199 Breaking language barriers in animal welfare: Developing Spanish for specific purposes courses and internship programs for veterinary and animal science students in Spanish-speaking farm environments.

Abstract

The increasing Spanish-speaking population in the United States (18.5%) highlights a critical challenge: language barriers between Spanish-speaking farmworkers and English-speaking veterinarians, impacting communication, animal welfare, and farm productivity. This study evaluates the effectiveness of Spanish for Specific Purposes in Agriculture (SSPA) courses and related internships in enhancing communication skills and animal welfare knowledge among veterinary and animal science students working in Spanish-speaking farm environments. A preliminary survey identifies communication gaps among non-Spanish-speaking and bilingual animal professionals, guiding the course development. With a collaborative effort of three institutions, three SSPA courses were developed and implemented, followed by six week on-farm internships where English-speaking students presented twelve topics (Euthanasia, Acts of Abuse, Animal Handling, Biosecurity, Animal Health, Records, Feeding and Water Intake, Lameness, Transport, Housing, Mortality, Behavior) to farmworkers in Spanish according to their specific specie: beef cattle, swine, poultry, or dairy. Student performance was assessed via course scores, while farmworkers’ knowledge was evaluated using pre- and post-intervention surveys and feedback. The data from these surveys were analyzed using the McNemar Test to examine changes in categorical responses and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test to evaluate differences in ordinal data, providing a comprehensive analysis of knowledge improvements. Despite challenges such as the lack of course credits and academic workload, the course completion rate of SSPA was 53.62%, higher than in similar studies. Post-intervention results demonstrated significant improvements in farm workers’ knowledge and practices across topics such as Euthanasia, Animal Handling, Biosecurity, and Transport. Although not all questions reached statistical significance, 84% of the questions showed positive changes in the post-survey, further highlighting the overall effectiveness of the intervention. The study also revealed that farmworkers’ education level influenced training effectiveness, underscoring the need to tailor programs for those with higher education, particularly university degrees in Veterinary and Animal Sciences from their home countries. This study shows that SSPA courses, combined with hands-on internships, can effectively address language barriers in farm settings. Moving forward, this project plans to expand its reach through the development of an app and an online platform, making the SSPA courses accessible to the broader agricultural industry, and further enhancing communication and animal welfare practices across diverse farm settings.