{"id":1175,"date":"2016-03-02T11:36:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-02T09:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/?p=1175"},"modified":"2016-03-02T11:36:35","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T09:36:35","slug":"some-archeology-the-old-licenciatura-in-english-philology-thinking-of-the-32-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/2016\/03\/02\/some-archeology-the-old-licenciatura-in-english-philology-thinking-of-the-32-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"SOME ARCHEOLOGY: THE OLD \u2018LICENCIATURA\u2019 IN ENGLISH PHILOLOGY (THINKING OF THE 3+2 REFORM) <\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

The student assembly at the Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres where I work have decided that the national student strike announced for tomorrow is not enough and so have extended it to yesterday, today and tomorrow. I have lost count of all the strikes I have witnessed in my 30 years at UAB, as student and teacher\u2013one thing I know is that none of them have bothered the diverse Ministries of Education at all\u2026 I certainly am in favour of people struggling to defend their rights but I wonder why the methods have not adapted to the 21st century. Also, I fail to understand why suspending one\u2019s education for a few days may send the Ministry any message, as there is no way a students\u2019 strike can reproduce the effect which a workers\u2019 strike is supposed to have. Anyway\u2026 the same arguments all over again every few years if not every year.<\/p>\n

I have already written here about the reasons for the protest: the new degree reform announced in 2014 (see my post for 19 October) and legislated in 2015 (see my post for 4 February). Although we have not yet started drafting the new syllabus and we are actually going through our first process of BA degree accreditation, it seems that the Catalan universities will go ahead with the plan to transform our degrees into the 3+2 model beginning in 2017-18 (some new degrees are starting in September). I was reminded yesterday that the Generalitat has not yet appointed a Secretary for the Universities; besides, there is currently only a provisional Spanish Government, with a most likely chance of new elections in June. How wise it is for any reform to begin at this point is for the reader to decide.<\/p>\n

My own view, already expressed here again and again is that the 3+2 model might be acceptable for English Studies provided a) the 3-year BA is taught only in English, including possible common courses shared with other language and Literature degrees; b) the fees for the 2-year MA are the same as for the BA, so that all newly graduated students can have the option to complete the 3+2 model. This is pretty much the official position of my Department. I have observed also again and again that this apparently new 3+2 model reproduces that of the old \u2018Licenciatura\u2019, which consisted of a first cycle after which you could be granted a \u2018Diplomatura\u2019 degree and a second cycle, followed by a doctoral programme. Actually, the Spanish Parliament has recently determined that in legal terms possessing a \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 is the equivalent of possessing a \u2018Grado\u2019 and a Master\u2019s degree. So, why, many of us are wondering, not go back to the \u2018Licenciatura\u2019.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve done my digging at the website of the Bolet\u00edn Oficial del Estado to find the syllabus (Plan de Estudios) implemented back in 1977, the first one after Franco\u2019s death, that is, the first university reform of our then young democracy. The \u2018Orden por la que se aprueba el Plan de estudios de la Facultad de Filosof\u00eda y Letras de la Universidad Aut\u00f3noma de Barcelona\u2019 can be found at https:\/\/www.boe.es\/buscar\/doc.php?id=BOE-A-1977-27200<\/a> (16 November 1977, BOE 274). I had forgotten that the Facultat offered then 1 single degree in \u2018Filosof\u00eda y Letras\u2019 with specialities, but it is interesting to note that the decree speaks of students tailoring their degrees to suit their needs with the help of a tutor\u2026 (which I never had).<\/p>\n

Credits were counted by classroom time, i.e., 1 hour = 2 credits. The first cycle amounted to 90 credits (15 annual subjects), of which only 18 credits had to be from another speciality; 60 had to be taken within the speciality. The decree gives the Facultat the choice not to organize a common first year syllabus. This sounds quite open in relation to what we have now, though my suspicion is that the freedom granted by the decree was actually diminished by internal regulations. Second cycle: 60 credits, 42 belonging to the speciality chosen, 18 to any other speciality (the word \u2018minor\u2019 was not part of the vocabulary). Now, this does contrast with the current limitations, as students\u2019 need to stick to a much more limited choice. Interestingly, the BOE speaks of \u2018transversal specialities\u2019 taught by different Departments\u2013we could have had, for instance, a second cycle on Literature in different languages\u2026 never happened!!<\/p>\n

Thus, until the \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 became a 4-year degree in 1992 (see http:\/\/www.boe.es\/boe\/dias\/1993\/01\/28\/pdfs\/A02385-02388.pdf<\/a>), students of \u2018Filolog\u00eda Inglesa\u2019 at UAB took the following yearly courses: \u2018English language\u2019 (I, II and III), \u2018English Literature\u2019 (I and II), \u2018Anglo-Saxon Civilization\u2019, \u2018History of Language\u2019 (with the pompous name of \u2018Filolog\u00eda Germ\u00e1nica), and \u2018German language\u2019 (I, II and III). Students also had to take \u2018Lengua Espa\u00f1ola\u2019 (I and II), and \u2018Introduction to Literary Studies\u2019 (taught by the Spanish Department). In the second cycle, if I remember correctly, you could choose to specialize in English language or Literature, provided you chose a minimum of 5 semestral electives from the other branch. I haven\u2019t been able to find a list of subjects, though. <\/p>\n

Seeing this information, I realize that little by little the \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 descendants have pushed German out of the syllabus, to make room for more English language courses beyond the instrumental; Literature has also expanded to include more American Literature. The number of courses outside the Department was back in 1977 the equivalent of 6 semesters, in comparison to the current 4, but still so, these 4 semesters are a bone of contention, for we feel they should be taught in English. Needless to say, this is going to be the main obstacle for our Department in the new reform. All in all, however, the impression that \u2018Licenciados\u2019 (pre-1992) had a better exit level than later students may have to do with their taking a five-year course of studies than with the actual training they received. Following this line of thought, the students receiving the worst training were the ones in the period 1992-2009, as they took a 4-year \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 with no option to take an MA (except abroad).<\/p>\n

Beyond the crucial question of the fees (they were relatively lower for the \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 and the same for the five years), our specific problem\u2013and I refer here to all English Studies in Spain\u2013is our students\u2019 low command of the language we teach in. This is something we all know: the 1977 \u2018Licenciatura\u2019 attracted mostly students who understood that their English had to be solid enough to face the demands of the degree; since 1992, however, and particularly since the implementation of LOGSE in 1994, we are attracting students who, mostly, want to learn English. I\u2019m perhaps exaggerating and back in 1977 (or 1984 when I started the \u2018Licenciatura\u2019) there were also many students with an inadequate command of English. I recall, however, from my students\u2019 days a high rate of competitiveness among students to test who had the best accent, the largest vocabulary. This has been gradually vanishing from our classrooms. It makes for a certainly more relaxed atmosphere but the absence of peer pressure and the decreasing standards have also increased the time we need for pure instrumental language training. Hence the need to turn absolutely all subjects into English language practice.<\/p>\n

That this is seen with a great deal of hostility became evident to me recently. I explained the idea that the common courses should also be taught in English, even when they are taught by teachers outside the Department, to a colleague in the Comparative Literature section (they teach the first year core course) and he was absolutely furious. Two things were striking in his overreaction: a) the idea that, we, English philologists, are not qualified to teach Linguistics and Literary Theory and b) a total incomprehension regarding the role that English plays in our classrooms. I understand the territorialism though, obviously, I disagree with it. What baffles me is the other matter. I tried to explain that if my students\u2019 English is too weak, there is no way I can teach them Dickens (for example) but I totally failed. Now, my students\u2019 English has been too weak for Dickens since, at least, I insist, 1994 and may never again be strong enough. Whether we limit the BA degrees to 3 years might make no difference at all, as I\u2019ll probably still be teaching Dickens in the second year but, surely, if we could use more time for English in the first year, that would make at least some difference. Why this is so hard to understand is beyond me\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll stop here. My master\u2019s students have democratically decided not to be on strike this afternoon so I\u2019m off to the UAB, hoping the habitual picket lines and barricades will be no obstacle\u2026 But that\u2019s a topic for another post.<\/p>\n

Comments are very welcome! (Thanks!) Just remember that I check them for spam; it might take a few days for yours to be available. Follow on Twitter the blog updates: @SaraMartinUAB. You may download the yearly volumes from http:\/\/ddd.uab.cat\/record\/116328. See my publications and activities on my personal web http:\/\/gent.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/
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The student assembly at the Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres where I work have decided that the national student strike announced for tomorrow is not enough and so have extended it to yesterday, today and tomorrow. I have lost count of all the strikes I have witnessed in my 30 years at UAB, as student […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-teaching-tools-and-rules"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webs.uab.cat\/saramartinalegre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}