Integrating grammar and composition, this comprehensive new edition guides the advanced student through progressively more complex types of writing by organizing the grammar lessons on a functionalist basis around the needs of composition. This innovative approach to teaching Spanish grammar and composition promotes systematic language development and enables students to strengthen their expressive and editing skills in the language in order to write more effectively and more confidently. Refined by years of classroom testing and analysis of the problems students encounter, this bestselling textbook has been substantially rewritten and incorporates current research in composition, pedagogy, second-language acquisition, and linguistics. Expanded self-correcting exercises are also available online, making "Gramatica Para La Composicion" one of the most valuable textbooks available for advanced students of Spanish. This book focuses on work in six level-appropriate types of composition: description, synopsis, personal narrative, creative narrative, exposition, and argumentation. It is based on ACTFL guidelines for students progressing from intermediate to advanced levels of proficiency. It is structured around writing cycles, from prewriting to composition to revision. It integrates grammar into the preparation for each type of writing. It covers syntax, dictionary skills, problematic word distinctions, and rhetorical features of discourse structure. It contains exercises on grammar practice, working with sentences and paragraphs, guided essays, and free composition. Each lesson has been clearly divided into two distinct parts: Presentation (material that students prepare before class) and Aplicacion (the activities they do in class or as homework). Practicas individuales have been expanded and recreated as self-checking exercises that provide immediate feedback and scoring. These practicas are available for free online. Images from William Bull's "Visual Grammar of Spanish" help with distinctions that seem difficult. An Instructor's Manual - available for free online - reviews teaching and grading methodology for writing-intensive courses, offers suggestions for syllabus organization and for teaching each lesson, and provides additional exercises and activities.

Table of Contents

Capitulo I: La descripcion Leccion 1: El presente de indicativo y el infinitivo Leccion 2: La flexion de sustantivos, articulos y adjetivos Leccion 3: Los verbos copulativos Leccion 4: La conjuncion, la negacion, la ubicacion y las preguntas Leccion 5: El uso del diccionario Leccion 6: Composicion: la descripcion Capitulo II: El reportaje Leccion 7: El sujeto, el objeto directo y los reflexivos Leccion 8: Los pronombres personales Leccion 9: El objeto indirecto Leccion 10: El presente de subjuntivo y el imperativo Leccion 11: El discurso indirecto y el modo Leccion 12: Composicion: reportaje e instrucciones Capitulo III: La narracion Leccion 13: El preterito y el imperfecto: su formacion Leccion 14: Preterito vs. imperfecto: su funcion Leccion 15: El pasado de subjuntivo Leccion 16: Los adverbiales de manera y tiempo Leccion 17: La gramatica de la narracion Leccion 18: Composicion: la narracion personal Capitulo IV: La narracion compleja Leccion 19: El participio y los tiempos perfectos Leccion 20: El futuro y el condicional Leccion 21: Las clausulas adverbiales y condicionales Leccion 22: El gerundio y los progresivos Leccion 23: El tiempo y los tiempos Leccion 24: Composicion: la narracion compleja Capitulo V: La exposicion Leccion 25: La frase sustantiva y la referencia Leccion 26: Las clausulas relativas Leccion 27: Los numeros Leccion 28: La sustantivacion y el neutro Leccion 29: La comparacion Leccion 30: Composicion: la exposicion Capitulo VI: La argumentacion Leccion 31: Las preposiciones Leccion 32: Cambios de estructura: el enfasis Leccion 33: Cambios de estructura: el "desenfasis" (impersonalidad) Leccion 34: Conectores Leccion 35: La clausula sustantiva y su reduccion infinitiva Leccion 36: Composicion: la argumentacion Capitulo VII: Lecciones facultativas Leccion 37: Las abreviaturas Leccion 38: La derivacion Leccion 39: Repaso de vosotros Apendices Apendice A: Distinciones problematicas Apendice B: Distinciones: ejercicios Apendice C: Resumen de la conjugacion del verbo Apendice D: Glosario bilingue e indice de materias Bibliografia

Author Biography

M. Stanley Whitley is professor of Spanish and linguistics at Wake Forest University. He is the author of Spanish/English Contrasts: A Course in Spanish Linguistics, Second Edition and coauthor of Pronouncing English: A Stress-Based Approach with CD-ROM. Luis Gonzalez is associate professor of Spanish at Wake Forest University.