Perspectivas (with Audio CD)

This best-selling intermediate Spanish conversational reader encourages student discussions and presents a broad variety of thought-provoking Hispanic themes. Lively readings from a number of original cultural and literary sources complement a wealth of activities that stimulate conversation and the development of critical thinking in Spanish. The reader includes authentic essays, stories, poems, autobiographies, legends, magazine articles, science fiction, jokes, and cartoons from ancient times to the present and from all regions of the Spanish-speaking world.

Brenda Wegmann received a Master's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Wisconsin and taught Spanish for seven years at Boston University and Northeastern University before moving to Canada in 1974. Since then she has lived with her family in Edmonton while teaching Spanish at the University of Alberta in the Department of Extension and writing Spanish and ESL textbooks, as well as trade books. Among her publications (written in collaboration with outstanding co-authors) are the following: PERSPECTIVAS, EN CONTACTO (for intermediate university Spanish), MOSAIC 1 & 2 (ESL readers), PRONTO Y PR�CTICO (Practical Spanish for Canadians), STREETWISE SPANISH DICTIONARY / THESAURUS, LAUGH N' LEARN SPANISH (co-authored with cartoonist Lynn Johnston of �For Better or For Worse�), TUNE UP YOUR SPANISH, and most recently, THE RED-HOT BOOK OF SPANISH SLANG AND IDIOMS.

Sandra B. Schreffler, PhD, a Spanish-English bilingual from Guatemala City, Guatemala, received her Masters in Spanish (Applied Linguistics) from the University of Houston and her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Florida (Gainesville). Currently, she is Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages, Philosophy and Classics at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, where she is also the advisor of the Spanish Club and Spanish Honor Society, and a mentor for Spanish students participating in the university's Undergraduate Student Research program. She has also instituted a four-week study abroad program to Guatemala during which students are exposed to Mayan history, culture, and languages in order to expand their global perspective. Her own research interests include the effects of Spanish-English language contact, Spanish dialectology (with an emphasis on Mexico and Central America), gender speech and discourse analysis, linguistic exclusion, heritage language speakers, second language teaching and methods, and second language acquisition.