A comprehensive undergraduate digital text program for a Spanish Civilization / Culture course on TopHat.com
About
Help your students discover the rich tapestry of Spanish cultures and history
Watch a video introduction to the features of Las «historias» de España:
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A university-level digital textbook to introduce students to the civilizations and cultures of Spain.
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Aimed at students with an Intermediate High or B1 level or higher.
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Presents an overview of Spanish history, cultures, and civilizations
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Vocabulary development and grammar review
Pedagogical Foundations
Assumptions, ideas, and approaches
This textbook assumes minimal prior knowledge about the history, cultures, and civilizations of Spain.
It presents an overview of Spanish history from the pre-Roman era to the twenty-first century.
Key events, people, ideas, and artistic expression are presented to provide students with a general overview to allow them to explore other topics in greater depth.
Students at the B1 / Intermediate High level often lack complete mastery of key grammatical constructions and lack vocabulary development, which can demotivate students to continue language study. Content courses can reinforce these language skills by addressing them directly.
This text aims to build language development and confidence within the context of a content course and does not assume students have linguistic mastery. It also focuses on building listening comprehension skills.
Retrieval practice is embedded in this textbook program.
Activities and questions appear throughout becuase students need frequent, intermittent practice to acquire knowledge.
Feedback strengthens metacognition and retention of information.
Skills, knowledge, and perspectives should transfer to other domains.
The textbook is fundamentally an exploration in the humanities and social sciences that connects students to broader trends, forces, and ideas that permeate other human domains.
Some university language content courses assume too much prior knowledge and skills.
Most students, however, have had little opportunity to learn about other countries and explore the deep and complex traditions and history that serve as a backdrop of civilization and culture.
The is textbook program does not assume previous knowledge with these topics.
The text program relies on multiple types of engagement. Students must find content compelling, interesting, and relevant.
The textbook connects students to the past and the present by highlighting key events, ideas, and perspectives.
About the author
Julie Stephens de Jonge, PhD
Julie Stephens de Jonge is a Spanish professor at the University of Central Missouri, where she earned her PhD in Spanish literature from the University of Kansas. Alongside her co-author, Dr. Michael Sawyer, she developed an intermediate-level textbook program called Contextos, which focuses on short films and is published by McGraw-Hill. She has taught a range of courses including Spanish Civilization & Literature for numerous years at UCM. She is particularly interested in cognitive and game-based approaches to pedagogy and student learning.
After 20+ years of teaching a course entitled, Spanish Civilization, she wanted to create course materials that would more fully engage students with the depth of the people and cultures of Spain.
