Erika Rama

  Spanish Phonetics and Phonology is one of the most challenging and overwhelming courses that a student with a Spanish major must pass in order to be successful in attaining a degree. This class allows students to learn materials that reduce their foreign accent when speaking Spanish, however, grasping this concept is extremely difficult. The course of Spanish Phonetics and Phonology at SUNY Oneonta discusses the placement of different organs in the oral cavity in relation to how sounds are articulated, the lexical and phonetical aspects of various dialects, the sounds of the Spanish language, and phonetic transfers that English speakers make when they speak Spanish. Nonetheless, finding appropriate outside resources that are beneficial to both students and faculty is challenging, as all the materials are either outside of the target language or are not intended for the levels of each individual. Additionally, the ortho-phonetic aspect of language learning is an area that is not very explored because oftentimes, linguists deal with structural or social aspects of language use, instead of improving one’s pronunciation. Most importantly, accessing sites that are free of cost and ADA-compliant is nearly impossible, creating a need for a resource that can allow students to further improve their pronunciation of Spanish while learning about the structural and phonological aspects of the language. Many individuals argue that Rosetta Stone and other similar sites are great resources for language acquisition and for learning to speak a language like a native speaker, however, contrary to these beliefs, these resources use inadequate pedagogies that do not aid in long-term language acquisition and are extremely expensive. 

  The two pronunciation modules that have been created by Erika Rama are a much-needed addition to the companion site that has been created by two other SUNY Oneonta students under the supervision of the same faculty member,  Alejandra Escudero, making it an Open Pedagogy resource in addition to fulfilling the need for equity and inclusion by making this tool ADA compliant. All three editors have adhered to ADA standards during the creation of this site by organizing the material adequately as well as using proper headings and subheadings for those who may be using an audio tool when navigating through the site.  Not only is this beneficial to SUNY Oneonta’s own students, but also to all students wanting to improve their pronunciation of Spanish across the SUNY system at no cost. As a result of the generosity from the College Foundation’s Creative Activity Grant, the addition to the companion site was made possible for students across the SUNY system.