Home

Syllabus

Course Description

- Dorwick et al. ¿Qué tal? An introductory course. Sixth edition. McGraw Hill.

- Spanish - English Dictionary

ABOUT THE COURSE

Spanish 103 is a more demanding course for High Beginners, a communication-oriented course, in which emphasis is divided among the four basic language skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Class time will be essentially devoted to oral communication, as well as acquiring learning techniques to improve your language skills. Therefore, although Spanish 103 will offer you grammar, do not expect to receive extensive grammar explanations in class. This is a language course, not a grammar course. Language learning is wholistic and cummulative. That is, what you learn day one is still equally important at the end of the semester. Language is all about communication, and you need all you can learn in order to communicate efficiently.

It is a basic tenet in this course that culture is inseparable of a language and the people who speak it. Language cannot exist in a cultural vacuum. Therefore, you are expected to acquire cultural information together with the Spanish language as an intricate part of your language training, as much as you must learn vocabulary, verbs, or conversation skills in order to be able to communicate or read a text in Spanish.

This course will take advantage of computer-based technologies whenever possible. This includes using the Internet as a source of information and assignments, as well as some other audiovisual resources available in the Language Lab.
 

Audio-visual assignments: The Language Laboratory

The lab is an essential part of language learning, and it is where the work on the Lab Manual and CD-ROM is done. You are expected to spend about 1 1/2 hours a week in the lab listening to the assigned tapes and working with the CD-ROM. You must listen to the material until you master it. The pages of the Lab Manual for each lesson must be completed within the time assigned for each chapter. These pages will be collected and checked regularly.

Be disciplined regarding the time you spend in the Lab to make the best out of it: 20 to 30 minutes is optimal time at one seating. More than that is too much for your attention span and also produces aural fatigue.

Oral presentations
    During the semester, students will do at least 2 oral presentations. (To be specified in class.)

End-of-semester interview with instructor
    All students must meet with their instructor in the last week of the semester for an oral intervierw, which is worth 10% of the final grade in the course.
 

Reading/writing assignments

Workbook . It is intended to be a tool to help you prepare for each class (it has an answer key for all mechanical activities at the end of the text). The pages of the Workbbok (together with the Lab Manual) will be collected on the day of the test for the corresponding lesson. It should be completely finished and corrected (you will complete the exercises in one color ink, correct them in another color; it is absolutely necessary that you correct the exercises). Negative credit will be assigned to unfinished or sloppy homework.

Other assignments. There will be small compositions, with diverse purposes and formats, some of which may be assigned for re-writing. This homework will give you the opportunity to develop your writing skills in Spanish in a more open-ended format than the Workbook.

All homework will be collected on the day of the deadline, with no exceptions. Except for well justified cases, old homework cannot be made up for credit.
 

Thursday classes
These are obligatory hours for smaller groups. Meeting on Thursday under the supervision of a CA (Course Assistant), you will have the opportunity to review new material and practice Spanish in a more relaxed setting. There will be videos, debates, games, situations, etc. An absence to a Thursday class will count the same as to any other class period.
 

Grading
Your final grade will be calculated as follows:
 

Attendance
Attendance to every class is mandatory; An absence to a class will reduce your final grade by a point, except in the case of severe illness or the death of a family member.

Repeated tardiness will count as absences.

In the event of an absence, students are responsible for finding out about the topics covered in class as well as the assigned homework. An absence to class does not justify handing in late homework, except in the case of illness. It is recommended that you contact your professor or your classmates as soon as possible for an update of the information. In the event of illness, contact your professor as soon as possible, via e-mail (oflores) or voicemail (ext. 3122).