Abstract:

In the process of teaching Spanish practical courses to students of the Faculty of Philology, the use of newspaper publications as educational material is a relevant issue: the newspaper is important, not only for obtaining information but also for the study of active processes in a literary language, because media text features the formation of new meanings and language means for the designation of new phenomena in modern society.

This article does not fully consider all areas in the methodology of teaching foreign languages and the corresponding theoretical views. The author, on the basis of 15 years of experience teaching Spanish to students at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, attempts to present effective methods for developing lexical skills.

In the Spanish press, publications are designed for the mass readership; therefore, to keep readers’ attention, generally meaningful and publicly available texts are printed. The study of lexical units functioning in Spanish newspaper texts is aimed at consolidating, activating, and expanding vocabulary and developing language competence.

In addition, articles of the Spanish-language press can be used as a source of national-cultural information, because the basis of learning a foreign language is the current approach of intercultural communication, which focuses on the peculiarities of culture and lifestyle of the people, reflected in the specifics of the language.

While the new generation of students is characterized by deep involvement in digital technologies, and the active use of visual materials (video, film, Internet portals) is more in tune with their needs and habits than traditional printed materials, we conclude that effective teaching of Spanish as a foreign language can be successfully built on the use of authentic newspaper texts.

We note that the teacher spends a lot of time selecting articles for each lesson, but high-quality interesting articles with vocabulary and grammar adequate for students’ Spanish, encourage them to not only carefully prepare for classes but also to read Spanish and Latin American newspapers at their leisure, leading to the development of their language skills and the broadening of their horizons.

Keywords:

Authentic newspaper texts, language competence, developing lexical skills, effective teaching of Spanish.