The Art of Teaching Spanish explores in-depth the findings of research in second language acquisition (SLA) and other language-related fields and translates those findings into practical pedagogical tools for current—and future—Spanish-language instructors. This volume addresses how theoretical frameworks affect the application of research findings to the teaching of Spanish, how logistical factors affect the way research findings can be applied to teach Spanish, and how findings from Spanish SLA research would be applicable to Spanish second language teaching and represented in Spanish curricula through objectives and goals (as evidenced in pedagogical materials such as textbooks and computer-assisted language learning software).

Top SLA researchers and applied linguists lend their expertise on matters such as foreign language across curriculum programs, testing, online learning, the incorporation of linguistic variation into the classroom, heritage language learners, the teaching of translation, the effects of study abroad and classroom contexts on learning, and other pedagogical issues. Other common themes of The Art of Teaching Spanish include the rejection of the concept of a monolithic language competence, the importance of language as social practice and cultural competence, the psycholinguistic component of SLA, and the need for more cross-fertilization from related fields.

Rafael Salaberry is a professor of Spanish Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas in Austin. He is the author of The Development of Spanish Past Tense Morphology in a Classroom Environment and coeditor of Spanish Second Language Acquisition: The State of the Science.

Barbara A. Lafford is a professor of Spanish applied linguistics and second language acquisition at Arizona State University. She is the coeditor (with Michelle Shockey) of Culture and Context: Perspectives on the Acquisition of Cultural Competence in the Foreign Language Classroom and coeditor of Spanish Second Language Acquisition: The State of the Science.

Contents 
List of Figures and Tables
Preface
Chapter 1: The State of The Art of Teaching Spanish: From Research to Praxis 
Rafael Salaberry (Rice University) and Barbara Lafford (Arizona State University) 
Chapter 2: A Content-Based Approach to Spanish Language Study: Foreign 
Languages Across the Curriculum
Carol A. Klee (University of Minnesota) and Gwendolyn Barnes-Karol (St. Olaf College)
Chapter 3: Spanish SLA Research, Classroom Practice and Curriculum Design 
Joseph Collentine (Northern Arizona University)
 
Chapter 4: Theoretical and Research Considerations Underlying Classroom 
Practice: The Fundamental Role of Input 
Bill VanPatten (University of Illinois-Chicago) and Michael Leeser (Florida State Univ.)
Chapter 5: Concept-Based Pedagogy and The Acquisition of L2 Spanish 
Eduardo Negueruela (University of Massachusetts) and James P. Lantolf (The 
Pennsylvania State University)
Chapter 6: The Effects Of Study Abroad And Classroom Contexts On The 
Acquisition Of Spanish As A Second Language: From Research To Application 
Barbara Lafford (Arizona State Univ.) and Joseph Collentine (Northern Arizona Univ.)
Chapter 7: Online Language Learning: The Case of Spanish Without Walls 
Robert Blake (University of California at Davis) and Ann Marie Delforge (University of 
California at Davis)
Chapter 8: Testing Spanish 
Rafael Salaberry (Rice University) and Andrew D. Cohen (University of Minnesota)
Chapter 9: Incorporating Linguistic Variation into the Classroom 
Manuel J. Gutiérrez (Univ. of Houston) and Marta Fairclough (University of Houston)
Chapter 10: Making Connections: Second Language Acquisition Research and 
Heritage Language Teaching 
Guadalupe Valdés (Stanford University)
Chapter 11: Spanish Second Language Acquisition: Applications to the Teaching of 
Professional Translation (and Interpretation)
Sonia Colina (Arizona State University)
Contributors
Index
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
Table 5.1 Uses of Preterit/imperfect according to Dasilva and Lovett (1965) taken from 
Whitley (1986).
Table 7.1 SWW students¿ experience with Spanish in high school
Table 7.2 Reasons for taking Spanish in the online format
Table 7.3 UC Davis students¿ experience with Spanish in high school
Table 7.4 Reasons for taking Spanish at UC Davis
Table 7.5 T-test comparison between SWW I and SPA 1 grammar scores
Table 7.6 T-test comparison between SWW II and SPA 2 grammar scores
Table 7.7 T-test comparison of written samples from SWW and UC Davis students (p < 
0.05)
Table 9.1 Percentages of innovative estar (Houston)
Table 9.2 Percentages of forms in apodoses (Houston)
Table 9.3 Percentages of forms in apodoses in Michoac n and Houston
Table 9.4 Southwestern United States: Morphological future, periphrastic
future, and present indicative in alternation contexts (Gutiérrez 1995)
Table 9.5 Mexico City: Morphological future, periphrastic future, 
and present indicative (Moreno de Alba 1977,146)
Table 11.1. Basic components of a research-based pedagogy of translation 
Table 11.2. Activity types 
Table 11.3. Activity types: goals and justification
Figures
Figure 3.1 The relationship between Focus-on-Form, Processing Instruction, and 
grammatical development (adapted from VanPatten & Cadierno 1993). 
Figure 5.1 Didactic model constructed by Negueruela (2003) based on Bull (1965) 
Figure 7.1 CHAT interface
Figure 9.1 Model of Linguistic Interaction: English/Spanish in the USA (Based on Silva-
Corval n 1994, Otheguy et al. 1989 and Otheguy 1993)
Figure 11.1. Cao¿s Model of Translation Proficiency (1996)
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