Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures
Spring 2006

Spanish 112

COURSE DESCRIPTION


Course materials

About the course
 

  • Audio-visual and oral assignments 
  • Written assignment 

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    Tertulias

    Grading

    Attendance

    This is an ampersand course.

    The granting of credit in two-semester courses (Spanish 111-112) is contingent on successful completion of both semesters. A student who fails the second semester of a two-semester course loses credit for both semesters. 

     
    All work done for this course is subject to 

    the Wesleyan Honor Code

    All written assignments must be signed with the honor pledge: No aid, no violation

    Unless otherwise specified by the instructor, all work must be the product of the student who signs it exclusively. 

    The following actions constitute violations of the Honor Code: 
    1. The attempt to give or receive assistance in an academic exercise without due acknowledgments. 
    2. Plagiarism 
    3. The submission of the same work more than once for academic credit without permission. 
    4. Willful falsification of data, citation, or information, in any formal academic exercise. 
    5. Deception concerning adherence to the conditions set by the professor for the formal academic exercise. 
    6. The failure to take constructive action in the event of committing or observing a violation or an apparent violation. 
    (From the Wesleyan Student Handbook)

     
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    COURSE MATERIALS

    - Rusch, Domínguez, Caycedo. Fuentes, Conversación y Gramática. Third edition

    - Tuten, Caycedo, Esterrich. Fuentes: Lectura y Redacción. Third edition

    - Sábato, Ernesto. El túnel

    - Spanish - English Dictionary

    ABOUT THE COURSE
    Spanish 112 is the continuation of Intermediate Spanish 111-112, a communication-oriented course whose emphasis is divided among the four basic language skills: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. The course provides a complete review of first year skills as well as appropriate new material to help you improve your speaking fluency, comprehension of both literary and non-literary written Spanish, writing ability, and understanding of non-technical spoken Spanish, command of grammatical structures, active and passive vocabulary.

    Class time will be essentially devoted to oral communication, as well as acquiring learning techniques to improve your language skills. Do not expect to receive extensive grammar explanations in class. This is a language course, not a grammar review.

    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.

    One last word about language learning: it is wholistic and cumulative. That is, what you learn on 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.

    Audio-visual and oral assignments:

    Movies
        Several movies will be shown during the second part of the semester. Viewing is obligatory. Time and location for the showings will be announced later in the semester.

    Oral presentations
        During the semester, students will do at least 2 oral presentations. One will be related to pertinent news from the Hispanic world (article must be read in Spanish using Internet resources.) The second presentation will be based on the final written assignment on the novel El tunel.

    End-of-semester interview with instructor
        All students must meet with their instructor during the final weeks of the semester for an oral interview, which is worth 5% of the final grade in the course.

    Written assignments:

    Compositions. There will be 4 compositions, with diverse purposes and formats, most of which will be assigned to be corrected once after the first draft. This homework will give you the opportunity to develop your writing skills in Spanish.

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

    Tertulias
    These are mandatory conversation hours for smaller groups. Meeting once a week under the supervision of a CA, you will have the opportunity to chat extensively in Spanish. There will be videos, debates, games, situations, and any interesting activity that you may suggest. An absence to a tertulia session will be counted the same as an absence to a class period.
    Every student is expected to sign up for a Tertulia which best fits his or her schedule during the second week of classes. Once the student has signed up, he or she must stay with the same small group for the entire semester. The list with schedules, names of CAs, locations and meeting times will be posted at the main entrance of the Romance Languages department (300 High Street).

    Grading:

    Your final grade will be calculated as follows:
     

    1. In-class evaluations:----- 45%
    Pruebas:

    ch. (6) and 7 ---------------- -5%

    ch. 10 ------------------------5%

    Exámenes:

    ch. 8 and 9------------------ 10%

    ch.10 y 11 -------------------10%

    Final (ch. 9, 10 & 11) ------------15%

    2. Writing (Redacciones): ----20%

    3. Audio/oral work: -----------10%
    Informes orales ----------------5%
    Reporte oral del Túnel ---------5%

    4. Participación oral en clase 15%

    5. Tertulia: -----------------------10%

    Attendance.

    Attendance to every class is mandatory; only THREE justified absences will be accepted (TWO to regular classes with instructor and one to tertulias.) After the THIRD absence, an entire point will be deducted from your final grade for each absence: from A to A-; A- to B+ ; B+ to B, and so forth.

    Three tardiness marks will count as an absence. You receive a tardiness mark when your name is mentioned at the beginning of class and you are not present yet.

    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 severe 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 on the same day, via e-mail or voicemail.  

    Student Athletes.

    If you are a student athlete representing Wesleyan in any Varsity team, please, provide your professor with your official games schedule. When a commitment may interfere with a quiz, paper or group work, make arrangements with your professor to comply with your work prior to your match, especially if it is an on-the-road commitment. No late or incomplete homework will be accepted.

    Final remarks.

    It is crucial for every student to expose himself or herself to oral practice of the language; therefore, everybody is expected to communicate in Spanish from the beginning of the class until the end not only with their professor, but also with the rest of the students. Failure to comply with this rule will drastically affect your participation grade. Your oral participation grade is assigned by your professor at her or his discretion. Frequent printed progress reports will be given to the students so that they know how much progress they have made throughout the semester. You can also request it to your professor at any other time you wish.

    Back to SPAN 112 home page.