(First Edition)
This book grew out of many years of watching our Spanish-dominant students struggle to master English without the adequate tools to fix the problems that kept recurring in their writing. We were frustrated, as were our students, that the standard handbooks offered insufficient guidance, even when those texts had "ESL components." We don't fault the standard handbooks because by their very nature they have to be "all things to all English speakers."
We, too, have experienced the same frustration from the "other side," going from English to Spanish. We're beyond the basics of Spanish, but overcoming the deeper structural problems we continue to have with Spanish often thwarts our progress. There are a multitude of books for the beginners, but texts for those who want to become truly competent in the language are rare indeed. We still long for such a book. If we haven't yet found that book for us, we decided we would at least try to provide such a text for our students, the majority of whom are Spanish speakers.
We knew from the beginning that such a handbook would not be one from which they could learn basic English, but one that would help them refine their command of English and build on the skills they already have. Thus our title: English Beyond the Basics: A Handbook for Spanish Speakers. For that reason, our text is also in English but makes countless references to Spanish.
We certainly had our work cut out for us. A little over three years ago, we began the task by gathering large quantities of errors produced by our students and categorizing them. We then began writing a text that we hoped would provide strategies for eliminating those errors. We agreed with the premise of Mina P. Shaughnessy's ground-breaking text Errors and Expectations -- identifying the causes of errors made by basic writers is the first step in finding solutions for them.
In working back from errors to causes, we found our original hypothesis to be true: the differences between English and Spanish were at the root of most of these problems. Since errors were our starting point, we decided to make this book "error driven," tying explanations of the most common errors to examples of actual errors and offering strategies for moving from those errors to the corrections. Some of these errors reveal tangled sub-structures; trying to untangle them has not always been easy. Explaining complex grammatical "wiring" has been another challenge. Have we succeeded? Often, we hope, but perhaps not always. We offer advice in the introduction for how best to use this text. Our next project is to complete a companion exercise book.
We especially wish to thank two of our colleagues at El Paso Community College, Dr. Patricia G. Montenegro and Ms. Lynda Del Valle, for their many suggestions for improving the explanations and Spanish references in an earlier version of the text. Of course, we the authors bear final responsibility for any errors still remaining in the text. We may not have "fixed" all the problems, but we are certain the second edition is a giant step forward.
The new edition has been greatly expanded to include many more entries than it had before, has been thoroughly reorganized to tighten the logic of the structure, and has been considerably simplified to make the explanations more accessible for the students who will use it. These improvements are the direct result of using the first edition with students in our classes. We extend our thanks to them for their patience with our imperfect early efforts. Their insights have allowed us to make the second edition a far superior text for all who use it after them.
Finally, we wish to thank two individuals without whose constant support and encouragement this text would not have ever seen the light of day: Simon Jemente, Jr., and Monica Wong. Really, we can't thank them enough.
Ted Johnston
Joe Old
El Paso, Texas
June
9, 2004
