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Spanish to English translations [PRO] Certificates, Diplomas, Licenses, CVs / Diploma
Spanish term or phrase:mención en lengua extranjera
I am translating a Diploma and I need to translate "mención en lengua extranjera".
I found "foreign language concentration" on some pages but I don't know if it's accurate.
Target country: UK
"GRADUADO EN MAESTRO EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA
MENCIÓN EN LENGUA EXTRANJERA"
This is the closest one to the meaning I was looking for. I used: "foreign language concentration". On another page of the diploma it states that it is English. So it would be "foreign language concentration: English".
I found several sites that use this term:
...when I suggested "'with an emphasis,' 'concentration' or 'specialization,'" there was a reason I did so here (in Discussion) rather than posting a separate answer, i.e., these are good options in the US, but not in the UK.
Yup, yours truly is keeping away from academic records, never done one never will. I suppose the most irritating thing round here is that the more professional the answer the more amateur is the response (often anyway).
The US term for this is "specialty area". Primary education, of course, is called elementary education in the US:
"Specialty Area – Though many elementary education programs do not require their students to declare a specialty area, an increasing number do. Students can pick from areas such as language arts, mathematics, social studies or science, with five to eight courses typically required in that area." http://www.alleducationschools.com/education-careers/element...
Pardon me for commenting after the event, but you should be aware that (a) "focus" is not UK English, which you said you wanted, and neither is "concentration", and (b) a "mención", in this case, is not a focus or a concentration anyway.
You've summed the scenario up perfectly. I currently have an irritating education translation "parked" until I can give it my fullest attention, which will probably be over the weekend at this rate.
Education terminology is a minefield. One of the main problems is that it's very country-specific and context-specific. Another is that it keeps changing, because the politicians and the theorists who advise them just can't leave things alone; every few years you have to get used to a new set of terms. In Spain and the UK, particularly, this mania for constant reform is a blight and makes teachers' (and translators') lives much more difficult.
And the way in which Charles has explained the meaning of "mención" in this context and how it relates to the UK, is precisely what could be said in relation to the US, where, in the context of degrees in primary education, one would typically see "with an emphasis," "concentration" or "specialization" in such and such.
As you will see, "menciones" are subject areas, in which the future primary teacher will specialise in his/her professional career. Not exclusively; all primary teachers are primarily generalists. But some (not all) have a particular area of expertise (music, PE, languages, or whatever) in which they do more teaching, or a special interest in a more general area of teaching, such as curriculum development. That's what menciones are here.
Those references are all perfectly sound in themselves but they have nothing whatever to do with the meaning of "mención" in this context, which is the new Spanish degree in primary school teaching.
Por su lado, una mención honorífica, también conocida como Cum Laude (alabanza), tal es su denominación original en el idioma latín, es el concepto que popularmente se emplea para designar el nivel destacado con el cual se ha alcanzado un grado académico máximo tal es el caso del doctorado, magister, licenciado, entre otros.
La concesión de la mención a los alumnos de los programas de doctorado regulados por los Reales Decretos 1393/2007 y 99/2011, que se reflejará en el acta correspondiente, dará derecho a incluir en el anverso el título de doctor o doctora la mención “Doctor Internacional”. http://escuelaposgrado.ugr.es/pages/internacional/mencionint...
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
17 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +5
specialism in modern languages
Explanation: In the UK, and indeed Ireland, the word is "specialism" (occasionally "specialisation", but much more rarely).
"Our courses offer four integrated elements of teacher education - school experience, professional studies, subject specialism study and core/wider curriculum study. Indicative modules are below." http://www.chi.ac.uk/ba-hons-primary-teaching-qts
Click on "Course Content"
"You will take core modules in Education that cover a range of teaching skills, and advanced modules in your academic subjects (see subject listings for Environmental Science/Geography, Modern Languages, Social Work, Social Sciences and Nursing). In addition, you will study specialised primary modules in literacy, numeracy and your chosen specialism (Environmental Science, Modern Languages or Early Years)." http://www.stir.ac.uk/undergraduate-study/course-information...
See "Content"
If you search for "BEd"+"primary education"+"specialism" you'll see many more examples.
"Mention" is not used in the UK (or at least it's exceedingly rare if it is). Nor, for that matter, is "concentration" or "emphasis"; these are North American terms.
"Foreign language" would be perfectly OK, but most places in the UK talk about "Modern Languages" rather than "Foreign Languages". The UK term would normally be Modern Languages, plural, which would be applicable whether it's just one language or two.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 35 mins (2015-06-24 21:10:57 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
As I say, "Modern Languages", plural, would be used even if only one language is being studied, and at primary level this will usually if not always be the case. However, if you feel more comfortable with something more literal, there would be nothing wrong with "specialism in a Modern Language" (even though you won't often find that form of words in UK institutions).
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2015-06-24 23:27:02 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
In the light of Bill's comments, I think it is very necessary to establish what "mención" means in this context, which is the new (post-Bologna) Spanish degree in primary school teaching, called (rather bizarrely) Graduado en Maestro en Educación Primaria.
Take, for example, the curriculum for this degree programme at the University of La Laguna. You don't have to do a mención, but if you do you have six to choose from. They are:
"EDUCACIÓN MUSICAL
EDUCACIÓN FÍSICA
INNOVACIÓN E INVESTIGACIÓN CURRICULAR
ATENCIÓN A LA DIVERSIDAD
LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA : INGLÉS
LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA : FRANCÉS" http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2011/04/22/pdfs/BOE-A-2011-7252.p...
So they are a combination of subjects taught at primary schools (music, physical education, languages) and broader aspects of primary education (curriculum development, diversity). In other words, they are professional specialisms: particular subjects or areas of expertise of the future primary school teacher. This is a normal part of the profession both in Spain and the UK, as well as other countries; primary school teachers have to be general class teachers, but in teaching areas requiring particular expertise, such as these, the specialist normally teaches children from other classes apart from his/her own. It's just that primary teachers do not work exclusively in their specialism, as secondary teachers do, so it's a fairly minor part of the degree programme in primary teaching.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2015-06-24 23:29:41 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Another example: the Graduado en Maestro en Educación Primaria programme at the University of Murcia:
"Salidas Profesionales
Maestro de Educación Primaria, con cualificación profesional adicional al perfil común de maestro generalista en al menos una de las siguientes menciones:
Mención en Educación Musical.
Mención en Educación Física.
Mención en Lengua Extranjera Francés.
Mención en Lengua Extranjera Inglés.
Mención en Necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo.
Mención en Educación intercultural y dificultades de aprendizaje.
Mención en Apoyo educativo en dificultades de audición y lenguaje.
Mención en Recursos educativos para la escuela y el tiempo libre." https://www.um.es/infosecundaria/grados/maestro-ed-pri.php
Charles Davis Spain Local time: 05:58 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 483
peer agreement (net): +5
