingual Speech-Language Pathology. Majors in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts are unique because there is not one set career path to pursue. As our experiences show, the same majors can shape us in very different ways. Through reading about our two distinct experiences as students pursuing the same studies, we hope that we have provided insight into just a few of the many possibilities for future career paths.

Having Spanish as a primary major at UMass means that you are required to take two classes to fulfill the integrative experience requirement. In my opinion, both of these classes are crucial to your experience as a student studying Spanish, and I’ll explain why.

The course SPANISH 394PI is a two-credit class that meets weekly over the semester. In this class, students prepare for their integrative experience. The integrative experience can be one of the numerous opportunities that allow you to use Spanish in your daily life. Most students choose to study abroad; however, that is not the only option. There are also opportunities to engage in language service-learning or internships that qualify as an integrative experience. Throughout the semester, students learn about the opportunities they can pursue to complete the integrative experience requirement and participate in discussion boards that allow them to anticipate their future experiences. At the end of the class, students make a short presentation on what they will be doing for their integrative experience. Presenting my plans for my integrative experience was my favorite part of the class and in my opinion the most useful. Preparing a PowerPoint with the key information on my study abroad program helped me feel better prepared for the experience I was about to undergo. Additionally, I enjoyed seeing the different experiences that my peers were preparing for. There definitely was a sense of camaraderie, as many students were nervous about their plans to study in a foreign country. Knowing others were feeling the same, these discussions and presentations eased my nerves.

The course SPANISH 494RI is a one-credit class that meets bi-weekly. In this class, students reflect on their integrative experiences over the semester. Throughout the semester, students participate in discussion forums that elicit meaningful conversations and reflections about the similarities and differences between their experiences. The first class assignment is a show-and-tell in which students must present an aspect from before, during, and after their experiences. I found this assignment highly useful since it allowed me to consider how I’ve grown not only as a Spanish student but also as a person by studying abroad. After returning from studying abroad, most students jump right back in where they left off at UMass, without fully understanding the impact their time in their integrative experience had on them. Especially when entering the workforce, it is important to know how your experiences have helped you achieve your goals and how they will continue to do so to eventually pursue a career.

Thanks to the integrative experience classes, I was able to thoroughly prepare for and reflect on my time abroad and its implications for my future, which is why I think these classes are the best!

In hopes of becoming an ESL/EFL teacher, I am pursuing a certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) and I have taken a fair share of classes to prepare myself. I will be comparing two classes I took at UMass, Foundations for Teaching English Speakers (LLC 320) and Practice for Teaching English Speakers (LLC 321) to a class I took while I was abroad, Applied Linguistics: Foreign Language Teaching Methodology. Each of the classes are essentially the same; they are designed to prepare students for teaching English to speakers of other languages. However, the UMass classes are in the Languages, Literatures, and Cultures department, while the class I took abroad was a Linguistics class offered by their Spanish department. 

I took the two TESOL classes during my sophomore year at UMass and spent a lot of time learning about different language teaching methods and evaluating which elements of each method I would want to incorporate into my teaching. These classes were self-paced, with assignments that served as knowledge checks for the vast amount of information I was taking in. They also required practicum experience and guided me through designing my lesson plan so that I could put my knowledge into practice. For the practicum, I observed and assisted in leading small group discussions in an ESL course offered at UMass. I received helpful feedback on my practicum hours that I was able to reflect on each week and subsequently improve in later weeks.

The class I took in Spain during my junior spring was an advanced class that was taught in Spanish. This class consisted of lots of reading and research to be completed in a short amount of time and I was expected to have mastered the knowledge of each teaching method in a few short weeks. As a part of the class, I was required to teach in a local elementary school, though I received little guidance in preparing my lesson plans. Even though this class had a lot of overlapping content from my UMass classes, it was definitely still challenging. Because of this, I am grateful that I had taken the TESOL classes at UMass before taking the class in Spain. I don’t think I would’ve understood any of the complex content since it was so fast-paced and not taught in my native language.

By comparing these two classes, I realized that with a topic as vast as language teaching, I definitely needed time to break it down to put what I learned into practice. If I had only taken the class abroad and not the TESOL classes at UMass, I’m not sure if I would have wanted to pursue TESOL, because it would have been too fast-paced and challenging for me to appreciate the process. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn the content twice; once, in-depth in my native language, and a second time as a refresher in my second language. Thus, I believe that it can be useful to take similar courses in different disciplines to strengthen your knowledge on the subject.