A brief CV

Carmen Isabel Céspedes Suárez holds a PhD in Language and Literature Didactics from the University of Granada. Between 2018 and 2021 she worked as a MAEC-AECID lecturer at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, while in 2017 she worked as a Fulbright lecturer in Spanish at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  

She holds a Master’s Degree in Teacher Training for Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, Vocational Training and Language School (English) from the University of Seville, as well as a Master’s Degree in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from the Pablo Olavide University in Seville.  

She holds a degree in Translation and Interpreting from the University of Granada, is an official DELE examiner for the Instituto Cervantes and a translator-interpreter of English for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.   

Other teaching experiences include the preparation of the Oxford exam with the Fundación Universitaria de Las Palmas (FULP) (2021) and the teaching of intensive courses of Spanish as a foreign language for incoming Erasmus students at the ULPGC (2021). In addition, intensive courses for Proexca professionals with FULP (2021) and vocational training students with FULP and Cabildo de Gran Canaria (2018/2021).  

Some of its publications are the following: 

(2021). Colourism, racism and identity. Didactic strategies to encourage debate in the classroom. Ogigia. Revista Electrónica De Estudios Hispánicos, (30), 127-155. 

(2020). Perceptions and attitudes of learners of Spanish towards intercultural communicative competence in the English-speaking Caribbean: a didactic proposal for improvement. Tonos Digital, 38, 1-35.

Teaching Spanish as a FL in Barbados: context description and methodological suggestions for teachers

The Cave Hill Campus at The University of the West Indies in Barbados constitutes a multicultural environment where different nationalities coexist. Students with various ethnic backgrounds, traditions, and idiosyncrasies from the surrounding islands come together to study Spanish as a foreign language. Despite the little distance between the Anglophone Caribbean and Latin America, especially between Barbados, Cuba, and Venezuela, most of these islands prioritize relations with English-speaking countries. The number of Spanish speakers in Barbados is limited, and the distance with Spain does not contribute to forging a stronger and reciprocal bond. Thus, this paper intends to give an insight into the context; provide a personal reflection on the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language in Barbados as well as describe a set of methodological suggestions aimed at raising awareness and the affective filter toward the Spanish language from a sociocultural and linguistic perspective.