Estamos aquí! is an Open Educational Resource (OER) developed collaboratively by five Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) educators from across the United States. Created for intermediate-level SHL courses, its flexible, modular design allows instructors to adapt lessons to support a variety of classroom contexts and student needs.
Focusing on US Spanish, Estamos aquí! explores the histories, cultures, linguistic practices, and identities of Latine communities in all regions of the country. Integrating Open Pedagogy, Multiliteracies, Critical Language Awareness, Raciolinguistics, and Service-Learning frameworks, the textbook offers strategies for active, reflective, and participatory learning.
Estamos aquí! offers a comprehensive curriculum for a 2-course sequence program. It is intended to be used as the primary textbook and will include additional resources for further exploration as desired. The textbook will consist of two volumes. Each volume contains 6 chapters: one initial chapter with an introduction to Spanish in the US, 10 chapters each focusing on a different region of the US, plus one final chapter focusing on the future of Latino/Hispanic communities and Spanish in the US. A website will host all of the textbook materials and supporting resources.