Professional Announcements
Robert Train, Modern Languages and Literatures, presented a paper entitled "Todos los peregrinos de nuestra lengua: Ideologies and accounts of Spanish-as-a-foreign language" at the XXI Conference on Spanish in the U.S. on March 15-18 at George Mason University near Washington DC. The paper provided a critical perspective on the ideological construction of 'Spanish' as a problematically 'foreign language' in the United States. Beginning with Nebrija's foundational Gramática de la lengua castellana, the paper explored the historical construction of standardizing accounts of the Spanish language as a non-native language that have shaped the context of Spanish in the US. In conclusion, it was suggested that language professionals are presented with a critical and an ethical responsibility. This responsibility, in Judith Butler's words, implies "a framework for understanding ethical response" with respect to the accounts and accountability surrounding constructed notions of the Spanish language and its speakers.