Is There Room for Octavio Paz in the Spanish for Business Class?

This paper examines ways that Hispanic culture can be dealt with in Spanish as a foreign language for business. First, rationales for teaching culture are offered, ranging from the abstract observation that knowledge of culture is a required part of a humanistic education, to the more pragmatic need of businesses for representatives who are fluent in language and have an intimate knowledge of culture. Next, the difficulty of defining "culture" and teaching such a broad subject is discussed. Course objectives are then delineated, including enhancement of students' awareness of themselves as cultural beings, explanation of the fluidity and ambiguity of cultural descriptions, and descriptions of the diverse elements that make up a culture and of how cultures are interdependent. (JL)