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  • Hispania’s New Look, the National Spanish Examinations, and Hybrid Education
  • Sheri Spaine Long

We hope that you enjoy Hispania’s brand new look! When you open the cover, you will notice several other changes. For almost one hundred years, Hispania has enjoyed a long history of publishing scholarship on literary criticism, linguistics, and pedagogy. Over the last several decades, linguistics, applied linguistics, language science, and pedagogy articles have gained an ever-growing presence in the journal. As the fields of language and literature evolve, so will Hispania. Beginning in 2014, Hispania’s content appears in a slightly different order. In the March and September issues, the section on Linguistics, Language Science, and Pedagogy will appear first, and the June and December issues of Hispania will begin with articles devoted to the study of Literature, Film, and Culture. We have revamped the order to reflect the interests of our many and diverse constituents and to call attention to our varied scope. From the Editor’s vantage point, I feel it is important to note that we publish many more articles in literary studies because this subcategory leads other areas in the number of submissions that we receive.

In this current issue, the lead article features Pete Swanson’s research on the National Spanish Examinations (NSE), student performance, and Spanish teacher efficacy, for which he collaborated with Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, Director of the NSE. Swanson’s study has implications for teacher preparation and development. Cessna-Buscemi reports that close to 158,000 students took one of the National Spanish Examinations in 2013. Beyond the diagnostic benefits of these exams, the NSE also offers teachers and students access to scholarships and awards. Additional information about the NSE may be found at www.nationalspanishexam.org. I remind our readers that the AATSP also hosts the National Portuguese Examinations (NPE) (see www.aatsp.org for more information).

The second featured article in this issue highlights the hybrid revolution in Spanish-language learning that is taking place in introductory Spanish courses in colleges and universities throughout the United States. Concepción B. Godev’s article takes a unique look at the role of instructors in hybrid education. To introduce this article and further inform about the role of hybrid education in Spanish classes, I invited Luis Hermosilla (see bio below) of Kent State University to pen a guest column about hybrid courses. In his column, he offers an overview of hybrid education, discusses benefits and challenges, and includes references to key publications on the hybrid movement. I encourage you to read about the evolution of delivery formats for beginning Spanish that has occurred in many colleges and universities. I also invite you to enjoy the other articles and reviews in this issue, and I hope that you are pleased with the fresh look of the journal. [End Page 1]

Sheri Spaine Long
Hispania
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