Culture as methodology: examples from literature, music, and film in the teaching of spanish as a foreign language

The article aims to disseminate Spanish through an interdisciplinary methodology. To promote reflection on culture from within culture itself, it is suggested to investigate past events using contemporary mechanisms as a starting point. This means highlighting modern works of art that can connect students with historical aspects while fostering their motivation. In alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, three ideas are offered in order to enrich purely linguistic approaches. They are literary materials, closer to entertainment than to traditional didactic resources, and figuratively expose some of the key issues of recent Spain. The first proposal consists of a rapper's poetry that tackles sensitive topics for Western society, while the second one focuses on the new version of a folk composition by another female artist. Thirdly, the role of an actress in the movie about a tragic period for Spaniards is referenced. The poem, the song and the film seem interesting because they are likely also unknown to foreign learners. Ultimately, the objective is to shed light on the contrasts and similarities between their own values or heritage and those of the target language.