El enfoque intercultural e interdisciplinar en la enseñanza de ELE : "La Ciudad de las Bestias" (2002) de Isabel Allende
This research aims at demonstrating the pertinence of the utilization of the novel The City of the Beasts (Isabel Allende, 2002) as a tool for teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE) at an intermediate level (B2) and in a multicultural context. Within this frame, the teaching of a second language pursues linguistic acquisition and encourages the exploration of a different culture in order to foster the discovery of the values of the other and its critical integration. This attitude shows to be indispensable for the development of the identity of the individual within societies growingly exposed from inside and outside to interaction between cultures. The selected novel allows access to interdisciplinary connections within Quebec’s College programs and promotes an attitude of openness toward the discovery of other cultures and values, requiring availability to question the student’s own cultural presuppositions, according to the tenets of contemporary intercultural studies. The novel belongs to the literary movement of Magical Realism, which helps introduce the students to the exploration of specifically Hispanic cultural themes. After a revision of the place of interculturalism and interdisciplinarity in the teaching of ELE, the dissertation analyses the specific contribution of the selected novel to these dimensions, in order to present exercises oriented toward the practice and the consolidation of grammatical and lexical knowledge, and toward the development of an intercultural sensibility in the students, providing individual and group activities built from the  perspectives that emerge from the text.
Spanish as a Foreign Language Interculturalism Interdisciplinarity Literature The City of the Beasts