RITMOS - beginning spanish language and culture

language learning through rich content

Innovations:

Structures serve content

The purpose of grammar instruction is to enable students to understand and produce correct Spanish. Yet in most texts, grammar topics are introduced far beyond the students’ actual capability to use the structures. The ACTFL proficiency guidelines have the following description for Intermediate-Low speakers:

  • Speakers are able to handle successfully a limited number of uncomplicated communicative tasks
  • Speakers are primarily reactive
  • Speakers express personal meaning by combining and recombining what they know into short statements

From this description it is clear that grammar instruction needs to be very basic for the first year level. Many topics typically covered in a first year course should only be touched on for receptive skills, if at all. Instead, students should be trained to react to authentic language, handle uncomplicated tasks and develop a great deal of ‘chunks’ of language that they can combine and recombine to produce their own meaning.

  

In this spirit, Ritmos reduces the number of grammatical topics and works instead at student mastery of basics so they can achieve intermediate-low proficiency as quickly and efficiently as possible. This provides a solid foundation for further study, and does not heap on unnecessary frustration for students who either are not interested in grammar or who, despite our best efforts, elect to end their Spanish studies.

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our focus

We believe that a fundamental shift—not in the methodology but in the CONTENT—of our introductory language courses is long overdue. The content cannot be grammar topics beyond our students’ proficiency level and ability, supported by unconnected cultural texts chosen or created primarily for language practice.

Compelling content, on the other hand, must itself be as much a focus as the language. This leads to improved cultural learning and understanding, thus breaking down walls of cultural differences.