Blog as a Tool to Blog as a Tool to Develop Cultural Develop Cultural

Awareness in a Medical Awareness in a Medical Spanish ProgrammeSpanish ProgrammeDr Ana Niño and Dr Sandra Torres

RATIONALERATIONALE• Medicine with Spanish: European Option

Programme• Only 2 contact hours a week, hence VLE as

blended learning platform• Culture embedded in the curriculum• Part of the students’ independent L learning

practice together with self-assessment tests, clinical cases reading, compositions and forum collaboration

• Medical Spanish community outside class

CULTURAL AWARENESSCULTURAL AWARENESS

SET UPSET UPBlog integrated in Blackboard 9, not external

SET UP SET UP • Students are made aware of the pedagogical purpose of

using blogs outside class and set their own goals • Tutor makes suggestions of tasks that can be done in

the blog as a follow-up of classes or masterclasses• Students are encouraged to work in pairs and comment

on their classmates’ entries• Students draft their own tasks, reflect on their own

learning and choose their own strategies• Students interact throughout the process• Tutor encourages peer/teacher feedback• They choose their own topics and write one new entry

per week

TOPICSTOPICS

• Experiences and reflections on their SSCs and visits to Spanish speaking countries

• Experiences about their ward rounds at hospital

• Reflections on why they study Medicine and about the specialty they would like to pursue in the future

• Food

• Various medical topics, including ethical matters

EXAMPLES OF STUDENTEXAMPLES OF STUDENTS’ S’ ENTRIESENTRIES

• Tapas• Sexual health• My experience in Labour Ward last week• The placebo effect• SSCs and/or medical experiences abroad• Consent, competence and youngsters• My experience as an au-pair in Spain• Infertility• Lumbar puncture• Disabled children and education• Premature babies• Reflections on my future as a doctor

STUDENTS’ COMMENTS: SURVEY STUDENTS’ COMMENTS: SURVEY RESULTSRESULTS

https://selectsurveys.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/

STUDENTS’ COMMENTS: SOME STUDENTS’ COMMENTS: SOME EXAMPLESEXAMPLES

“it is a good idea , a chance to interact with other European Option

students”

“...it’s interesting to read entries that classmates write and view how they construct phrases in Spanish”.

“while the blog would be an amazing resource for language

students, I think we all really struggle to make time for a

Spanish assignment that is not directly related to the course”

“I would like to make more time to participate in the blog as I feel it is a good idea, and educationally beneficial.”

ADVANTAGES OF BLOG USE IN ADVANTAGES OF BLOG USE IN CLASSCLASS

• Encourages autonomy and collaboration• Class blog, student-centred• Reveals students’ learning style • Promotes use of authentic culturally-related

sources• Encourages learners to be creative and active• Develops problem solving skills• Helps improve reading writing skills• Facilitates the use of multimedia resources

SOME LIMITATIONSSOME LIMITATIONS• Some learners prefer to be told what they must

do• Inaccurate language may occur• Inappropriate use may happen• Public online portfolio seen by all students• Heavy time pressure• Lack of cultural experiences in a Spanish

speaking country• Entries appear in reverse chronological order• There is not a topic-based search facility

SOME SUGGESTIONSSOME SUGGESTIONS

• Cultural-awareness survey• Medical Ethics Quizz, general TL culture quizz• Subtitling a video on taking a medical history or doing

a clinical exam• Students’ individual blogs as a portfolio of medical

Spanish learning, including cultural issues• Documentaries and films on medicine and culture that

can prompt a follow-up discussion• Invite native health professionals to comment on a

particular cultural-related topic of their specialty

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBERREMEMBER

• Language practice (reading and writing) plus culture awareness reflection

• Student-centred

• Collaborative>authentic interaction

• Professionally orientated

Many thanks for your attention!Do you have any questions?

No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct, not merely the same world with different labels attached.Edward Sapir: 'Culture, Language and Personality'