New WMU research aims to close equity gaps in Spanish education

“Black students tend to begin Spanish education, or any foreign education studies, at healthy rates, but then they tend not to continue, and they also receive lower grades,” Dr. Germán Zárate-Sández, associate professor of Spanish and director of the introductory Spanish program, says.  

These disparities have been studied by academics across the nation, who cite reasons ranging from academic gatekeeping to familial histories to explain the gaps. 

At WMU, Zárate-Sández set out to tackle one piece of the multi-faceted issue: the course materials. 

“What we’ve seen in previous research is that sometimes Black students don’t see themselves represented in the textbooks, films, or whatever materials we use in the classroom,” he says. “The question is, does that contribute to the two issues of retention and academic performance?” 

To find the answer, Zárate-Sández applied for and received a Modern Language Association (MLA) Pathways Step Grant to support a year-long research and curricula project intended to increase representation in Spanish education. 

 By implementing a pre-test/post-test design, the project uses tests, surveys and questionnaires to study three key variables among Spanish-learners: “Their motivation to learn Spanish, their enjoyment of their Spanish classes, and their grit to continue studying Spanish,” Zárate-Sández says. 

“Each Step Grant provides up to $10,000 to support faculty members with the development of new structures, programs and resources that bolster the recruitment, retention and career readiness of undergraduate students. Especially, students of color, first-generation college students and Pell Grant recipients,” he says.  

It’s not that Black cultures and Hispanic cultures are independent from each other. In fact, there are many aspects of Hispanic culture influenced by Black culture; however, they aren’t typically portrayed in course content, Zárate-Sández explains. 

In the Fall 2024 pilot of his experiment, Zárate-Sández began to integrate course content from the program, MI-BRIDGE (Minority Institutions Building Resources to Ignite Development and Growth in Education) into introductory Spanish classes at WMU. Designed by a team of language education teachers and researchers, the open-access language curriculum offers free lesson plans, PowerPoints, videos and other materials that highlight Blackness in Latin America and among foreign language learners. 

Seven of the twelve Basic Spanish sections incorporated MI-BRIDGE materials, replacing 20% of the original course content.  

Alongside Zárate-Sández, three graduate students: Alex Agbabian, Andrés Beltrán Gabrie and Sandra Olletey, are thoroughly involved in the project. Agbabian and Olletey are pursuing master’s degrees in Spanish, while Gabrie is a graduate student in psychology. Each member of the interdisciplinary team provided crucial insight on the design, research and execution of the project.  

With the Fall semester completed, Zárate-Sández and his team are currently analyzing the data collected from the first phase of the project. They expect to have preliminary results by the end of the academic year.  

In early January, Zárate-Sández traveled to the MLA Convention in New Orleans to present his initial findings and to be recognized at the convention’s awards ceremony.  

“I believe that this is useful and beneficial for all students because it portrays the Hispanic culture as being more diverse,” he says.  “And that may result in Black students being more motivated, but it should also result in all students having a better appreciation of Spanish-speaking cultures.”

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit WMU News online.