Benefits of and barriers to utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER) in teaching and learning Spanish for specific purposes

As Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) continues to grow at U.S. universities, the need for research on its teaching and learning is expanding. As more colleges provide Open Educational Resources (OER), SSP instructors have created, adopted, or adapted OER. This study examines OER’s role in SSP and investigates the extent to which SSP instructors use or refrain from using OER. The researchers surveyed 81 SSP instructors at U.S. institutions and then interviewed 11 of them in individual or focus group settings. Using constructivist grounded theory, the team coded transcripts line by line and grouped codes into categories related to OER in SSP: SSP Course Characteristics, Types of OER, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and OER, Confusion about OER Terminology, Collaboration, and Benefits of OER and Barriers to OER or disadvantages of OER in SSP. Additional topics that emerged included community engagement, diverse language proficiency, and cultural competence related to OER used in SSP courses. Participants indicated a need for higher-quality, field-specific OER and greater institutional support for creating, adapting, and revising materials. This study shows that college-level SSP instructors require more evidence-based research and collaboration to develop and effectively implement OER in SSP courses.