Integration of Personal Narratives in Spanish as a Foreign and Additional Languages: Ethics and Emotions

Abstract

The objective of this exploratory multiple case study with a pre-experimental design is to examine how first-person personal narratives activate ethical and emotional competences in learning Spanish as a foreign, second, or additional language. A narrative questionnaire was applied, including self-conjugated prompts, affective icons, and written production tasks, to 18 volunteers (speakers of Mexican indigenous languages, English, and Italian), with oral adaptations in cases of limited literacy. Although participation was reduced, it reflects the historical displacement of Spanish over indigenous languages, a process that has led to their disappearance or near disappearance within the framework of processes of conquest. The analysis, triangulated with 255 fragments from the CEDEL2 corpus, shows subjective involvement in prompts that promote self-reflection and discursive responsibility, with a shift from “we” to “I” among indigenous speakers. Findings suggest that integrating personal narratives with affective and ethical dimensions strengthens linguistic competence and meaningful communication in both L1 and additional languages.