Spanish (B.A.) (2 subjects/teaching profession profile)
Features
« El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho. » – Miguel de Cervantes
Spanish is a world language with currently about 400 million speakers and continuously increasing significance. If you are interested in the Spanish language, literature and culture, from medieval heroic epics to the digital media, study with us! Become a specialist in the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries and regions and their distinctive linguistic characteristics. Discover, for example, what led to the invention of Don Quijote in the Siglo de Oro, or learn more about the fascinating interaction of cultural influences in Latin America.
- Name:
- Spanish and Hispanic American Studies/Spanish
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) (2 subjects/teaching profession profile)
- Teaching language:
- German
- Standard period of study:
- 6 semesters
- Start of studies:
- Winter semester
- Admission:
- open
(enrolment without previous application) - Orientation events:
- Orientation events are offered
Get to know us
Details
In the course of your Spanish and Hispanic American Studies, you will acquire competencies in numerous different areas:
- linguistic competence (level C1 GER)
- intercultural competence
- ability to conduct scientific work
- historical perspectives on linguistic, literary and cultural developments
- regional and country-specific knowledge
- analytical skills
- key competencies in communication, investigation methods and information processing
- knowledge about teaching Spanish as a foreign language
The sections of the Bachelor’s degree programme Spanish and Hispanic American Studies are language practice, literary studies, linguistics, regional and cultural studies and communication skills.
Language practiceIn the area of language practice, you will practice and expand the four skills of listening, reading, speaking and writing on the basis of the European Framework of Reference (from level B1 to C1), to develop your receptive and productive competence in oral and written communication. You will analyse and compare various aspects of German and Spanish grammar. All courses in language practice include some aspects of regional and cultural studies (such as history, culture, politics, etc.) of both Spain and Hispano-America.
The purpose of linguistics is to examine the structure and usage of contemporary Spanish and its historical development (e.g. the description of phonetic structure, vocabulary and grammar). The basic principles, core areas and methods of Spanish linguistics are taught in the relevant courses. We make a point of offering a wide range of courses from traditional Romance language areas, such as historical linguistics, generative syntax and dialectology, as well as covering modern questions of discourse linguistics and cognitive semantics. The goal here is to enable students to carry out independent work using modern linguistic methods (e.g. computational linguistics).
Literary studies deal with the Spanish-language literatures and cultures, and their history from the medieval beginnings to the 21st century. You will be familiarized with various methods of text interpretation and literary theories, whose diversity opens up a great variety of approaches to text analysis and other media forms (e.g. film). In the literary studies courses, some specific eras and works are dealt with in more detail. Some research areas in Ibero-Romance literary studies are the Spanish literature of the Middle Ages and early modern era, as well as the contemporary Spanish and Hispano-American literature, the Hispano-American novel of the 19th century, intermediality (literature and music) and Hispanic gender studies.
In regional and cultural studies, you will acquire basic knowledge about the history, economics, politics, society and culture of Spain and Hispano-America, using theories from the social and cultural sciences. The acquisition of regional and cultural knowledge includes the development of intercultural competence to enable you to reflect on both your own and the foreign culture, and to comprehend the two cultures as dynamic, living and multifaceted systems. In the advanced courses, this basic knowledge is expanded using specific examples.
Specialised didactics deals with teaching and learning Spanish as a foreign language. You will acquire basic knowledge about Spanish language didactics, which will be expanded in the subsequent Master of Education degree programme. The introductory courses cover historical aspects of foreign language teaching, theories of foreign language learning, aspects of European language policies and questions of teaching and learning foreign languages in schools and extracurricular contexts (e.g. adult education, bilingual education or technical terminology).
There are many advantages to studying Spanisch in Göttingen:
- You learn about Spanish and Hispanic American language and culture in the heart of Germany.
- You will get personal support in learning groups with small numbers of participants.
- We have an international teaching staff.
- A major part of the curriculum is taught in the target language.
- Your studies are research-oriented thanks to our interdisciplinary cooperation projects.
- We have a special subject library with more than 100,000 volumes.
- You can also get into contact with other Romance languages and cultures, if you like.
Spanish can be combined with all other teaching subjects.
The main target labour market for graduates in Spanish lies in secondary schools. This market is expected to remain stable in the foreseeable future, with the normal dual demographic fluctuations (in the numbers of teachers and pupils).
Related and consecutive/graduate programmes
Related programmes
Consecutive/graduate programmes
Combination of subjects for the teaching profession
Spanish can be combined with all teaching profession subjects.
Language requirements
To start the degree programme, Spanish language proficiency is required at the B1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (GER). This level of proficiency can be proved either by relevant documentary evidence or by passing our aptitude and orientation test.
Admission
- Start:
- Winter semester only
- 1st subject semester:
- open admission (enrolment without previous application)
- 2nd to 6th subject semester:
- open admission (enrolment without previous application)
Contact
Study and examination advice Faculty of Humanities
Tina Seufer and Eva Wolff
Humboldtallee 17
DE-37073 Göttingen
Phone: +49 (0)551 39 21888 (Seufer)
Phone: +49 (0)551 39 26713 (Wolff)
Academic Advising
apl. Prof. Dr. Annette Paatz
Department of Romance Philology
Humboldtallee 19
DE-37073 Göttingen
Student advisory service for teaching profession
Studiendekanat Lehrer*innenbildung
Waldweg 26
DE-37073 Göttingen