La inmigración no hablante de español en España: situación y características

Abstract

In the present article we define the adult immigrant student in Spain and their characterization as a social collective, as well as their most common particularities. The immigrants are an heterogeneous collective, with different degrees of labour, economic, and personal stability. This generates a diversity of situations that interfere in the learning itinerary of the students. These situations affect their motivation towards the Spanish language and culture. Moreover, one must consider their different cultural background and initial knowledge of the Spanish language. A statistical study shows that this community is mainly adult, with 94% of the population of more than 15 years of age. With respect to their origin, it is very diverse, but two extreme groups may be identified: the immigrants whose origin is a country of high level of development (47.5%, with predominance of western Europeans), and the immigrants from countries of very low to low middle level of development (52.5%, mainly Africans). The teaching to immigrants requires attention to their origin and background, the situation in which they live and their future in the society of reception. The teacher should have an attitude and action that attend to the particularities of this collective. As for the curriculum considerations, the precise linguistic contents should be subordinated to their concrete communicative needs. The teaching/learning of the language holds a very important place, and is a fundamental vehicle of intercultural communication.