Sociolinguistic competence and the cultural components within the teaching-learning process of Spanish in a context of linguistic submersion

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the importance of the role of sociolinguistic competence and the social and cultural components during the process of formal instruction within a framework where two different languages and cultures coexist, as is the case in the autonomous city of Ceuta where Spanish is the only official. To do so, we begin by clarifying certain terminology (sociolin-guistic competence...), and then describe the social and linguistic framework in which we find ourselves in order to relect on the state of the question of the case study we present. We approach some contents of the cultural competence that differentiate both groups of students-speakers of dariya and speakers of Spanish-. We conclude by stressing the need for teacher training in this type of context as well as sociocultural awareness in order for the target langauage -Spanish -to be taught using the appropriate didactic approaches in such a way as to afford the students the opportunity to develop sociocultural competence in the target language.