978-0073534497 04 Chapter Structure And Teaching Techniques For Puntos De Partida Part 1

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Chapter Structure and Teaching Techniques for Puntos de

partida

Note: This section provides detailed explanations of the parts of each chapter in Puntos de partida—

what is found in each of them and why—as well as general suggestions for using, elaborating upon,

and adapting the text materials and Annotated Instructor’s Edition (AIE) glosses.

A. Capítulo 1: Ante todo

The first chapter of the text has three purposes: to make students aware of the importance of the

Spanish language; to give them a functional introduction to the language and make it possible for

them to speak it from the very first day of class, before any grammar has been formally covered;

and to set up the organization of the chapters that follow.

Capítulo 1: Ante todo is divided into two parts. After the chapter opening spread (explained in

part B of this section of the Instructor’s Manual [IM]), Primera parte begins with Saludos y

expresiones de cortesía, a section with three minidialogues, a number of useful expressions, and

importance, wide dispersion, and diversity of modern Spanish, including the Spanish spoken in this

country. It both conveys information and aims to motivate students as they begin their study of

Spanish.

Segunda parte begins with Los números del 0 al 30; Hay, which develops the concept of

gender and introduces hay for both statements and questions. In Los gustos y preferencias only

the singular me/te/le gusta forms are introduced, and activities with these memorized forms

introduce students to the forms of the definite article and to infinitives.

The next section is telling time (¿Qué hora es?), which in this edition includes an introduction

to the days of the week. Telling time is followed by a two-page Salu2 section (explained in part B).

1. The First Day of Class

The first day of class can be the most important day of the course, since it sets the tone for what will

happen during the rest of the term. Many language instructors like to use the first class meeting to

introduce students to both the course and the language. The first day of class can include an

introduction to the course, getting to know students, and beginning an active practice of the

Spanish language.

a. Introduction to the Course

You may want to include the following items as you briefly discuss the organization of the course,

although many of the details can be left until later in the term.

• Introduce yourself and announce your office number, office phone number, and the hours when

you will be available to students for individual consultations. You will probably wish to share your

e-mail address with students. Be sure to explain for what reasons you think students should use e-

mail to contact you and your policy about answering e-mails.

• State the course goals. Will there be equal emphasis on all four language skills (listening,

speaking, reading, and writing), or will there be special emphasis on one or more of them? To what

extent will cultural content be required learning?

• What are your other expectations? Is attendance required? Will written exercises be collected and

corrected? Will students complete their homework on-line? Will homework exercises be corrected

or discussed in class? What do you expect in terms of class participation and lab attendance?

• Discuss the media center or language laboratory and use of the audio and video programs, if

b. Getting to Know Students

Because language learning is essentially communication practice and requires a lot of risk taking on

the part of the learner, it is extremely important for students and instructor to get to know each

other and feel comfortable together. There are several ways to establish this kind of rapport.

• Give general information about testing and grading.

• Have students fill out an information sheet or a file card with whatever information you think

would be useful or interesting to know about them: name; high school attended; local address and

phone number; e-mail address; language studied previously in high school or college, and for how

long; class rank and major; whether they have ever traveled, worked, or studied in another country

B. Chapter Sequence, Cultural Content, and Types of Activities

Each of the seventeen remaining chapters of Puntos is organized according to the following fixed

sequence.

Chapter Opening Spread

Vocabulario: Preparación

A escuchar

Producción personal

Subsections: ¡Ahora, yo!

A escribir

Más ideas para su portafolio

En resumen: En este capítulo

This section of the IM follows the chapter sequence section by section (exception: Salu2, which is

discussed in B.7. below.) But first, a few words about the text’s cultural content are appropriate.

Culture is presented throughout each chapter, from beginning to end, in explicit sections that focus

exclusively on culture. But culture is also embedded in other features (such as Gramática y acción

and grammar activities). Explicit presentation of culture is always found in the following sections or

features.

Chapter Opening Spread (see 1 below)

Producción personal (new to this edition; see 9 below)

The Algo sobre… feature, not the only new cultural feature in this edition, is unusual in that it can

occur in any part of the chapter from Vocabulario: Preparación to Un poco de todo. The Algo

sobre… are brief cultural capsules (minireadings) that provide information about the country of

focus. There are usually three Algo sobre… features in each chapter. Thus, culture appears

throughout the chapters, not only in features that are explicitly labeled “culture” or (as often

happens in language textbooks) in cultural readings. The Algo sobre… are always accompanied by

a photograph or realia, and they are always followed by a discussion question that focuses on

cultural contrasts. These features are very brief, so that they can be quickly covered in class if

instructors wish.

333). Students’ experience with these practice activities will be enhanced if they have read the

accompanying Algo sobre… feature.

1. Chapter Opening Spread

The first two-page spread of each chapter serves to introduce students to the cultural themes and

grammar points to be studied in the chapter. The photograph on the left-hand page reflects both the

theme(s) of the chapter and the country or countries targeted in many of the chapter’s cultural

The right-hand page offers both cultural information and a communicative introduction to the

chapter.. At the top of the page, a map of the country or countries shows them in their geographical

context,, and is accompanied by a brief bulleted list of interesting facts about the country, along

with the country’s flag (in abbreviated United Nations format). Marginal annotations in the AIE

(continued in the Section Chapter-by Chapter Supplementary Materials of this IM) offer additional

information about the country or countries of focus. The lower part of the page includes chapter

theme-related questions that require use of some of the chapter’s vocabulary and grammar. These

questions are answered in a natural manner by a fictional character who represents a region of the

Spanish-speaking world. These answers, which can be also be heard on Connect, represent a model

for students to attain; they can be used as an oral capstone experience at the end of the chapter.

2. Vocabulario: Preparación

This section of each chapter presents important vocabulary related to the chapter theme and

provides vocabulary-building activities. Only thematically related words are introduced and

practiced in this section. Theme-related words active in previous chapters are also listed or

illustrated here, for purposes of review. (A complete list of all new words for the chapter is in the

En resumen: En este capítulo at the end of each chapter, and review vocabulary is noted in

Repaso lists in that section.)

It is assumed that the Vocabulario: Preparación section will be studied before the other

sections of the chapter. This approach establishes the chapter theme and makes it possible to

reenter and thus reinforce these important lexical items throughout the chapter. It also minimizes

the amount of active vocabulary introduced later in exercises and in the Gramática sections, where

emphasis is on the presentation of new grammar.1 Finally, it ensures that students will have the

vocabulary necessary to handle the communicative situations posed throughout the chapter.

1Active vocabulary introduced in other parts of the chapter is indicated by a Suggestion: Active vocabulary… in the AIE

annotations if it is not immediately obvious. See, for example, p. 74 of the AIE (the Suggestions for Prác. G and H).. Words

listed or illustrated in Vocabulario: Preparación would not be called out in this way, nor would new verbs introduced in lists in

Gramática sections. However, new vocabulary introduced in exercises and activities is noted with this convention, as is new

vocabulary from Gramática en acción and paradigm sentences in Gramática sections. Instructors should note that nothing has

changed in the way vocabulary introduction is handled in Puntos. The text has done this since its first edition. The system has

been made salient for instructors since the Ninth Edition. Vocabulary is made active only in the Vocabulario: Preparación and

Instructors can use the image(s) and/or vocabulary list that appear at the beginning of each

Vocabulario: Preparación section as a vehicle for the introduction of theme vocabulary. In

addition, many suggestions for working with the vocabulary are provided in the AIE and in Section

X of this IM. Instructors should note in particular the suggestions for presenting vocabulary via

listening passages (examples of which are found in Section VIII).

Many instructors feel it is useful to begin by modeling pronunciation of new lexical items and

then asking for choral repetition. Modeling pronunciation means providing an example of the

correct pronunciation of the words or phrases that appear in the list. Students listen and imitate

your pronunciation. Choral repetition means repetition by the whole class, with students speaking

in unison. Beginning with choral repetition provides practice for everyone— an especially

important factor in large classes— and allows individual students to reach some level of accuracy

and confidence before being called on individually. During choral repetition, you can listen

attentively for errors in pronunciation and call attention to them. It is best to deal with such errors

as a whole-class activity, rather than drawing attention to individual students.

Certain conventions are observed in the listing of vocabulary, and you will want to bring these

to students’ attention at the beginning of the course. Nouns are always given with their articles in

Vocabulario: Preparación and students should be encouraged to learn the article with the noun as

a means of learning the gender of nouns. Both masculine and feminine forms are indicated for

adjectives—alto/a, trabajador(a)—and for nouns referring to persons—el chico / la chica, el

profesor / la profesora. The use of a slash (o/a) indicates that the –o ending of the masculine form

is replaced by –a in the feminine form. The use of parentheses (a) indicates that the –a is added to

the masculine form to form the feminine. (Complete forms for nouns are spelled out in

Vocabulario: Preparación, as just shown, but abbreviated in En resumen: En este capítulo: el/la

chico/a, el/la profesor(a).)

In addition to practice activities (discussed in detail below), every Vocabulario: Preparación

section has a Nota cultural, which is always related to the chapter’s theme. The Notas present the

cultural practices of the Hispanic world and also comment on the realities of modern society.

Information is often but not always related to the country or countries of focus. For example, the

Nota cultural in the Vocabulario: Preparación section of Capítulo 5 (p.134) discusses houses in

the Spanish-speaking world, not specifically in El Salvador or Nicaragua, but the photo that

illustrates the Nota shows the casa natal of Rubén Darío, of Nicaragua

Practice is just as essential in learning vocabulary as it is in learning grammar, and so a great

variety of vocabulary building activities has been included in the Vocabulario: Preparación

section. The most frequently used repeating types of vocabulary activities in Puntos include the

following. Many examples are taken from the first chapters of Puntos, as an aid to instructors who

are not familiar with the text. Note that many of these activity types occur in other sections of the

text as well. In addition to the vocabulary activities in the student text, many more activities are

provided in the suggestions on the oversized margins in the AIE. If those suggestions and the

Gramática sections. Vocabulary is never made active in any other section of the text. This decision allows instructors to use or

not use sections such as Salu2, A leer, A escuchar, and Producción persona,l according to the needs of their class; they can be

omitted with no consequences to the chapter’s active vocabulary.

listening passage model of vocabulary presentation are followed, the following sequence will be

observed.

a. Fill-in-the-Blank Activities

This type of exercise requires students to fill in the blank with the word or phrase that most

accurately completes the sentence. For example, in Comunicación B, ¿Quién es? (p. 63), students

study the chapter vocabulary list, then complete the sentences with the correct names of members

and so on.

b. Question/Answer (Personalized Questions)

In this type of activity, students practice new vocabulary by answering questions based on general

knowledge or shared reality (the classroom environment, for example), or by answering questions

about themselves and sharing their own experiences or opinions. For example, the questions in

Práctica y comunicación D. Intercambios (p. 14) illustrate the wide range of question-answer

sequences. Item 1 draws on shared knowledge: ¿Cuántos (How many) estudiantes hay en la clase

de español?, and so on. Item 2 requires general knowledge: ¿Cuántos días hay en una semana

(week)?, and so on. Item 3 is both general (En una universidad… ) and specific to your campus

(En esta [this] universidad… ).

c. Logical Completion and Personalized Completion

In this type of fill-in-the-blank activity, students practice new vocabulary by completing sentences

with logical words and phrases, or according to their own opinions, attitudes, or experiences. There

is, of course, no single right answer to this type of activity, but you can gauge students’ command

d. Associations

In this type of activity, students indicate what words or phrases they associate with other words or

phrases. Thus, they make associations between vocabulary items and review vocabulary clusters,

for example, Comunicación B. Asociaciones (p. 104). Here, students demonstrate their

understanding of new vocabulary by providing words they associate with various colors.

1. gris

2. verde

and so on.

e. Definitions

In the first chapters of Puntos, definition activities are passive in nature; students are given a

definition or paraphrase of a vocabulary item and respond only with the item defined. Sometimes

only the definitions are given and students must supply words on their own, for example,

Comunicación B (p. 204):

and so on.

In later chapters, definition activities become more active, and students are asked to give simple

definitions of new vocabulary items. By this point, they will have a large enough vocabulary to

create reasonable definitions, as in Comunicación B (p. 447). In other definition activities a

matching format is used (Comunicación A, p. 451).

f. Visual-based Activities

In this type of activity, students complete sentences, answer questions, or make statements based

on images in the text. Vocabulary items are cued without the use of translation, and without the

cue’s telling the students the word you want them to practice. Sometimes these activities are very

structured, allowing for only one correct answer. Generally, however, they are more open, allowing

for increased student creativity while providing a structure for it. In such open-ended activities,

students should be encouraged to produce as many answers as possible. Often, several students

may express the same idea in very different ways, and that type of repetition should be encouraged,

g. ¿Cierto o falso? (Agree or Disagree)

In this type of activity, students indicate whether statements are true or false, or whether they

agree or disagree with them. In many cases, students know enough vocabulary and grammar to

correct false statements or change statements to ones with which they agree, for example,

Comunicación A.La familia de Patricia (p. 63). In this activity, correcting false statements is quite

simple to do, since students need to change only the name in question or the word that describes

the relationship. A more complex example of this type of exercise is Comunicación D (p. 528):

D. Ud. y los medios de comunicación. En parejas, expresen y justifiquen su opinión sobre las

siguientes ideas.

1. El interés por los reality shows demuestra que el público no se interesa realmente en los

problemas actuales del mundo.

2. La prensa de los países democráticos es con frecuencia irresponsable y parcial.

and so on.

Here, students express personal opinions and attitudes about television, the media, and the

Internet by reacting to a series of statements. All items are well within simple correctable range by

changing a word or phrase in the statements, by adding or deleting no, or by transposing elements.

h. Matching (Multiple Choice)

This type of activity focuses on the recognition of new vocabulary. Students are asked to match new

words with their definitions or with their opposites, questions with appropriate answers, or

i. Situations/Logical Conclusions

In this type of activity, the text provides the situation or context within which to use vocabulary.

Students respond to the situation by telling what they would do or say, for example, Comunicación

B. El clima en el mundo, Paso 1 (p. 167). This activity is structured enough to lead students in the

direction of the use of particular vocabulary items (in this case, weather expressions).

j. Survey/Self-tests

In the category of the input-based activities described in Section I is a type of activity best described

as a Survey/Self-Test. In these activities, which frequently occur in the Vocabulario: Preparación

sections as well as in Gramática and Un poco de todo, students check off the answers to a series of

questions or responses to items. Typical surveys ask for yes/no or true/false answers or for

students to rate the frequency with which they do a particular activity. An example of this type of

activity is Comunicación A. ¿Qué hace Ud.? Paso 1 (p. 237):

1. Cuando estoy de vacaciones, tomo el sol.

2. Prefiero ir de vacaciones a las montañas.

and so on.

The activity offers structured input with the new vocabulary from the section (De vacaciones) and,

at the same time, is highly personalized, since students respond according to their own experiences.

The advantages and benefits of this type of activity are obvious. Although on the surface the

activity seems relatively passive, it is quite engaging and will maintain students’ interest.

Furthermore, it is extremely easy to engage students in conversations about their answers, allowing

for productive use of the section and chapter’s vocabulary in general.

k. Estudio de palabras Activities

The purpose of this type of activity is to make students more aware of word families and word

morphology— the forms of related nouns and verbs. In Comunicatión A. Estudio de palabras (p.

327), for example,, students give the nouns or verbs that correspond to the cue words, indicated by

You may want to use this type of activity far more often than it occurs in the student text, simply

by giving students vocabulary items for which they know related words. (The AIE for En resumen:

l. Logical Sequence Activities

In this type of activity, students are given— out of sequence— a series of statements about an

event. They demonstrate comprehension of the vocabulary items by putting the sentences into

m. CLASSROOM-BASED ACTIVITIES

The people and objects in the classroom provide the basis for this type of activity, for example,

Comunicación D (p. 105):

E2: Es Anne.

Here, colors are practiced in a natural context. The activity is at once controlled (by the models) and

open-ended, since on any given day there will be many interesting kinds of clothing to describe.

n. Intercambios/Entrevistas

In most interview activities in the Vocabulario: Preparación sections, the structure is provided by

the activity, for example, Conversación C.Intercambios (Exchanges) (p. 32). In Paso 1, students

answer a series of questions. Then, in Paso 2, they use the same questions to interview a classmate.

The activity is structured so that students can communicate successfully and correctly even as early

as in Capítulo 2.

In later chapters, students are asked to conduct interviews based on cues only, that is, they need to

create the questions themselves. For example, Comunicación C (p. 298):

Paso 2. Ahora, en parejas, hagan comparaciones sobre el tiempo que Uds. pasan haciendo

las actividades de cada categoría. Díganle a la clase algo que tienen en común.

MODELO: E1. ¿Cuánto tiempo pasas en los estudios?

E2. Paso cinco horas aproximadamente. ¿Y tú?

and so on.

Often interview activities will end with the suggestion that students share all or some of the

information they have learned with the class. This need not be done each time an interview activity

is done, nor is it necessary to go around the class and have every student report what he/she has

learned. However, instructors who frequently use this type of activity find that a brief share-back

phase helps to validate the activity in students’ eyes and that it often provides the stimulus for

lively conversation.

1. Students first hear vocabulary in meaningful contexts.

2. Students verify comprehension of vocabulary and use vocabulary in one-word answers during a

meaningful interchange with the instructor.

3. Students incorporate vocabulary into prefabricated sentences (that is, sentences given in the student text).

4. Students use vocabulary in original sentences for communication.

o. Encuesta Activities

Survey activities are similar to Entrevistas in that students work one-on-one with others to obtain

information. The survey, however, adds the twist of interviewing a number of students. Survey

activities, although conversational in tone, are still relatively structured, and students can make of

them what their language abilities and interest level permit. See, for example, ComunicaciónE.

Encuesta (Poll) sobre los talentos especiales de la clase (p. 207).

The model is followed by a chart that students complete as they conduct the interview. Note also

that Paso 1 provides scaffolding for Paso 2.

Since a good deal of information about the class as a whole is collected in a survey activity,

surveys lend themselves to whole-class discussions as a follow-up.

p. Role Plays/Story Invention

This type of open-ended activity allows a great deal of freedom on the part of the students, while

providing a highly focused context. After students have had a chance to practice in small groups or

pairs, they can act out the text with the rest of the class as an audience. The following example

(Comunicación C, p. 500) focuses on careers.

C. ¿Qué preparación se necesita para ser… ? En parejas, piensen en las carreras (majors)

y materias específicas que se deben o se pueden estudiar para prepararse para cada

and so on. In this activity, students should be encouraged to move from merely providing a list of

courses and to try to imitate the speech and manner of an academic counselor.

It is a good idea to spread the presentation and practice of vocabulary over two class meetings.

A typical sequence to follow would be to present vocabulary during the second half of one class

(listening passage or modeling with choral repetition, focus on individual words), and then practice

the vocabulary (using the AIE and student text activities) on the following day. This brief preview of

material the day before will prepare students to work on the vocabulary exercises as a homework

assignment.

In the Vocabulario: Preparación sections of the AIE, a note is included explaining that a model

for presenting vocabulary and other material can be found in the “Chapter–by-Chapter

Supplementary Materials” in the IM. Also, the new Digital Overhead Transparencies with all the new

Vocabulario: Preparación art are available to instructors on Connect.

3. Pronunciación

The first four chapters of Puntos include a Pronunciación section. These sections focus on vowel

sounds that are particularly difficult for native speakers of English as well as stress and written

accent marks.

CHAPTER TOPIC

1 Las vocales: a, e, i, o, u

2 Diphthongs and Linking

3 Stress and Written Accent Marks (Part 1)

4 Stress and Written Accent Marks (Part 2)

Similar pronunciation practice with the sounds of the Spanish consonants is available in

Capítulos 5–14 of the Laboratory Manual.

The final chapters of the text review previously presented topics in pronunciation.

15 More Cognate Practice

16 More Cognate Practice

17 More on Stress and Written Accents

18 Intonation and Review of Linking

Additional activities and suggestions for methods of presenting sounds are included in the on-page

suggestions in the AIE.

The authors of Puntos believe that pronunciation is best studied bit by bit, and that students

should not be overwhelmed with more pronunciation details than they easily can handle during the

first days of class, although many instructors believe that a detailed presentation of Spanish

pronunciation at the beginning is preferable. If you choose the latter approach, you can cover as

many of the pronunciation sections as you wish, in or out of sequence, during the first days of the

semester or quarter. However you choose to teach pronunciation, it is important to remember that

different students learn to pronounce correctly in different ways. Some students will learn best by

imitation; others will benefit most from a brief but careful explanation of how to produce a sound,

while still others make the greatest amount of progress by combining analysis and practice. Several

types of practice are provided in the student text, in the AIE, and on the audio program.

a. Listening Discrimination Exercises

Many theorists believe students cannot produce sounds accurately unless they can distinguish

between similar sounds—sounds that are similar in the native language and in the foreign

language, and sounds that are similar to each other in the foreign language. Listening

discrimination practice can be a first step toward helping students hear themselves and know when

they are pronouncing properly. And, obviously, listening discrimination skills enable students to

distinguish between similar but very different words in the target language— for example, pero

and perro. Here is an example of the sound discrimination exercises found in the AIE of Puntos.

This exercise is on p. 7.

Preliminary Exercise: Pronounce these words in random order. Students tell whether each word is

español or inglés.

ENGLISH SPANISH ENGLISH SPANISH

me mi may me

ace es no no

and so on.

b. Repetition Drills

Most of the pronunciation activities in the student text are of this type. You model (provide) the

correct pronunciation of words or phrases, and your students imitate your pronunciation. As with

the presentation of new vocabulary items, it is possible to begin pronunciation practice with choral

repetition—which allows students to gain confidence— and then to proceed with individual

repetition. This chorus-individual sequence is particularly important with the practice of Spanish

sounds that have no equivalent in English, for even college-level students may be hesitant to try out

in front of the entire class what initially appear to be strange sounds.

c. Recombination Activities

This type of activity recombines the words of the student text to form new phrases or sentences.

Again, you should usually begin with choral repetition, followed by individual repetition.

Trabalenguas (Tongue-twisters) are included on occasion in the AIE; they will challenge the best

students.

d. Dictations (Follow-ups)

Although dictations do not give pronunciation practice per se, they do reflect a student’s knowledge

of the correspondences between Spanish sounds and their spellings—that is, the relationship

between the spoken and the written word. An awareness of sound-symbol correspondences,

especially in the early stages of language learning, will help students sound out new words in later

lessons.

Say the dictation item clearly, being careful not to pronounce unnaturally or too slowly in your

attempt to be clear. Allow students to begin writing after this first repetition, and then repeat the

item. This procedure lets students write down what they catch on the first repetition and fill in the

gaps when they listen the second time. Some instructors like to give a third repetition of dictation

items to allow students to do a final check. You should experiment to determine which procedure

works best with a given class.

Finally, remember that every instructor must consider these questions about pronunciation:

What role does pronunciation have in our language program? Most instructors will want to

dedicate some class time to pronunciation, especially in the early period of language study, since

they can diagnose and help correct individual problems in ways that an audio program never can.

Still, students’ greatest opportunity to practice pronunciation as much as they need to lies in the

audio program, which provides an authentic linguistic model for students, either in the privacy of a

booth, if they work in the media center or language lab, or at home.

4. Gramática: Grammar Presentation and Explanations

with a grammar presentation device of another kind: linked examples in the form of a short

bulleted list or a visual (realia, drawing, cartoon, and so on) and an activity or questions. Then,

grammar explanations present and define grammatical terms and give English examples before

presenting Spanish forms, functions, and rules. The word ¡OJO! (“Watch out!”) calls students’

attention to areas where they should be especially careful when speaking and writing Spanish,

since these are areas in which beginning students frequently make mistakes or have special

difficulties. The practice phase of each section, called Práctica y comunicación in this edition, is a

series of activities that go from most form-focused to most open-ended. (In previous editions, the

practice phrase was divided into two parts: Práctica [more controlled activities] and

Conversación (more open-ended practice).

Early chapters contain more grammar points than do later chapters, to provide for more rapid

development of linguistic skills at the beginning of the course and to permit increased use of the

supplementary skill-based activities in later chapters. The number of grammar points per chapter is

In general, individual grammar sections do not actively practice grammar from any other

section in that chapter. Therefore, within most chapters, you can present the individual grammar

sections in any convenient order. Most instructors will choose to follow the sequence of grammar

points as presented in the text. On occasion, however, increased flexibility may be useful—when

you have less than the usual amount of time, for example, or when you have 10 minutes left and had

anticipated 30, you may want to present and begin practice on one of the shorter grammar points in

the chapter, rather than beginning the longer, more complex one you had planned to do. You will

also appreciate this flexibility of presentation when your own style or philosophy requires it.

All grammar points, however, are practiced together later in the chapter—in the Un poco de

todo review section. Thus, the overall organization of Puntos has a focused, single-emphasis

presentation cycle (Vocabulario: Preparación, Pronunciación, Gramática) and a recombined or

synthesis-application cycle (Un poco de todo).

a. The Gramática en acción Feature

The GEA feature in the Gramática sections has several purposes: (1) to introduce new grammatical

structures in a meaningful context; (2) to add a light touch to the classroom interaction; and (3) to

occasionally provide short dialogues that can serve as models of conversation. On occasion, the

GEA also contains cultural information, as is the case with the GEA for Gramática 17 (p. 185).

Forms that illustrate a new grammar point are set in colored text in the text of the GEA itself and (in

this edition) in the activities that follow-up the GEA.

2Note that the four grammar points in Capítulo 1 are not included under the Gramática rubric in the text, but those sections do

present grammar-like material.

i. Presentation

You can assign preparation of the GEA as homework geared to the presentation of a new grammar

section during the next class meeting. Since a GEA contains only one new grammar point, it should

be possible for students to understand it on their own. (The English equivalents of most of the

GEAs, which appear at the bottom of the page, will be helpful in this regard.) All GEAs, including

those that are dialogues, are included in Connect, where the content is also provided as audio so

students can read along as they listen.

The GEAs that are actual dialogues also lend themselves quite well to in-class presentation and

practice. You may want to begin the presentation by explaining briefly the communicative focus of

the dialogue. For example, the one on p. 48 can be introduced by your saying, “This dialogue

expresses some of the frustration we all feel when we are trying to figure out what classes to take

next term,” or words to that effect. Or, instead of focusing on the communicative content of the

dialogue, you can introduce it by previewing its grammar content: “This dialogue will help you

learn about forming questions in Spanish.”

Another way to develop the GEAs in class is to model them yourself. First, read it through once

aloud, pausing for student comprehension. Next, model each line, breaking longer sentences into

shorter phrases.

ii. Continuing Practice

As a prelude to individual repetition of the GEAs that are dialogues, you can divide the class into

groups (according to the number of speakers in the GEA) and have students practice choral

reading, with each group reading the lines of one speaker. Next, assign individuals roles to read

aloud, or ask for volunteers; the rest of the class listens, perhaps with books closed, as individuals

read. As an alternative, students can be assigned specific roles to rehearse out of class and then

present in class as a dramatization.

iii. Comprehension Check

Most GEAs are followed by a series of comprehension questions that test students’ understanding

of it. Typically, these comprehension questions also guide students toward using the new grammar

point being introduced, but without requiring it to be spontaneously produced by students. For

example, in the GEA in Gramática 9 (p. 110), students gain passive practice with the forms and

uses of demonstrative adjectives and pronouns via the dialogue itself and by answering the

Comprensión questions, but students are not required to manipulate those forms or decide which

ones to use in a given context. Note also that the AIE frequently contains additional comprehension

exercises and personalized questions based on the topic of a GEA.

iv. Introduction of New Grammar Structures

Phrases from the GEAs can be used to initiate formal grammar presentation in a more focused way

than would be achieved by manipulating new grammar in comprehension questions. Draw

students’ attention to grammatical patterns by asking several questions of the ¿Cómo se dice

_______? or ¿Qué significa _______? type. You may want to use phrases from the GEAs to stimulate

inferences about grammatical structures. The GEA in Gramática 30 (p. 330) can be used in that

way to help students start to think about the different uses of the preterite and imperfect. In fact,

the ¿Y Ud.? activity provides a vehicle for doing that. (See C. “Presenting Grammar” below for a

more thorough discussion of this kind of presentation.)

b. Non-dialogue Gramática en acción Presentations

The presence of short dialogues to introduce grammar in context has been a feature of Puntos since

its First Edition. The use of such “minidialogues” reflects a long tradition in language instruction in

which dialogues (long and short) have been an integral part of the language-learning process. But,

also since its First Edition, Puntos has used other vehicles for introducing grammar. Those grammar

presentation devices include bulleted lists, cartoons, realia, line drawings, and so on, all of which

show the grammar point of focus in a natural language context (but just not in a dialogue or

narrative form).

Examples of the use of bulleted lists to present grammar in the GEA feature abound in all

chapters of the text, even the first ones. An example of a more sophisticated list occurs in Capítulo

5, Gramática 13: Expressing Actions  Present Tense of stem-changing Verbs (Part 2) (p. 145). In

this GEA, the short sentences in the narrative give students examples of all types of verbs they will

encounter in the grammar explanation and Práctica y comunicaciónactivities. The ¿Y Ud.? follow-

up gives students the scaffolding they need to begin to use the verbs to express themselves. At this

point in the text, students can easily figure out that they need to use –o endings to create the first

person forms. The use of color highlighting in the narration and in ¿Y Ud.? emphasizes the verbs if

students do not make the connection. With all of that help (and remembering that students learned

the endings for –er and –ir verbs in Capítulo 3), students should be able to infer that duerme

becomes duermo, and so on. In this way, grammar learning becomes a much more active process

than if students just started the grammar topic by reading the grammar explanation.

Another example of a non-dialogue GEA (one from previous editions) occurs in Gramática 14

(p. 150). Here a series of line drawings introduces the grammar topic (reflexive pronouns) and

leads students toward an understanding of the grammar point before reading the grammar

explanation or hearing your explanation of it. Each numbered drawing illustrates an aspect of

Andrés’s daily routine with a corresponding numbered statement (1. Me despierto a las siete y

media… ). In the ¿Y Ud.? follow-up, the items provide the structure within which students can

describe their own daily routines, with the appropriate reflexive pronoun provided and the line

drawings above as a point of reference for making the meaning of the new verbs clear.

c. Presenting Grammar

Grammar sections in Puntos are designed to clearly mark what students are supposed to learn. The

two-column design separates prose grammar explanations (in the left-hand column) from Spanish

examples (in the right-hand column). Spanish charts and paradigms are contained within an easily

identifiable shaded box and placed either in the right-hand column or centered across the page,

depending on the space available. Students can therefore, on a first reading, work through the

explanations on the left along with the examples on the right and in the shaded boxes. When

reviewing for a test, they might simply scan for the examples in the boxes and on the right.

The grammar sections all have single emphases; that is, only one grammar point is presented

and practiced in a grammar section. Thus, within each chapter, a step-by-step sequence of

grammar-practice, grammar-practice, and so on, is repeated as many times as there are grammar

sections. This single-emphasis presentation and sequence breaks chapter grammar down into

manageable chunks, allowing students to absorb difficult concepts bit by bit.

More complex grammar topics are further broken down into sections. For example, Gramática

18: Expressing what or who(m)  Direct Objects: The Personal a; Direct Object Pronouns (pp. 209–

211) is divided into a number of parts. In the first two main sections:

• the concept of the direct object

In the third main section:

• the concept and forms of the direct object pronouns (1.)

• their general placement (2.)

In the student text, grammar presentations are done in English to ensure maximum student

comprehension and to enable students to study material on their own. Because many students are

not familiar with or have forgotten grammatical terms and concepts (subject, infinitive, adjective,

direct object, and so on), each new concept is introduced and defined, often with examples in

English as well as in Spanish and with brief activities for some of the more difficult concepts.

Spanish equivalents of all grammatical terminology (parts of speech, names of verb tenses, and so

on) are provided, so that these terms can be used in Spanish directions for activities and as an aid to

students whose instructors prefer to make grammar presentations in Spanish. The main headings

in grammar sections are given in English and in Spanish (see p. 76, for example), as an aid to

instructors who prefer to give grammar explanations all in Spanish in class. That is the approach

that the authors prefer, and they do not believe that it conflicts with the fact that the text’s grammar

explanations are in English; again, the text’s grammar explanations will more frequently be used at

home, where students don’t have access to the instructor.

of Double Object Pronouns, p. 283). Finally, instructors will note overall great redundancy in the

grammar explanations, with the same point (at times) being made in the heads, in grammar charts,

in prose, and in paradigms. We believe that this redundancy will help students master grammar

concepts.

Additional noteworthy features in the grammar sections include the following:

• “pointer boxes” to explain features of the text to students (example, p. 115)3

• ample review and clarification in grammar explanations (see the sections in Gramática 18 above: other

3.)

• strategic typographical alignment of material in charts and paradigms in order to make important

information “pop” visually (for example, the presentation of spelling changes and the alignment of verb

forms on p. 220)

One of the best ways to organize clear grammar presentations is to follow the example of the

grammar presentations in the text. First, we suggest that you read through the entire explanation of

a grammar section to get an overview of the material covered and how the presentation is

developed. Next, read the comments in the margins of the AIE to see what supplementary

information, suggestions, and activities are provided. Jot down the entire sequence of presentation

if there is a lot of material. For example, part of the grammar presentation for Gramática 3:

Expressing Actions  Subject Pronouns (Part 1); Present Tense of -ar Verbs (pp.41-44) can be

outlined as follows:

Step 1.

Grammar Explanation: infinitives and

personal endings

[Student Edition]

Step 2.

Suggestions: model, conversational

exchange; bailar and personal endings

[Annotated

Instructor’s Edition]

Step 3.

Preliminary Exercises: oral rapid response

drill, listening exercise, pattern practice

(explanation of exercise type, exercise)

[Instructor’s Manual]

Step 4.

Práctica A, B

[Student Edition]

Step 5.

Suggestions

[Annotated

Instructor’s Edition]

and so on. Some instructors prefer to follow grammar presentations exactly as they are given in the

text. Others prefer to vary presentations somewhat so that their students have two slightly

different presentations to help them understand new material. And, often, instructors have their

own, completely different way of presenting a given grammar point. They should not hesitate to

present the point the way they think it is best presented.

In addition to brief, straightforward presentations of the material to be covered, most

instructors point out areas of English interference with Spanish— that is, areas in which English-

language structures are likely to interfere with mastery of a new pattern in Spanish. For example,

English puts object pronouns after conjugated verbs, whereas Spanish places them before

conjugated verbs. It is also a good idea to point out areas of Spanish interference, such as cases in

3This feature also occurs in other sections of the text.

Brief, simple discrimination exercises are also often helpful for students learning to distinguish

differences that exist in Spanish but not in English; for example, saber versus conocer, ser versus

estar, indicative versus subjunctive, and so on. Many such discrimination activities are provided in

the IE.

Two additional features of Gramática will enhance students’ experience with those sections.

One comes before some individual grammar sections, the other comes at the end of explanations

(and before Práctica y comunicación.

i. ¿Recuerda Ud.?

Whenever new grammar structures are based on previously learned material, it is important to

review the “old” material before beginning the new. ¿Recuerda Ud.? boxes in the student text will

alert you to these situations in the grammar sequence and provide students with brief, focused

activities with which to review. It is a good idea to review the answers in class and follow up with a

quick conversational review of the same material. For example, before presenting -er and -ir verbs

in Gramática 8 (p. 83), you might review the –ar infinitives that students already know with this

brief exercise: ¿Qué verbo asocia Ud. con… ? ¿una tienda? ¿la biblioteca? ¿el dinero? ¿la ropa?

¿una fiesta? ¿la boca (touch your mouth)? ¿la casa? ¿la oficina? ¿el laboratorio de lenguas? ¿la

clase? Emphasizing review and reentry in this way, when appropriate, will help students to see the

grammar structures they are learning as part of a coherent system, not as discrete items.

ii. Grammar Summary Charts

In the 10th edition, brief summaries appear at the end of all grammar explanations (and close to

the Autoprueba feature). The summaries highlight, in chart form, the essence of the grammar

topic that students need to master. This feature can be found in Gramática 1 (p. 37), for example.

In contrast to the charts in the grammar explanations, the summary charts condense information.

d. A Note About Spiraling

A careful scan of the contents of Puntos or of its Index will reveal the extent to which major

grammar topics are introduced gradually, or spiraled, throughout the text. Topics treated in this

way include ser and estar, the preterite and the imperfect, the subjunctive, and so on. A hallmark of

Puntos since the First Edition, this spiraling technique has many benefits for language learners.

• Students— especially true beginners— are not overwhelmed with all of the details of a major

grammar point all at once.

• When topics are spread out over the entire book, and thus over the entire course, review and

reentry of them is automatically built into the syllabus.

• Furthermore, with major topics of a more difficult nature, like the subjunctive, students have

multiple opportunities to “catch” or gain some functional control of the topic. Thus, when the

topic is introduced for the second time, students have a base of knowledge on which to build

and can be more successful with difficult material the second time around.

The actual amount of spiraled grammar has not changed in this edition of Puntos. Spiraling is called

to the attention of students and instructors in the following ways.

• All grammar topics that are spiraled are indicated as such in the student text with Part 1 (Part 2, Part 3,

and so on) in the grammar section and subsection titles.

5. Gramática: Práctica y comunicación

Following the Gramática prensentations, under the heading Práctica y comunicación, Puntos

provides a careful sequence of activities, from very form-focused to very free in format. As noted

earlier, the division of activities into Práctica and Conversación has been eliminated in this

edition, because even from the very beginning of practice with a new grammar point, students can

engage in meaningful and personalized communication if activities are carefully structured and

scaffolded. (See [5] below.) Puntos assumes that communicative use of Spanish is both necessary to

and is the ultimate goal of language learning and that students have not “learned Spanish” if they do

not progress beyond manipulating the language in mechanical drills.

a. The Pasos Concept

The use of Pasos (1, 2, 3, and so on) in Puntos organizes the steps or stages of more complex

activities. In essence, the Pasos break down an activity into its component parts. A Pasos sequence

might evolve as follows: Paso 1 = answer these questions about yourself; Paso 2 = use the

questions to interview a classmate; Paso 3 = compare your answers with those of your classmate;

Paso 4 = report what you learned to the class. Most activities organized into Pasos are not as

complex as that, but the advantage of the Pasos approach is clearly demonstrated with this four-

step activity. Most students (and instructors, for that matter) would be overwhelmed by direction

lines that asked for all that activity. However, when broken down into short, doable stages, the

activity not only appears more doable, it is in fact easier to implement in the classroom.

Experienced instructors who have tried activities that did “too much” will welcome the simplicity of

the Pasos approach, and new instructors will gain confidence in implementing communicative

activities by doing them.

b. Types of Form-focused Activities

Most instructors agree that drills have a role in language learning. Although many drills and basic

exercises may require linguistic manipulation at the expense of meaningful communication, their

role in language learning is fundamental. Whenever possible, even more drill-like activities require

students to make choices that demonstrate that they understand the words they are manipulating.

Once students have completed the required manipulations, many of the drills can be personalized,

extended, or transformed in other ways to extend the usefulness of these relatively simple

activities. Suggestions of these kinds of variations are found in the student text or in the AIE. (Note:

Many of the activity types already described in the Vocabulario: Preparación section of this IM are

also found in the Práctica y comunicación sections of Gramática.)

i. Substitution (Pattern) Drills (AIE or IM)

This type of drill requires the substitution of one word or phrase for another, plus the production of

other changes made necessary by the substitution. The word that is substituted can be a noun,

adjective, verb, or any other part of speech. In Puntos, these drills are generally presented within a

context: a general situation that serves as the “umbrella” for several patterns or a two-line

conversational exchange that shows the pattern in a natural conversational setting. This is done to