Term of Award

Spring 2007

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading

Committee Chair

William Reynolds

Committee Member 1

John Weaver

Committee Member 2

Ming Fang He

Committee Member 3

Judith Schomber

Committee Member 3 Email

Unknown

Abstract

This thesis uses critical theory perspectives and qualitative research methodology to explore the cultural content of three first-year Spanish textbooks. These three textbooks are currently being used or have been used recently in the region of southeastern Georgia. The researcher seeks to discover what cultural aspects are actually being presented to students who most likely have little knowledge of cultural expression in Latin America and Spain. The researcher also seeks to explore the Americanization of Latin culture. This study focuses upon three areas of cultural presentation found in the three texts: cultural paragraphs and essays, illustrations and photographs, and vocabulary. All areas are the means in which the authors present cultural representations. This thesis will explore what kind of life is portrayed to students studying Spanish for the first time and how accurate the cultural representations are and how many cultural representations are a reiteration of American culture under the guise of cultural relevancy.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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