Text database KastELE

When the Spanish-speaking world is just a click away on the Internet, it's worth taking a look and bringing it into the classroom! KastELE therefore offers authentic Spanish texts that are bursting with topicality, variety and cultural diversity. The database is divided into A1 - C2 according to the levels of the GeR. The texts are oriented towards the functional content of the respective learning years and address various curricular focal points. The variety of text types is also based on the progression: from everyday infographics, blog posts and websites for beginners to literary and journalistic texts for advanced learners. In addition, the database represents different varieties of Spanish, including text producers from Castile, Andalusia, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia.

The research project links linguistic models of text complexity with didactic approaches to text competence in order to design new impulses and innovative working materials for text work in the Spanish classroom. KastELE is based on the maxim that the complexity of a learning unit results from the complexity of the text and the tasks. Texts that may seem complex at first sight can be used at lower levels by providing appropriate tasks and strategies. The sound linguistic analysis of each text reveals characteristics that are worth negotiating with students. Based on this linguistic complexity profile, specific tasks have been created for use in the classroom. These teaching materials, which are intended to facilitate the teacher's creative use of authentic texts, include numerous tasks that are available free of charge to all users of the KastELE digital database as editable files for classroom and distance learning. All of them serve to promote communicative competence and use the lexical approach as well as inductive grammar teaching.

The database can be useful in virtually all contexts of Spanish language learning, for example, for teachers who want to supplement the textbooks with authentic, real-life and digital texts in Spanish classes, as well as teachers of language practice courses at the university who need up-to-date texts for higher levels, and many more. Because the units are based on the progression of established textbooks for teens and adults, the materials can be easily integrated into the classroom.

Each unit includes the text, the linguistic complexity profile, the teaching materials, and links for further study. A variety of exercise formats are provided to ensure that the teacher can easily adapt the unit to the specific needs of the learners. In addition to implementing an entire learning series, it is therefore also possible to gain impetus and adapt the materials yourself. Furthermore, teachers who have used a unit in class can share their experiences and network together. Additional materials on digital teaching formats and useful tools round out the offering.