Preface

Introduction

Salón de clase, Intermediate Spanish for Education Professionals is a comprehensive intermediate Spanish open-access textbook with reading, listening, speaking, and writing practice for students who have an interest and/or intend to pursue a career in the field of education (teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists, social workers, support staff members, paraprofessionals, among others). This Open Education Resource (OER) aims to explore the role of the Spanish language and Spanish speakers in the American educational system, as well as to improve students’ communicative abilities in Spanish. This textbook was created in Pressbooks, a versatile platform that allowed us to integrate interactive activities (h5p)*, video interviews with Spanish speakers to present authentic materials, and topics related to education. Grammar is not presented as a standalone topic, but it is seamlessly integrated into all parts of this book.

To ensure that our textbook is diverse and inclusive we have done the following. We consulted with people whose voices represent diverse demographic segments of the Spanish-speaking world to include diverse pronunciations and appearances**. Additionally, our videos include captions, and our infographics have a readable PDF version. To test the effectiveness of the materials, Salón de clase has been tested in the classroom during three semesters and has been improved based on feedback from students and instructors. This textbook underwent a rigorous review process that included professionals from more than 10 higher education organizations in the United States.

2022 OE Awards for Excellence – Best OER finalist

*The h5p interactive activities do not work when opened in Safari on a Mac computer. Please use an alternative web browser for a smooth experience (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, etc.).

**For reasons of clarity and space, the masculine singular of common names has been used throughout the textbook. A review of the inclusive use of language in Spanish can be found on Actividad 7 in Lección 4B.

Guiding Principles

1. Content design
   a. Backward Design. Learning objectives were created following recommendations collected in a survey sent to various stake holders in the field of education.
   b. Video interviews with 7 Spanish speakers involved in the field of education in the U.S. (students, teachers, parents, a school superintendent, and a school board member).
2. A student-centered classroom
   a. Use of thematic modules and authentic resources. This textbook includes a variety of authentic language artifacts (e.g. more than infographics, stories, articles, websites).
   b. Variety of communicative activities that allow students to focus on meaning (e.g., brainstorming, group activities, inclusion of all three modes of communication, discussions) and learning by doing (using the language for communication, not to practice grammatical structures).
   c. 4 Task based projects (formative assessment).
   d. 4 Guided discussions to facilitate development of critical thinking and to further investigate topics related to education.
   e. Real-world tasks in school settings to acquire employability skills.
   f. 226 h5p self-assessed interactive activities.
3. Grammar teaching
   a. Present one thing at a time.
   b. Students are first shown the target structure for comprehension, after which they are asked to use it to create meaning in the target language.
   c. Grammar is presented organically (in context). It is fully integrated into the content activities.
   d. Grammar fully integrated into the content-rich activities.
   e. Video grammar explanations in English for autonomous learning and to reinforce concepts seen in class (21 grammar videos).
4. Adaptability
   a. Designed with a hybrid course in mind, it could be easily used in a more traditional setting.
   b. Designed as a fourth-semester course (Intermediate Spanish II), it could also be used as an accelerated intermediate course (second year) or as a third-year upper-level content course.
   c. Customizable content based on the needs of your class and your learning objectives.
   d. Thanks to a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) license, you are free to share and adapt this textbook to your specific needs. You may copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. You may remix, transform, and build upon the material. (You must give appropriate credit, and you may not use the material for commercial purposes.)

¿Por qué Salón de clase? This OER textbook…

• will replace expensive textbooks and relieve students of additional cost with its free content.
• provides tailored content to suit the needs of 21st century students.
• is easy to access online and provides the option to download content in PDF format.
• includes a variety of multimedia and interactive authentic materials.
• is committed to accessibility and provides materials that can be accessed by all students (videos with subtitles, alternative text in lieu of images) on any device (mobile-friendly).

Instructors

• Teacher’s folder with resources to be used in class.
• Content can be adapted to each instructor’s needs.
• Can be used for a hybrid or traditional class format.

Students

• Self-check activities with automatic feedback.
• Engagement with real-life content in the field of education.
• Learn more about the role of the Spanish language and Spanish speakers in the U.S.