Puntos de encuentro: A Cross-Cultural Approach to Advanced Spanish (Student Grammar and Activities Manual)

Written to serve as a companion grammar and workbook to the advanced Spanish language text of the same name, this manual uses relevant, engaging issues from the Spanish-speaking world to support explicit instruction in vocabulary and grammar.

In the first section, explicit grammar instruction is provided on the nineteen advanced Spanish structures targeted in the textbook. The chapters in the second section, corresponding to the textbook’s chapters, contain exercises on each chapter’s target vocabulary and grammar. All activities, including cloze exercises, table completion, and multiple-choice questions, are designed for self-assessment, so the answer key is provided at the end of the manual as a learning tool. Used in conjunction with the main text, the Puntos de encuentro student manual helps to provide a complete language-learning experience.

María J. de la Fuente received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Spanish linguistics from the University of Salamanca in Spain, and her Ph.D. in Spanish and second language acquisition from Georgetown University. She is currently professor of Spanish at The George Washington University, where she directs the Spanish Language Program. She has received a Bender Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching and is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Previously she taught at Duke University and Vanderbilt University. Dr. de la Fuente is the author of several research articles in the field of instructed second language acquisition, and has had a long-standing interest in task-based and content-based approaches to classroom language learning, including teaching Spanish through disciplines such as sustainability. Dr. de la Fuente has also authored the task-based textbook Gente, a widely used college elementary Spanish textbook.