The future tense in Spanish L2 textbooks

Abstract

This paper revisits the treatment of the expression of futurity in Spanish foreign language (FL) textbooks. We analyzed twenty college-level Spanish FL textbooks to determine and quantify how futurity is represented. Variationist research has shown the periphrastic future (PF) to be the most frequent variant of futurity followed by the simple present (SP) and the morphological future (MF). Our findings reveal that, despite over two decades of communicative language teaching, Spanish FL textbooks still do not completely present the reality of the expression of futurity. Introductory texts present all three variants of futurity. However, there is a dramatic difference in the formal representation of these three variants in intermediate texts. The PF is formally presented in only four of the ten intermediate texts analyzed. Interestingly, all ten intermediate textbooks include a formal section on the MF. From a formal treatment perspective and unlike native speaker usage, the MF continues to be the futurity variant most often presented to learners, followed by the PF, and the SP, respectively.

Variable Future-Time Expression in Spanish: A Comparison between Heritage and Second Language Learners

“…Thus, the HLLs were likely exposed to all three verb forms in their childhood before they were explained in their Spanish classes. The L2 learners, on the other hand, were first exposed through textbooks and grammar explanations in the classroom setting, with the different representations of these forms, as compared to monolingual NS norms 2 , detailed in Orozco and Thoms (2014).…”

“…The most common variants used to express futurity are: (1) the periphrastic future (PF), (2) the morphological future (MF), and (3) the present indicative (PI). With a frequency of 70.8% across the Spanish-speaking world, the PF is considered the default marker of futurity, followed by the PI with 17.8% and the MF with 11.4% (Orozco and Thoms 2014).…”

“…2.5. Future-Time Expression in Textbooks and Language Pedagogy Orozco and Thoms (2014) explored the treatment of the expression of futurity in Spanish foreign-language textbooks. They analyzed 20 commonly used books (10 introductory and 10 intermediate) to determine (i) whether one variant (MF, PF, or PI) was emphasized over the others and (ii) whether the formal presentation of each variant accurately represented NS use.…”

The disconnect between textbook and research: Inductive versus deductive approaches to grammar in first-year German college textbooks

“…Research analyzing foreign language textbooks is growing and is quite diverse. Looking across the languages, some studies on Spanish textbooks examined the presentation of the future tense (Orozco & Thoms 2014) and articulatory phonetics (Arteaga 2000). A study on the typology of grammar activities in Italian textbooks conducted by Aski (2003) found that they still heavily rely on mechanical drills and are not reflective of the findings in research in second language acquisition.…”

Ir a + infinitivo y la reflexión metalingüística en segunda lengua: Más allá del futuro

“…En efecto, los aprendientes terminan por considerar el rasgo de relevancia actual como el rasgo defi nitorio de la perífrasis ir a + infi nitivo. Orozco y Thoms (2014), quienes analizan veinte libros de texto utilizados en el español L2 en universidades norteamericanas, afi rman que estos materiales favorecen la forma morfológica frente a la perífrasis para expresar la temporalidad futura, de manera contraria a los datos arrojados por los diversos estudios sociolingüísticos entre los hablantes nativos del español. Gozalo (2009:6) agrega, además, que los manuales y otros materiales pedagógicos usados en el español L2 "ofrecen ninguna o pocas soluciones satisfactorias para explicar la alternancia entre las formas de futuro" y que sería importante insistir en el hecho de que el uso de uno u otro recurso conlleva una diferencia importante de signifi cado.…”