Abstract

This article reports the results of a qualitative study designed to evaluate the experiences of a group of Mexican teachers from University of Veracruz, Mexico, who taught Spanish as a Foreign Language (SFL) at Chongqing University of Science and Technology, China. The results show, first and foremost, that these teachers had difficulties when using the communicative approach in their SFL courses. Among these difficulties were the impossibility of using English as a pivot language to teach Spanish, the use of a textbook called Español Moderno, and teaching a large number of students in each group. Further, this article presents the strategies used by these instructors to try to overcome these difficulties. These strategies include prioritizing the use of reading comprehension over listening comprehension and creating communicative activities with the contents of Español Moderno.