Text Organization
The fifth edition consists of the following lessons::
Enfoque
This section highlights a specific geographic region of the Hispanic world and serves as an invitation to visit. A map of the area and colorful photographs reflect the theme of the lesson as well as the target country. Warm-up questions immediately involve students in discussions related to the lesson theme.
Vocabulario para la comunicación
Each lesson opens with a drawing that depicts a scene from everyday life (such as Primer día de clase, En el aeropuerto, and Los quehaceres domésticos) followed by high-frequency vocabulary words to help students communicate at the intermediate level and beyond. The exercises that follow offer ample opportunity to master the new words and phrases.
Perspectivas
Chosen with students’ interests in mind, these reading develop reading comprehension while highlighting cultural, practical, and contemporary issues related to Spanish and Latin American life. Pre- and post-reading activities encourage students to partner and participate in meaningful discussions.
Estructuras
Clear, concise grammar explanations are presented entirely in Spanish. Reading selections, culled from authentic sources such as newspapers, magazines, advertisements, and other sources, showcase the all-important grammar concepts. Students see “textbook Spanish” translated into daily interchanges among Spanish speakers, where verbs, pronouns, prepositions, and other grammatical items are used as genuine tools of communication.
Práctica Exercises
Presented in a variety of formats, many exercises and activities are based on real-life situations. Some have specific answers; others are more open-ended and require creative input. All are closely related to the lesson theme and geographic area, and provide opportunities for students to practice the vocabulary and grammar in various contexts. By the end of the lesson, students can express themselves with confidence about the chapter topics.
Más allá del aula
This new section, which appears in each lesson starting in lesson six, gets students out into the community practicing their language skills with the more than forty million Spanish speaking people in the United States.
¡Ojo con estas palabras!
This section highlights tricky Spanish words whose meanings can fool the English speaker, such as saber vs. conocer and llevar vs. tomar, as well as false cognates like actualmente.
Ampliación y conversación
These sophisticated activities "put it all together," giving students a chance to practice the vocabulary and grammar structures that they have learned throughout the program. As always, the emphasis is on real communication and in authentic cultural contexts. Activities include Encuestas, Mesas redondas, and Minidramas. Students particularly like these activities because they bring out the actor—and the philosopher—in themselves. ¿Qué saben Uds. de... ? activities provide a wealth of suggestions for investigating important aspects of the highlighted country.
¡Revise su ortografía! provides basic spelling rules to help improve students' writing skills in Spanish. This section is particularly useful to native speakers or heritage language learners who have had little or no Spanish language instruction.
Ampliación y composición
These writing assignments ask students to compose a letter, an opinion essay, or a detailed description, giving them the opportunity to put their thoughts and feelings into words without the pressure of having to pronounce words correctly or speak extemporaneously.
New to This Edition
*Two-page lesson openers that include a map of the target region, a photo that reflects the geographic location, and a photo that reflects the lesson theme within the geographic region. Icebreaker questions foster warm-up conversations between students and serve as an advance organizer for the vocabulary and theme to come.
*Edited vocabulary lists. Lists have been reorganized and pared down.
*Complete sets of vocabulary exercises and activities designed to promote acquisition of target lexicon.
*Revised and reorganized grammar presentations to facilitate independent student learning.
*Task-based activities to help students actualize new grammar and vocabulary and perform authentically in Spanish.
*Suggestions for involvement in Latino communities both real and virtual.
The following lesson components have been restructured for clarity and consistency:
*The Sabías que… sections that introduce each reading and have a photo to illustrate one of the culture capsules are now geographically and culturally consistent.
*New readings in each lesson reflect the chapter geography and cultural theme while highlighting target grammar structures.
*Many communicative, task-based, pair and group exercises have been added -- 80% are new!
*Ampliación y conversación activities, offering ample opportunities for proficiency-based communciation, have also been revised to practice grammar, integrate the vocabulary, and present target culture information.
*Culture themes and vocabulary have been fully integrated into every aspect of the lesson (exercises and activities, grammar illustrations, realia, photos, etc.). Each lesson focuses squarely on the target region, and presents new information throughout the lesson via readings, culture capsules, exercises and activities, visuals, realia, and grammar examples.
Hallmark Features
- Written entirely in Spanish to free students from their dependence on English and encourage them to acquire Spanish proficiency quickly and effectively.
- Clear and in-depth grammar presentations, explanations and practice, taught in the target language and presented in culture-rich contexts allow students to study structures at homes, freeing classtime for clarification, practice, communication and interaction.
- High interest cultural readings using authentic materials, photographs, maps, and other visual content reflect the latest trends in the Hispanic world while providing historical, geographic and literary information about the diversity of the Hispanic world.
- Thematic, functional vocabulary presentations supported by a variety of exercises and activities facilitate development of communication ski lls.
- Task-based communicative exercises, activities, and suggestions involve students in Latino communities (both real and virtual) in which they can practice grammar using authentic Spanish.
- Graded activities guide students logically as they develop a broader base of Spanish language skills and become confident communicators and cultural connoisseurs.
- Writing activities provide an integrative format for learning to write in Spanish correctly and creatively.
- Authentic readings expose students to real language and prepares them to read at higher levels.
