Sánchez, (2005) claims: 'The concern to improve language teaching is a common denominator in the history of man”. Regardless of the method … “all of them have always pursued the same objective: to make the acquisition of foreign languages more efficient” (p 7). “The choice of an appropriate method for teaching Spanish as a foreign language is one of the basic questions that every teacher should ask him or herself” (Martín, 2009, p.61).
Respect to the Spanish language through time, it can be affirmed that: In the history of teaching Spanish as a foreign language, the University of Salamanca has always been a reference. The creation of the Studium salmantino dates back to 1218; the University of Salamanca is, therefore, the oldest institution of higher education in the Hispanic world. (Dominguez, Fernández, and García, 2016). Thus, in 1929, this university inaugurated what it considers the first Spanish language course for foreigners, of the modern era; 11 students of different nationalities enrolled in this course. In 2015, the number of students of Spanish as a foreign language was nine thousand, not counting the thousands of people that study the language at the distance. ( Domínguez et al, 2016).
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About the 80s and 90s, it is said that the University of Salamanca revolutionized the teaching of the Spanish language as a foreign language by producing a diversity of texts related to that purpose; from beginner to advanced students. From the grammatical theme, to written practice, through training courses for advanced level students. Even in the nineties, the University of Salamanca itself produces a television content program dedicated to teaching Spanish as a foreign language, with versions for more than twenty different languages ( Domínguez et al, 2016).
Talking about the field of teaching the Spanish language as a foreign language, but earlier in time, we find Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1441-1522). Humanist, philologist and pedagogue. With his work by liberis educandis libellus, he is among the most important and prominent pedagogues of Spanish humanism (Martín, 2009). In 1492, he published his Grammar of the Castilian language, first grammar of a Romance language, and beginning of what we could define as the history of teaching Spanish as a foreign language.
The grammar of Nebrija tries to look for the regulation of a language that at that time was already quite extended. Nebrija indicates the importance of the study of Spanish, since it is in a great moment of diffusion, favored, no doubt, by the political conditions of the moment. (Martín, 2009, p. 57)
In 1845, Sears, a professor of classical languages published a book entitled The Ciceronian or Prussian method for teaching the elements of the Latin language. This was primarily about the teaching of Latin as a cultured language. It was based on grammar and translation. Subsequently, its application was also developed in the learning of other European languages. For this method, language is a set of rules that must be observed to train students in reading and analyzing the literature of the target language and focused primarily on the teaching of grammar (Martín, 2009).
On the other hand, Pérez (2018) states that: Current teaching practices, in general, mainly focus on the use of communicative approaches, in which communication is prioritized in real use situations and the student is placed in the center of the teaching learning process. Within these currents, we find numerous methodological proposals such as the task approach, the project-based approach, the problem-based learning ... In sum, methods are sought that are able to increase student’s motivation and provide opportunities for autonomous practice of the language. (p. 388)
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