Cervantes y "El Quijote" como propuesta didáctica literaria para estudiantes norteamericanos de E/LE

Abstract

The present doctoral thesis belongs to the Doctoral Programme in Linguistic, Literary and Theatrical Studies of Universidad de Alcalá (University of Alcalá). However, the main aim of this thesis is not the linguistic or literary analysis of the work The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, but its educational possibilities in the classroom. In particular, the teaching project is aimed at North American students of University Degree taking the subject of Spanish as a Foreign Language. This thesis has been developed from a thorough analysis of all the methods carried out when teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language and its Literature throughout history with two purposes. In the first place, to present the absence of programmes devoted to reading and analysing Don Quixote with literary purposes instead of linguistic ones for North American students whose tongue language is different from Spanish. In second place, to establish a theoretical framework on which an original and innovative teaching programme could be based. Regarding all the above mentioned ideas, a new method focused on Reading and understanding Don Quixote, as well as its literary nature is proposed and aimed at North American students in Spanish as a Foreign Language classroom.