The Written Word for a World of Global Challenges

CEFR B2-C1

An Intermediate Spanish OER Built Around Literature, Sustainability, and Student-Created Knowledge

This is a Canadian-developed intermediate-level university Spanish Open Educational Resource (OER) created through collaboration among undergraduate students, graduate researchers, and faculty at the University of Calgary and Athabasca University. Designed as an openly licensed alternative to commercial course materials, this resource supports learners who have already acquired the fundamentals of Spanish and are ready to deepen their proficiency through reading, writing, discussion, and critical engagement with global issues.

This resource aligns with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) at the B2-C1 range, while also reflecting the proficiency expectations and pedagogical standards established across North America by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) for learners at the Intermediate to Advanced Low levels.

Rather than focusing on grammar instruction, this OER emphasizes Spanish as a language of analysis, narrative, and global communication, supporting students as they move from basic competence toward greater fluency, sophistication, and intercultural awareness.

Intermediate Language Development Through Authentic Communication

At the intermediate level, students strengthen their ability to communicate with greater complexity, accuracy, and nuance. The course provides extensive opportunities to practice:

  • sustained narration in past, present, and future time frames
  • advanced control of the preterit and imperfect in authentic storytelling
  • more complex sentence structures and connectors
  • academic vocabulary development and stylistic refinement
  • interpretive reading of literary and nonfiction texts
  • written argumentation, reflection, and analysis
  • presentational and interpersonal communication in discussion-based contexts

Grammar is reinforced throughout as a tool for meaningful expression, consistent with ACTFL’s proficiency-oriented approach and CEFR descriptors emphasizing independent language use in real-world contexts.

Spanish Learning Through the Sustainable Development Goals

A defining feature of this OER is its thematic organization around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each unit invites students to explore a major global challenge while using Spanish to interpret, discuss, and respond critically.

Units address themes such as:

  • education, equity, and social inclusion
  • poverty, hunger, and public health
  • gender equality and human rights
  • water, energy, and environmental sustainability
  • biodiversity, climate change, and responsible consumption
  • economic development and innovation
  • peace, justice, and global collaboration

Through these topics, students engage with Spanish not only as a subject of study, but as a language for global citizenship and ethical reflection.

Student-Written Literature and Open Pedagogy

This course is also an example of open pedagogy in action. Many of the short stories, case studies, and learning materials within the resource have been written and created by students as part of their journey through the course itself.

These contributions transform learners from consumers of content into producers of knowledge, while building:

  • creative and academic writing skills
  • deeper cultural and ethical awareness
  • confidence in extended Spanish expression
  • authentic engagement with real audiences beyond the classroom

The result is a living, expanding collection of intermediate Spanish readings and case studies grounded in student voice and social relevance.

Academic Skills, Discussion, and Critical Literacy

In addition to language development, the course strengthens key university-level competencies, including:

  • literary interpretation and cultural analysis
  • structured discussion and collaborative inquiry
  • research-informed writing and citation practices
  • reflective and argumentative composition
  • digital literacy and responsible open scholarship

Foundational modules also introduce learners to Creative Commons licensing, attribution, and the ethics of open knowledge sharing.

Open, Modular, and Designed for University Teaching

This intermediate Spanish OER is fully open access, adaptable, and designed for flexible adoption across postsecondary Spanish programs. Instructors may implement the full sequence or integrate individual thematic units, readings, and student-authored materials into their own curricula.

By combining intermediate proficiency development with sustainability themes, literature, and open pedagogy, this text offers a uniquely Canadian contribution to global Spanish language education that is free to access, free to share, and built for meaningful learning.

A list of project funders, partners, and contributors can be found here.