EN TU MEDIO - PROGRAM SAMPLER

Preface En tu medio is a new program for intermediate Spanish that integrates text with interactive andmultimedia content, online tools and resources, andauthentic short films, toprovidea con- temporary and appealing learning experience. The complete program, including the NEWEn tumedio Supersite , offers the flexibility to suit any course format, whether it be face-to-face, a hybrid/blended learning environment, or an online class. This ten-chapter program uses a task-based, student-friendly approach to build from the introductory level toward higher- level proficiency. Each chapter offers sequential, meaning- ful activities designed to motivate students and positively reinforce successful communication through pair and group interaction, negotiation of meaning, and the completion of real-world tasks. Its highly visual organization is designed to remind students of prior learning, and then build toward more advanced skills within an engaging thematic and cultural context. The final two chapters offer an integrative overview of major concepts presented throughout the text, providing a useful review as well as a sense of accomplishment and awareness of learning. Regardless of the introductory program students may have used, En tu medio transitions students into higher-level dis- course through several unique features. It reminds students of introductory vocabulary and grammar before introducingmore complex structures, then continues to recycle these concepts throughout. It groups related grammar concepts (e.g., formal/ informal commands with an introduction to the subjunctive) to emphasize usage and encourage holistic application. It high- lights common pronunciation challenges with focused phonetic activities. It develops all skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, and intercultural compentence) within the chapter’s cultural and thematic context, using a scaffolded series of ac- tivities to ensure success; students work individually, in pairs and small groups to complete progressively more advanced communicative tasks. It also develops a more sophisticated cultural understanding by integrating focused content videos, high-interest readings, and a wealth of authentic materials— including photos, literary selections, ads, cartoons, and other realia—into each chapter. In addition to these topical videos, En tumedio includes five contemporary short films ( cortometrajes ) from Spanish-speaking countries. Both videos and cortometra- jes tie into broad concepts and are used to provide authentic, higher-level input in Spanish, support vocabulary, grammar, or socio-cultural activities, and serve as a springboard to discus- sion and expansion activities. Every aspect of En tu medio was designed with the 21st century learner in mind. It features a highly visual format, student-friendly themes, a focus on youth culture, authentic short films, blogs, social media, profiles of real people, and readings that help students forge a personal connection to the target culture. Throughout the program, students will find re- cycling sections to build confidence, opportunities to explore lexical variation and sociolinguistic issues, comprehensive in- tegration of contemporary technology, and a collaborative, task-based approach meant to engage and motivate students to create their own meaning. Hallmarks of En tu medio Whole Texts vs. Disjointed Sentences Research in discourse analysis and communicative language teaching un- derscores the need to introduce grammar in context (the whole surrounding text plus the social situation in which the discourse is produced). For this reason, En tu medio presents both vocab- ulary and grammar with contextualizing paragraphs, blogs, ads, realia, or other whole texts which model and clarify usage. By teaching forms in relation to function, grammatical attention to whole texts helps students intuit lexical meaning and grammat- ical patterns prior to their formal presentation, understand bet- ter what they read, grasp cultural and socio-linguistic subtexts, write more effectively, and apply grammar rules for meaningful communication. Input Processing This proven model makes new con- cepts accessible to students by allowing them to notice and pro- cess content before they are asked to use or produce discourse with this new information. For this reason, each new sequence of practice activities begins with a self-scoring true/false, agree/ disagree, possible/impossible, multiple choice, matching, order- ing, or other input recognition activitywhich requires students to understand meaning (and shows them that they do understand meaning) before moving on to output practice using the target vocabulary or structure for communication. Task-Based Activities En tu medio offers a broad array of theoretically grounded, class-tested, interactive, and engag- ing activities that develop all language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing, and intercultural competence) while complet- ingmeaningful tasks. Practice activities are likewise thematically and culturally contextualized, reinforcing vocabulary and en- hancing cultural knowledge as they build communicative skills. Whole-class activities are interwoven with individual, pair, and small group exercises, all of which are sequenced to support stu- dents as they learn and offer a varied pace and rhythm for class sessions. Each series of activities is carefully scaffolded to guide x