Thanks for ya'll's thoughts on this issue. This is the first time I've given students the option of writing and presenting their work in either Spanish or English. I've had mixed results in the past but the majors and minors have done it. I think I will strongly encourage the majors to write and present in Spanish. I'm not sure what to do with the minors. Reviewing my original post I have succumbed to a false dichotomy that I have identified on this blog but have obviously yet to overcome. Why can't learning to express subtle or even basic ideas, themes, etc. in Spanish be part of a student's intellectual development? Why separate the two skills? I think I need to have more faith in my students abilities and be more comfortable with silence. But I can also imagine myself getting very exhausted and impatient as I try to help them find words to express what they really want to say in Spanish (circumlocution?). But I suppose that is part of my job here.
I think it is correct to point out that language skills or fluency is a minimum requirement for graduate school. I can't recall anywhere on an application asking for my ability to speak Spanish. I guess it is assumed. At the undergraduate level it probably needs to be a priority.
On another note, how is everyone's writing coming along this semester? I'm making good progress on my revision, slowly but surely, which is due 12/1. I also sent off an abstract Friday for a conference next April in Kentucky.
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To the chagrin of target language enthusiasts, I offer up the following compromise. When it comes to writing a long essay or research paper, one could ask the students to write it in English, working closely with the prof to hammer out the grammatical and stylistic kinks and develop the student's ideas. The next phase(s) could consist of translating that paper into Spanish. This multi-phase approach would allow the student to fully develop his ideas on literature (or whatever it is) and then go through the rigorous but rewarding process of translating it into Spanish, which is always a good way to deepen one's knowledge of the language. I suppose I never considered this approach because this was so frowned upon at UCLA, that is, encouraging students to write in English and translate into the target language.
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