The Necessity of Spanish Speaking Education in Texas A&M University's Department of Construction Science

Abstract

This study investigates the importance the Spanish language has on the construction industry. Due to its highly concentrated Spanish populations, Texas construction sites are filled with Spanish speakers. This creates a need to overcome the language barrier and bridge the gap between the workers and the management, who generally speaks little or no Spanish. Two surveys provided the qualitative data for this study. The first survey gathers views of current students in the Department of Construction Science at Texas A&M University. The other survey gathers opinions from current professionals in the construction industry. The results of these surveys indicate a clear, strong importance of Spanish in the construction industry. In addition, they also point out a definite interest in this subject matter by current students in the program. Two universities that are currently attempting to overcome this problem are the University of Texas at San Antonio and Colorado State University. Colorado State University provides their students with the opportunity to take a class focused specifically on the Spanish language and culture that affects the construction industry. The syllabus for this class serves as a formwork for other similar classes that may follow in the years to come.