From the Princeton Weekly Bulletin, November 24, 1997
462 students take Spanish language
By Caroline Moseley
It is 11:00
a.m. in a tiny classroom in the upper reaches of East Pyne. Fourteen
students in Spanish 105, Intermediate Spanish, are analyzing -- in
animated if intermediate Spanish -- a film: Pedro Almodovar's 1988
comedy Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios ("Women on the
Verge of a Nervous Breakdown"). Discussion is lively, but should it
flag, it is stimulated by questions from Senior Lecturer in Romance
Languages and Literatures Margarita Navarro, who leads this class and
coordinates Princeton's Spanish language instruction.
Her immediate task is to help students fulfill their University language requirement. However, her approach is "to integrate literature along with grammar and vocabulary as soon as possible."
Navarro believes in teaching language through literature (and the occasional film) as "a window into Spanish and Latin American thought and culture." In many Spanish programs, she says, "the most students learn of Spanish culture is `siesta' and `bullfight.'" In any case, "Princeton students prefer to talk about ideas. If they want to talk about something, they will find the words."
In the class, argument rages over whether the female personajes in the film are fuertes o debiles (strong or weak); there is laughing consensus that all the characters have muchos problemas. If vocabulary fails, students throw in an English word ("flashback") but immediately revert to the language of choice.
Students make up plot
Navarro acknowledges the impossibility of reading literature in Spanish in the earliest stages of language study. Spanish 101 and 102 use Destinos: An Introduction to Spanish, a telenovela produced by WGBH Boston, for which students have a videoscript. "They start with what they see of the story and make up further developments in the plot," she says. "They study grammar and vocabulary in class, viewing the Destinos episodes outside of class."
By Spanish 105, however, students are offered works by such Spanish-language writers as Julio Cortazar, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Elena Garro, Alfonso Reyes and Carlos Fuentes. The readings are "classic short stories of Spanish literature," says Scott Pasquini '01, a student in Navarro's intermediate class, "not passages that have been written for a student who is trying to learn the language. In this way, we push ourselves to learn and develop our skills so we can truly master the language."
Without neglecting what Aleem Remtula '01 calls "the mandatory vocabulary and grammar," Navarro's approach "gives us the opportunity to develop our oral skills," he says.
In class, Navarro's warmth, liveliness and (of course) richly inflected Spanish enhance pedagogic theory. Words such as "encouragement," "gentleness" and "humor" crop up frequently in student comments. "Although 95 percent of the time she speaks in Spanish,'" observes Nick Spicher '01, "I find that she's easy to understand. Even if I don't grasp the exact words, I'm usually able to follow the general ideas because of the expressiveness in her voice and her gestures."
"Señora Navarro also encourages us to use modern technology," says Pasquini. "For example, we were assigned to visit the web site of the Prado Museum in Madrid and write a critique of a famous painting."
Navarro says she is working with Toby Paff of CIT on a program "whereby we can have a split screen, with the literature on one side and a dictionary on the other." The dictionary, however, would not be in English, but would "explain the Spanish words with other Spanish words." For example, she says, "hombre would not be defined as `man' but as `macho de la especie humana.'" The program will also include grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension exercises.
Three sequences
The department offers three sequences of Spanish language study, says Navarro: two semesters of Beginner's Spanish, normally followed by Advanced Spanish; and an intensive Beginner's and Intermediate class, as well as an Intermediate Spanish class, both of which feed into an advanced course emphasizing oral proficiency. While students taking Spanish to fulfill Princeton's language requirement must do so within three semesters, the courses taken depend on the individual student's background and test scores. Navarro teaches sections of all the courses in Spanish for English-speakers, assisted by graduate students and other members of the faculty. (The department also offers Spanish for Spanish Speakers, taught by Assistant Professor Lucia Melgar.)
To coordinate the language instruction, Navarro meets regularly with the 28 graduate students and faculty members who help teach the many classes offered. Spanish 101, for example, has 11 different sections, each meeting five days a week.
Currently, Navarro notes with pride, 462 undergraduates are enrolled in Spanish language courses, with a total of 169 more taking 200 and 300 level courses that concentrate on various aspects of Spanish, Spanish American and Latin American literature.
In addition to teaching language classes (this semester she is teaching sections in beginning, intermediate and advanced Spanish), Navarro leads a graduate seminar called The Methodology of Spanish Language Teaching. As part of the course, first-year graduate students are assigned to observe and practice teach in classes led by upper-level graduate students.
Navarro has also created at Princeton a course in Medical Spanish, of particular use to those planning careers in health care. In addition to specialized vocabulary, she offers advice on "how to behave with people, as well as how to talk to them." For example, she points out, "You must touch Latino patients or they will not be reassured." It is considered impolite, she says, to answer a question with "No," so the medical questioner must phrase questions accordingly: "You cannot ask, `You don't have headaches in the morning?'"
Tübingen to Hangzhou
A Spanish citizen, Navarro grew up in Spain speaking German, French and Spanish. She attended the Sorbonne, later earning her PhD in philology and linguistics at the University of Madrid. After teaching Spanish at the University of Tübingen in Germany and Menendez Pelayo University in Spain, she joined the Princeton faculty in 1977 as lecturer, specifically to coordinate language instruction. She became senior lecturer in 1992.
Navarro is frequently invited to speak at professional gatherings about her teaching methods. Her most recent talks included "Anglicisms in the Spanish Language: Danger or Enrichment?" at the University for Humanist Studies in Utrecht, Holland, and "Integration of Literature in Language Programs" at the University of Hangzhou, China.
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