Identity and Communicative Competence in Spanish for Specific Purposes

Book excerpt: Identity and Communicative Competence in Spanish for Specific Purposes analyzes the experiences of three Spanish for specific purposes (SSP) students, offering insight into the intersectionality of society, politics, identity, and linguistics in community-based settings. Analyses provide empirical evidence to a growing body of work about how experiential language learning (EX-LL) enhances student preparation to utilize target languages in professional services. Ethnographic portraits and discourse analysis also illustrate how EX-LL, such as internships, provides students with opportunities to position and protect their identities using linguistic and extralinguistic resources. Discussions are presented throughout the volume on how to implement EX-LL from a critical perspective that supports students while mutually benefiting community members. Harnessing community members’ stories to contextualise and illustrate the disparities U.S. Hispanic/Latinx communities face in accessing high-quality care and services, the volume proposes SSP as a form of advocacy to narrow this gap while simultaneously enhancing students’ skills in Spanish. Designed for graduate students, educators, researchers, and program developers in SSP, second language acquisition, heritage language pedagogy, and sociolinguistics, this volume will prompt the reader to (re)imagine how language learning traverses society, politics, and identity in community-based settings.