Sabías que-- ? : beginning Spanish

Bill VanPatten

ISBN 10: 0070672326 ISBN 13: 9780070672321

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 1996

Synopsis

This highly innovative beginning Spanish text is both task-based as well as content-based. A task-based approach requires students to use Spanish to complete specific goals or tasks. "Sabias que ...?" is content-based in that it includes readings from a variety of disciplines.

About this title

From the Publisher:

'SABÍAS QUE... ? is organized into 6 units, each with its own theme: Ourselves, Our families, Food, Health, The Human Animal, and the Future.
Each unit contains 3 lessons for a total of 18 lecciónes. The first two lessons of each unit concentrate on oral proficiency while the third lesson incorporates oral work with reading and writing practice.

In addition to providing students with authentic content, 'SABÍAS QUE... ? gives them authentic cooperative tasks to complete. When they are communicating to complete such interactive tasks as interviewing one another to create family trees, students have both a context and a purpose for using their new language skills.

The cumulative task at the end of each lesson Intercambio acts as a clearly defined proficiency goal; if a student can complete the task, then she/he has learned the necessary material for that lesson.

'SABÍAS QUE... ? presents grammar in the context of the content areas of the book. It contains no purely mechanical exercises but offers instead meaningful practice and communicative activities making the text more interesting to teachers and students alike.

'SABÍAS QUE... ? contains somewhat fewer grammar topics than most first year texts so that both teachers and students can concentrate on the structures that are most important for beginning students to learn.

'SABÍAS QUE... ? is designed so that the main sections of each Lección, called Ideas para explorar, can be completed in one class meeting which makes planning lessons and constructing syllabi easier. In addition, the authors of 'SABÍAS QUE... ? have constructed their program in such a way that homework assignments follow up material presented in class, rather than expecting students to prepare new material before class.
The complete grammar explanations and verb paradigms have been moved from the workbook to the textbook.

Unit III (Food) has been thoroughly revised and is now more engaging and student-focused. Unit IV includes a new lesson on travel plans, traveling, and other survival skills.

Grammar summaries are provided at the end of each unit so that students can review at a glance the material presented in the unit.

Three new features have been added to the second edition:
ASÍ SE DICE boxes offer special information on grammar and "watch out" asides to students. Many contrast English and Spanish to help students "think" in Spanish.
The CONSEJO PRÁCTICO feature provides study hints, reading and writing tips, and so on.
NOTAS COMMUNICATIVAS are suggestions for managing conversations, colloquialisms, conversational gambits, and the like.

Sections called LOS HISPANOS HABLAN introduce students to Spanish speakers from all over the world to expose them to cultural and language differences. Each LOS HISPANOS HABLAN section is now accompanied by its own follow-up activity and many are included on the new student listening comprehension tape.

Lively VISTAZOS sections at the ends of the lessons include short literary selections with interactive activities.

Every student copy of the text is packaged with a listening comprehension tape for students. The student tape contains voices of some of the people quoted in the LOS HISPANOS HABLAN sections of the text and readings from the VISTAZOS feature along with additional material.

The two Workbook/Lab Manuals now include self-quizzes at the end of each lesson that focus on both proficiency and comprehension.

About the Author:

Bill VanPatten is Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Chanpaign, where he is Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese and the Advisor for the undergraduate program in Spanish teacher education. He received his Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983. His areas of research are input and output processing in second language acquisition, the impact of instruction on second language acquisistion, and the acquisition of Spanish syntax and morphology. He teaches a wide range of courses from beginning Spanish to doctoral seminars on language acquisition. He has published numerous articles and chapters in books and is the co-author of several McGraw-Hill Spanish textbooks. He is also the designer of Destinos, a television course for PBS. James F. Lee is Professor of Spanish, Director of Language Instruction, and Director of the Programs in Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University. His research interests lie in the areas of second language reading comprehension, input processing, and exploring the relationship between the two. His research papers have appeared in a number of scholarly journals and publications. His previous publications include Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen (1995, McGraw-Hill) and several co-edited volumes, including Multiple Perspectives on Form and Meaning, the 1999 volume of the American Association of University Supervisors and Coordinators. Dr. Lee is also the author of Tasks and Communicating in Language Classrooms (2000, McGraw-Hill). He has also co-authored several textbooks including 'Sabias que'? Beginning Spanish (2000 McGraw-Hill), 'Que te parece? Intermediate Spanish (2000, McGraw-Hill) and Ideas: Lecturas, estrategias, actividades y composiciones (1994, McGraw-Hill). He and Bill VanPatten are series editors for the McGraw-Hill Second Language Professional Series.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0070672326
• ISBN 13: 9780070672321
• Binding: Loose Leaf