Dr. Diana Romero

Afilliation

Columbia University in the City of New York

Country

United Stated of America

Professional URL

SHORT BIO

Before joining the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures at Columbia University in 2004, Dr. Diana Romero taught Spanish at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Yale and Northwestern Universities. She served as Co-Director of the Spanish Program (2012-2015). Her interests include heritage language education and contemplative pedagogy.

PRESENTATION TITLE

Mediation in the A2 Spanish Class - Developing Critical and Presentational Skills Through Podcasts

ABSTRACT

This presentation explores an instructional sequence designed for an A2 Spanish college course based on Afrolatinas en los Estados Unidos - a podcast produced by advanced learners- as a resource for expanding exposure to richer content and discourse from the beginning levels. Drawing on the idea that input access depends not only on simplification, but also on the pedagogical conditions that mediate comprehension (Vygotsky), the sequence provides pedagogical supports that foster comprehension and critical thinking. Their effectiveness is reflected in the presentation of student-created infographics that synthesize and interpret socioculturally dense content and draw analytical conclusions from all podcast presentations.

ABSTRACT

PRESENTER INTERVIEW