La lingüística hispánica: Una introducción

Reviewed by Alejandra Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Spanish, Hanover College on 4/12/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The author has released two chapters of an ongoing series: an introductory overview of linguistics and a segment on Spanish phonetics. Both are presented in an approachable manner suitable for students proficient in Spanish but new to linguistics. The comprehensive index assists students in differentiating the varied aspects covered in each chapter. Moreover, the book is rich with links to external articles, resources, and sources of current significance, fostering deeper exploration into the topics studied. Each chapter concludes with a detailed set of exercises, accompanied by an answer key, to reinforce and solidify the material learned.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The text is remarkably accurate and devoid of errors. In terms of neutrality, the author has opted for the use of the letter 'x' to eschew the gendered nature of Spanish, aligning with one perspective on the contemporary and contentious debate over language and its socio-political implications, including considerations of phonetics and linguistic colonialism.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The material is up-to-date and is unlikely to become outdated soon, given the author's deliberate inclusion of both contemporary linguistic trends and historical overviews of past methodologies. The content breadth is sufficient to accommodate the ebb and flow of academic discourse.

Clarity rating: 5

While the grammar and syntax are exemplary, the text's approachable tone distinguishes it from the sometimes dry vernacular typical of linguistic literature. A suggestion for improvement would be the incorporation of more visual elements, such as boxes and color coding, to differentiate various structures and categories within the topics studied.

Consistency rating: 5

The book demonstrates exceptional consistency in its use of terminology and theoretical frameworks.

Modularity rating: 5

Given that only two chapters are currently available, the potential for modularity is not fully evident, considering the inherently cumulative nature of linguistics, but it seems the author goes in the right direction to achieve it.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

With the release of just two chapters, the structure is currently clear and logical, encompassing an introduction to linguistics and phonetics.

Interface rating: 4

The interface is functional with no notable issues, apart from a text-heavy design that could be improved for better reader engagement. Future chapters should strive to balance text with visual aids like images, synoptic tables, or conceptual maps to enhance understanding in a less verbose fashion.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical issues to note, though the PDF version sometimes lacks proper spacing between words.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally considerate, encompassing various Spanish dialects and their interactions with English, which benefits English-speaking students.

Reviewed by Farah Ali, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, DePauw University on 12/28/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The first chapter introduces linguistics as a field and covers some of the basic topics one would expect to find in an introductory chapter (communicative competence, multilingualism, prescriptivism vs. descriptivism, basic functions of language, etc.) and even includes some content that should be in more linguistics texts (professional applications of linguistics). The second chapter provides a thorough discussion of phonetics (introducing terminology, IPA, place and manner of articulation, vowels and consonants, and an interesting section of accents and prejudice (something not often found in introductory texts). Additionally, it provides various relevant exercises/activities that allow students to practice the content covered in the text. However, for an introductory linguistics course, I would have also expected to find material on other core areas of linguistics, such as morphology, syntax, and perhaps sociolinguistics. None of these topics are discussed, so I do think that limits the textbook's effectiveness for an introductory linguistics course that usually covers all of these different topics.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate and error-free. There does not appear to be any strong bias; the text provides examples from a variety of contexts, including Latin America, Caribbean and peninsular Spanish. The text employs the gender-neutral 'x' throughout.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is up-to-date and generally relies on widely accepted approaches in Hispanic linguistics, which I do not expect to become obsolete in the near future. Any necessary updates that might seem necessary should be relatively easy to implement and would not be frequently needed. The only item that requires immediate updating is the link to "Sounds of Speech" https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/home which will no longer be functioning as of January 2021.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in Spanish, and in a very clear, accessible, and somewhat informal style that should be fairly comprehensible to advanced students. Specific linguistic terminology/new concepts are also explained clearly.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology and frameworks presented in the textbook are consistently operationalized throughout.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter is divided into subsections, all of which are very manageable chunks of reading. Typically each subsection is no more than a few pages, so reading assignments can be very easily divided for any type of course timetable.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is generally well organized. The topics discussed are covered in a cohesive manner with smooth and logical transitions.

Interface rating: 4

The textbook includes links to relevant and interesting sources for further reading, which is a great asset. However, these are only accessible via the online text. The PDF version does not provide website addresses, so there is no way to access the resources that are suggested. There are also the occasional formatting issues (such as the omission of spaces between words).

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text does not appear to have any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text draws on a examples from different varieties of Spanish, none of which appear to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. Furthermore, the language is inclusive in its use of gender-neutral 'x,' which it employs consistently throughout the text.

Comments

In the final section of the textbook, there is a bit of an issue with referring to second language learner accents as "problemas." It is true that language learners are not always able to pronounce certain sounds exactly as a native speaker, but I think that this wording can perpetuate the idea that the monolingual, native speaker must be the yardstick against which second language speakers must measure, and will inevitably always fall short.