Ortuño, Marian Mikaylo. “Teaching Language Skills and Cultural Awareness with Spanish Paintings” Hispania 77, No. 3 (Sep., 1994), 500-511.
Abstract: This article points out the advantages of using slides or other reproductions of Spanish paintings in the promotion of language learning and cultural awareness. It also gives suggestions on how to incorporate some paintings into the curriculum at various levels.
The article begins with the question of “How does the instructor create the optimal learning environment in which to develop the four skills - comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing- along with an awareness of cross-cultural similarities and differences?” With the proficiency orientation that the ACFTL has promoted, this becomes a matter for all instructors to ponder about. Ortuño suggests the possibility of using visually engaging authentic materials, which have been shown by some studies as facilitators of language acquisition and the formation of cultural attitudes. She proposes the incorporation of art works into the curriculum in one of the following ways: As a cultural supplement at any level of instruction, in a cross-disciplinary course, or to prepare students for study abroad. In the following subheadings the author shows us the benefits of using Spanish paintings in order to help students achieve proficiency standards.
Learning in Context
Making a reference to Krashen’s theory, Ortuño writes that using slides of Spanish paintings can encourage students to engage in creative discourse if the instructor focuses on meaning as well as on grammatical form. Visual sensory stimuli embedded with cultural connections have the power to convey emotions. They attract the student’s attention and can cause an affective reaction. It could be shock, surprise, disapproval, or even laughter. The instructor then can begin to personalize the learning experience by asking for descriptions or by giving questions to draw a verbal or written response. It is the author’s experience that even the most inhibited students are able to risk grammar mistakes to comment on colorful visual symbols.
According to Ortuño, the Magdalena Penitente of medieval Greek painter, El Greco, could be used at any level of language learning. The basic questions for this image would be: “¿Qué ve usted?” and “Diga algo sobre esta pintura.” The questions can be answered by individuals, pairs or groups working together to analyze the picture and come up with a list of adjectives that describe it. The teacher can also offer clues about the identity of the person depicted on the painting. Questions about when, where, and why can follow, and the level of the group will determine the types of responses that the teacher has to encourage. Before the students look at the slide, the instructor can provide background information on El Greco and point out the historical importance of the lives of the saints as models of behavior in sixteenth century Spain.
At the novice and intermediate levels, a painting such as the above can be used as a focal point for an entire lesson. Colors, clothing, parts of the body, and the agreement in number and gender can all be practiced by describing the visual. To practice the present progressive, for example, students can ask one another: “¿Qué está haciendo María Magdalena?” Students at all levels can be encouraged to compare and contrast different slides. Learners at the advanced level can develop analytical thinking skills and writing techniques by creating a composition on how the use of color establishes a different mood in each painting.
Due to the focus on oral skills, instructors tend to overlook the socio-cultural factors of language. Using paintings as a visual aid can help incorporate culture in the language learning experience and make it both enjoyable and intellectually profitable. On the Connection aspect of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning, Standard 3.1 states that: “students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language” (Omaggio, p.37). Ortuño’s proposal seems to adapt to this standard perfectly as paintings are well suited to the teaching of history, literature, and art itself along with language and culture. Viewing slides of paintings can provide students with a global context, on which the society and institutions of a culture are reflected as they respond to social, religious, and political forces.
Transition from Language to Literature Class
One of my classmates who got her Spanish major at ETSU, told me how overwhelming it can be to switch from the basic language courses, grammar, and conversation, straight into the literature part of the curriculum. Ortuño explains that students can feel at a loss during the period of transition because they lack the historical background, the confidence, language skills, and sometimes even the interest in literature required to understand the essays, short stories, and poetry which comprise this part of language learning. By providing historical background through Spanish paintings, instructors can help bridge the gap between language and literature classes. Through the showing of selected slides, the instructor can relate a literary work to a particular period in Spanish history by providing a cross-disciplinary introduction. By emphasizing the confluence of the visual arts, history, and literature, the instructor can help students identify and understand parallel trends.
Ortuño suggests that the religious fervor of sixteenth-century Spain captured by El Greco in his paintings of saints and biblical characters, can be related to the intensity of the mystical experience described by Santa Teresa de Jesús in Camino de Perfección. Goya’s social criticism, or Picasso’s reflections on the dissonance and fragmentation of twentieth-century life though cubism provide many possibilities for the development of linguistic skills and cultural awareness.
Lowering Classroom Anxiety
According to the author of this article, viewing art can alleviate anxiety in language learning. As stated by Krashen’s affective-filter hypothesis, “comprehensible input can have its effect on acquisition only when affective conditions are optimal” (Omaggio, p.62). By not eliciting a defensive position, concentration on visual images helps heighten sociability and encourages the sharing of information. Ortuño asks the reader to consider the benefits of a darkened classroom where attention remains on the image instead of the speaker. This will lead to less inhibition on the part of students as there are less chances of embarrassment. Another suggestion for creating a safe environment in which everyone feels comfortable to participate is for the teacher to allow students to direct the question session around a picture of their choice.
Meeting Oral Proficiency Standards
Ortuño states that as a complement to any language learning approach, slides of paintings can help students achieve proficiency. To prove her point, she uses as an example Murillo’s painting Una joven con su dueña, claiming that a picture like this offers many possibilities to practice proficiency within the novice to the superior level. At the Novice level students can repeat basic vocabulary items dealing with what is seen and what can be implied. At the intermediate level students may answer questions such as “¿Dónde está esta chica?, ¿Qué está haciendo?, and ¿Quién es la otra mujer?” At the Advanced level, students can make comparisons between the two women. At the Superior level, learners can work with abstract topics such as parental love or the concept of friendship. Further discussion could lead to culturally relevant topics such as the historical role of the dueña, the attitude toward women in the past and in present-day Spanish society, among others.
Conclusions
Ortuño mentions that it is important for the instructor to select the paintings so that they have a thematic connection to a lesson or they are suited for practicing certain linguistic functions. I think this consideration is crucial to enable students to get the benefits highlighted by the author throughout the article. The instructor should not improvise and just “Google” a random image without carefully researching those paintings that can provide support to a specific topic or function.
I think that the fact that Spanish paintings offer a cultural context and the opportunity to analyze historical facts, make them an excellent tool to be used to enhance the learning process. Unless it is an Art course, I am not sure if I would use the paintings as a focal point, but definitely as supplemental material at any level in the university setting. At the school level, it is my impression that teachers would need to be very selective of the material to be shown since children and adolescents do not necessarily have the judgment capacity required to understand and appreciate certain pieces of art.
After reading about the language learning benefits explained by the author of this article, I will strongly consider incorporating paintings in my classes so that I can provide a basis for proficiency-centered lessons which facilitate the learning of grammar and vocabulary, and the development of oral skills, written skills, analytical thinking, and cultural awareness. I think I would also like to show students paintings from other Hispanic countries so that besides learning about those specific places, they can compare and contrast the cultural and historical factors of the different regions and countries in the Hispanic world.
References
Omaggio, Alice. (2000). Teaching Language in Context. 3rd Ed. Thomson Heile.
Ortuño, Marian Mikaylo. (1994). Teaching language skills and cultural awareness with Spanish paintings. Hispania, Vol. 77, No. 3, 500-511.
