Cognitive Psychology in Bilbao

Second Year Psychology students enrolled on PSYC2092 Cognitive Psychology  are eligible to participate on this opportunity. There are a maximum of 20 places available, with a minimum of 15 participants required for this opportunity to take place. Students are recommended to check the eligibility criteria before applying.

What is the process of foreign language acquisition and how can we facilitate this? This DMU Global opportunity to Bilbao, Spain seeks to explore this question, providing a lived experience of intentional/explicit learning as well as incidental/informal language learning as taught in the PSYC2092 Cognitive Psychology module.

Students on this trip will experience breaking into a new language through formal explicit Spanish language learning classes provided by the Language Learning Centre at the University of Deusto. These will be suitable for complete beginners in Spanish. This will be contrasted with an exploration of informal incidental language learning opportunities whilst in Bilbao.

The opportunities to “soak-up” the language will be provided through restaurant outings and a visit to the Mercado La Ribera (food market) and optional trips to the Zubiarte cinema and to the seaside village of Plentzia. In addition, the cultural activities described below (e.g. Guggenheim museum and day-trip to San Sebastian) also provide language learning opportunities as students will be exposed to Spanish language informally.

Learning Objectives

Participating in a DMU Global opportunity can help you develop knowledge, skills and competencies that enhance your studies. The objectives of this trip to Bilbao are:

Ahead of the trip, students will be encouraged to listen to The Language Scientists Podcast Episode 1 “Incidental Learning”. This podcast episode explains the differences between incidental and explicit learning as it relates to language learning. After the trip, students are encouraged to continue their language learning journey independently. Episode 3 of the podcast discusses many different ways of boosting language learning out of the classroom.

Cultural Activities

Students will enjoy a guided tour of the University of Deusto and of world-famous Guggenheim museum and an exciting day out in San-Sebastian to visit the old town and enjoy the beach (named one of the best city beaches in the world!). The Guggenheim museum is a contemporary art museum home to “The Matter of Time” giant sculptures by Richard Sierra where we walk through and around the sculptures for an immersive experience.

There is also the famous flower sculpture “Puppy” by Jeff Koons and “Maman” the giant spider by Louise Bourgeois (and so much more!). In San-Sebastian there are opportunities for optional visits to the aquarium, San Telmo museum as well as a hike to the Castillo de la Mota on Mount Urgull.

Travel to Spain is permitted according to the travel rules for England as listed on UK Government website. Further guidance can be found on the FCDO webpage for Spain.

All students that are offered a place on this DMU Global opportunity will receive further COVID-19 advice and guidance by email and in pre-departure briefing sessions. More details and COVID-19 Travel Information can be found here.