Nuestro idioma, nuestra herencia: Español para hispanohablantes
Heidi Ann García Carmen Carney,
Thunderbird School of Global Management Trino Sandoval,
Phoenix College
ISBN: 0073385263 Copyright year: 2011
Feature Summary
Each chapter commences with the Para empezar section, which contains an encuesta: a fun and engaging survey or self-test that students take to gauge how much they already know about the chapter theme and how it relates to the country/countries of focus. At the end of each chapter, students return to the survey and retake it to see how much they have learned.
The Lecturas culturales, of which there are three per chapter, are interesting and informative cultural readings that showcase the depth and richness of a given Hispanic cultural genre; they are preceded by an Introducción, which presents an overview of the chapter theme. The post-reading activities in this section consist of basic comprehension-check questions, small-group conversation questions to encourage critical thinking, and a three-part Web exercise where students delve deeper into the reading topic by doing research online. In the three-part Web exercise, they research and answer specific questions (Paso 1), share their findings in groups (Paso 2), and engage in a more personalized discussion guided by key conversation questions (Paso 3).
The Ortografía section focuses on the most common spelling problems for heritage speakers (accent marks and how to know where to put them, b vs. v, g vs. j, and the like).
The Gramática section focuses primarily on verb tenses and moods (the indicative vs. the subjunctive) that tend to be challenging for heritage speakers. Students learn the subtle and not-so-subtle differences between these tenses and moods and complete activities to practice what they have learned.
The Escritura section presents an opportunity for students to sharpen their essay-writing skills by practicing different writing techniques, such as comparison and contrast, biography and autobiography, and the argumentative essay.
Unlike other Spanish for Heritage Speaker textbooks on the market, Nuestro idioma, nuestra herencia contains a Negocios section with a business-oriented reading related to the chapter theme. These readings enable the students to examine the intricate relationship between Hispanic cultures and the business world. The corresponding activities follow the same structure as the activities in the Lecturas culturales section.
The Nuestro idioma boxed feature presents a brief history behind words in Spanish originally derived from a different language (Taino, Nahuatl, Greek, Visigoth, Quechua, Guarani, Arabic, and English), a list of some words from that language, and related activities.
The Personajes destacados boxed feature contains several short biographies of prominent individuals from the country/countries of focus of the chapter, followed by related activities.
At the end of each chapter is the Proyecto final, a theme-related, culminating final project that students work on in pairs. The project builds on the knowledge students have gained over the course of the chapter. Examples of final projects include creating promotional posters and brochures, magazine ads, websites, and even new and innovative products. Moreover, the Proyecto final provides the instructor with an additional opportunity to assess student performance.
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2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education