Synopsis
Note: This is a stand alone book. Does not include access card.
Tu mundo immerses the Intro Spanish student in a culturally rich world full of opportunities to discover and explore the powerful connections between themselves and the people and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Students dive in to intensive communicative practice, building confidence in their ability to interact in a meaningful way in Spanish with access to a wealth of tools to support and guide their progress, including video chat, interactive online scenarios, and an adaptive diagnostic program. In addition, students are able to create their own sense of community, resulting in a unique individual experience that will evolve organically with each student, sparking their natural curiosity about their world.
Tu mundo employs a communicative methodology that focuses on developing all four skills, supported by the best digital learning platform available today: Connect Spanish. Because Tu mundo was designed with today’s students in mind, students are more readily engaged with the content, thanks to their avid use of web-based tools, their innate interest the cultures of other countries, and their preference for visual presentations and quick access to information. Tu mundo reflects the world in which our students live; where online learning, social networking, texting, instant messaging, mobile devices, tablets, online gaming, and virtual scenarios are an integral part of daily life.
What are the pillars of Tu mundo?
Our extensive and ongoing research in the Intro Spanish course has led to the creation of Tu mundo, with a strong emphasis on the 5 C’s: Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Tu mundo delivers content in a variety of ways in order to ensure consistent course outcomes across all course formats.
1.Improved communication performance & skills: By jumping directly into communicative practice at the beginning of every chapter, students are encouraged to immerse themselves in the experience of active learning, whether in a face-to-face or online classroom. Grammar is presented at the end of each chapter, allowing students to study at home and work through the exercises in Connect Spanish for automatic feedback, coming to class ready to engage in discussion. This emphasis on communication in the classroom makes Tu mundo the most effective communicative program on the market. No other program commits to this methodology like Tu mundo.
2.Creating consistent learning outcomes: Tu mundo offers a powerful adaptive learning system called LearnSmart that allows students to identify grammatical structures and vocabulary words not yet mastered and to receive an individualized study program for mastering them. Students of all experience levels will benefit from using LearnSmart, which includes built-in reporting and a competitive scoreboard. Connect Spanish Voice Board and Blackboard Instant Messenger (BbIM), both powered by Wimba, ensure that students are getting ample practice time no matter where their classes take place.
3. Building community and connections between students: Creating a sense of community in the face-to-face or virtual classroom is a huge part of language learning and something that Tu mundo does implicitly. Whether students collaborate in a physical classroom or in Connect Spanish, they are provided with opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations and collaborative task-based activities. The Amigos sin fronteras, a cast of young Hispanic students that share common interests, are featured throughout the entire program and showcased in the Así somos video segments. Through the Amigos sin fronteras, students are exposed to a friendly model on how to apply what they are learning to another friendly group of students, i.e. their own class. In addition, Tu mundo presents an interactive online environment that applies engaging content and task-based scenarios that enable you to practicing your language skills in a fun, immersive way. Thus, students can practice Spanish in a context that is not only fun but extremely motivating.
4.More Culture and Comparisons coverage: Culture is so often left behind―so Tu mundo offers it throughout the program. Each chapter features a country of focus which doubles as the home country of one of the fifteen amigos. Along with in-chapter cultural sections, every chapter of Tu mundo features a second video segment called Mi país (within Connect), narrated by the amigos themselves, as they share information about their native countries. This window into the lives of the amigos provides a point of comparison for you to describe your own life. The Mundo interactivo scenarios represent a variety of cultural contexts in which you can interact with language and culture in a way that is meaningful to you.
*Connect Spanish, including but not limited to the workbook/lab manual, LearnSmart, the video program, and chat tools, is sold separately and does not come automatically with the purchase of the textbook.
About the Authors
María José Cabrera Puche received her BA from the Universidad de Murcia (Spain), her MA and MEd from West Virginia University, and her PhD in Second-Language Acquisition and Bilingualism from Rutgers University. Dr. Cabrera Puche is a Full Professor of Spanish at West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCU), where she coordinates the lower-level Spanish program and the language-teaching certification program. At WCU, she also serves as the Assessment Coordinator in the Department of Languages and Cultures and as the Director of General Education Assessment for the university. She has completed ACTFL OPI and WPT tester training, and she serves as an ACTFL CAEP Reviewer. Dr. Cabrera Puche has taught at public schools, community colleges, and universities. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Spanish, Spanish for Heritage Speakers, Spanish Linguistics, Bilingualism, and Foreign-Language Teaching Methodology. Dr. Cabrera Puche is co-editor of Romance Linguistics 2006: Selected papers from the 36th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages (John Benjamins).
Jeanne Egasse received her BA and MA in Spanish Linguistics from the University of California, Irvine. She also holds California Credentials for Spanish as well as for Bilingual Cross-Cultural Education. Professor Egasse has taught foreign-language methodology courses and introductory linguistics, and served as supervisor of foreign language and ESL teachers in training for the Department of Education at the University of California, Irvine. From 1980 to 2020 she was a full-time professor of Spanish, coordinator of the Spanish Department, and co-chair of World Languages at Irvine Valley College. Professor Egasse continues to offer online conversation groups for local college students and volunteers for the Irvine Valley College Foundation. In addition, she serves as a consultant for local schools and colleges on implementing the Natural Approach in the language classroom. She has coauthored the first-year college Spanish textbook Dos mundos: Comunicación y comunidad and the readers Cocina y comidas hispanas and Mundos de fantasía: Fábulas, cuentos de hadas y leyendas (McGraw Hill).
Magdalena Andrade received her first BA in Spanish and French and a second BA in English from California State University, San Diego. After teaching in the Calexico Unified School District Bilingual Program for several years, she taught elementary and intermediate Spanish at both San Diego State and the University of California, Irvine, where she also taught Spanish for Heritage Speakers and Humanities Core Courses. Upon receiving her PhD from the University of California, Irvine, she continued to teach there for several years and also at the University of California, Riverside, and California State University, Long Beach, where she taught the graduate foreign language methods courses and coordinated the Spanish and French TA Programs as well as the Credential Program for foreign languages. For several years she has taught at the community college level, but currently, she is taking time off from regular teaching to help dyslexic children hone their reading skills. She also tutors special-needs students taking college-level Spanish courses. Professor Andrade has coauthored the textbook Dos mundos: Comunicación y comunidad and the readers Mundos de fantasía: Fábulas, cuentos de hadas y leyendas and Cocina y comidas hispanas (McGraw Hill).
Elías Miguel Muñoz holds a PhD in Spanish from the University of California, Irvine, and has taught language and literature at the university level. Dr. Muñoz is the author of Viajes fantásticos and Ladrón de la mente, titles in the Storyteller’s Series by McGraw Hill, and coauthor of the textbook Dos mundos: Comunicación y comunidad, also from McGraw Hill. He has published six novels, which include Vida mía, Brand New Memory, and Diary of Fire; two books of literary criticism; and two poetry collections. One of his plays was produced off-Broadway, and his creative work has been featured in numerous anthologies and source books, including Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States, The Encyclopedia of American Literature, W.W. Norton’s New Worlds of Literature, and The Scribner Writers Series: Latino and Latina Writers. He is currently at work on a sci-fi historical novel.
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