Diane Ceo-DiFrancesco
Xavier University
Gregory L. Thompson
Brigham Young University
Alan V. Brown
University of Kentucky
Kathy Barton
Professor Emerita Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Life is a series of Experiences
The authors of Experiencias believe that Spanish language instructors are more successful when they open the door for students to create emotional connections through honest communication and intercultural interactions in Spanish.
Experiencias is a research-informed Spanish program designed for beginning and intermediate learners. With a learner-centered approach, practicality, and a focus on communication, this program embraces the diversity of student experiences.
Discover the newly updated second edition of the Experiencias program, featuring a new video program, Learning Objectives, Can-Do Statements, and contemporary content to build intercultural competence and social awareness. Engage your students with projects at the end of the chapter, giving them a rewarding and relevant learning journey with a wide variety of activities and cutting-edge online tools to support their life-changing experience.
Experiencias has a fully articulated sequence that offers consistency and progression for a smooth transition from Beginning to Intermediate.
Consistency
Same author team with a unique pedagogical framework: Their student-centered approach focuses on communication, backward-design principles, metacognitive strategies, comprehensible input, intercultural competence, and task-based principles.
Curricular organization and articulation: The program is based on the ACTFL proficiency guidelines and sets realistic expectations, focusing on what students can realistically do with the language at their proficiency level. In addition, there is strategic recycling throughout the two levels due to the intentional articulation.
Technology and design: Both levels have similar visual organization and appeal, making it easy for users to navigate and locate information across levels. Leverage VHL’s unparalleled digital learning tools to support the program’s pedagogical goals.
Progression
Topics: Experiencias offers an intentional progression from self-awareness to global awareness, in which students progress from talking about personal and daily activities to discussing community and global issues. Topics focus on cultural, social justice, and diversity issues, with the addition of authentic texts.
Language development: Experiencias offers a well-articulated scope and sequence that sets students up for success through vocabulary presentations, texts that increase in length and complexity, and language functions that progress smoothly through the program’s two levels.
Intercultural competence: Experiencias places a strong focus on interculturality from beginning to end. Learners work towards gaining intercultural competency (ICC) by reflecting critically on their cultural values and practices in order to better understand the world around them.
Experiencias Beginning
A research-informed language program inspired by these key principles:
Backward design: The learning experience is more effective and intentional when lessons are designed with a final goal in mind. Chapters were planned by starting with the end goal and working backward to support the students in reaching the learning outcomes.
Reduced grammar scope: The grammar syllabus in Experiencias Beginning deliberately focuses on high-frequency structures and devotes more time to challenging areas through recycling and meaningful communication.
Metacognitive strategies: These strategies help learners better understand the process of learning a new language. They foster reflective thinking and increase students’ motivation.
Comprehensible input: Language acquisition takes place when learners are exposed to language that is slightly above their current level of proficiency. In Experiencias, students are exposed to multiple instances of comprehensible input and meaningful interaction throughout the chapter before they attempt to create their final, personalized project.
Authentic learning: Authentic tasks and the final project support learners to produce new language independently and creatively as they work toward a tangible outcome. Engaging and relatable themes promote self-expression, personalization, and creativity, and provide opportunities to use the language in real-world tasks.
Intercultural competence: Learners work toward their ongoing development of intercultural competence by reflecting critically on their cultural values and practices to better understand the world around them.
Live Language
Your Partner in Language Learning
At Vista Higher Learning, our mission is to raise the level of teaching and learning of languages to a new level. Our singular focus for the past twenty years has been on creating the highest quality integrated print and digital solutions that meet the needs of all language learners—from those learning a new language, to improving a second language or perfecting their native language. We remain dedicated to publishing research-based, groundbreaking digital and print materials that inspire and empower language educators and students to face the challenges of the twenty-first century.
