TEXTBOOKS
Varios autores, Hispanic
Culture Review, Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, 2006.
The Oxford Spanish Dictionary
New
York: Oxford University Press, 2003 Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1990.
Reqd.]
Raymond H. Pierson, Guía
de modismos españoles. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1990.
[Reqd.]
Judith Noble & Jaime Lacasa,Complete
Handbook of Spanish Verbs. Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1990. [Reqd.]
Diccionario de sinónimos,
antónimos e ideas afines.
Mexico:
Larousse, 2002. [Recmd.]
Dorothy Devney,
Guide to Spanish
Suffixes,
Lincolnwood, IL: Passport Books, 1993. [Recmd.]
DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES
The objective of this course is the student's oral proficiency on topics of current interest: art, politics, sport, family and social life, health, and religion, among many others. This proficiency will be reached by constant class discussion and daily oral reports. To this aim, the class period is going to be divided into three main segments:
1. Warmup: Every day, upon arrival to class, students will be required to move freely around their classmates, greeting everyone and looking for a spontaneous subject for conversation in Spanish.
2. Report: Every day, students will have to report to the rest of the class on the status of their research on a country they have previously chosen and on which they will become specialists during this course. This report could include general news, government and politics, economics, and the country's infrastructure, among other issues, but it should always include a segment on culture.
3. Checkup: Discussion with the professor and the other classmates about the assigned reading from different reading material or any other source previously assigned.
Classwork will be conducted
entirely in Spanish (otherwise it wouldn't make any sense to call
this course "oral proficiency in Spanish").
No notes will be allowed
during reports and presentations. All assignments must be done at home,
so that classroom time should be reserved for constant oral drilling. We
all must make a commitment to use Spanish every day as much as possible.
[I would like to recommend that you force yourself to listen and/or speak
the language for a minimum of two hours on days we don't meet]. Besides
the Midterm and Final Exams, there will be occasional unannounced quizzes
on issues previously discussed.
ATTENDANCE
You must be exposed to Spanish and use the language in order to learn it. So you really want to be in class and benefit from it. Class discussions, presentations, and activities provide the kind of interaction that you cannot get at home. For this reason there is no substitution for attendance. If you are not in class because you are sick or for any other valid reason, I feel bad, but the reality is that you were not in class and you missed all the goodies that come with being physically in the classroom. So you are expected to attend all classes and be on time. If you arrive late, you are disruptive and you may also miss some important information that cannot be repeated every time a student is late. Even if you are sick and cannot come to school, you are still responsible for all material covered in class. Keep in mind that irregular attendance will severely affect your learning process in any class, but especially in this one, and, consequently, it will affect your final grade in this course. Make sure you get the phone number and e-mail address of two classmates in case you have to miss class due to unforeseeable reasons:
Name____________________ Tel __________ e-mail _________________
Name ____________________Tel __________
e-mail ________________
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Progress made by students in this class will be evaluated following the following percentage: Quizzes and exercises: 25% Active participation: 25% Midterm: 25% Final: 25% |
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Participation and class preparation
In order for
you to actively participate in class, you need to read the material assigned
for each class and do the activities assigned by the instructor.
Some writing assignments will be collected regularly. Homework submitted
for correction has to be written legibly [preferably, typed double-spaced].
Late assignments will not be collected.
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Individual (a) and Group Presentation (b) a) The Midterm will consist of an oral presentation [10 minutes] on the culture and current events of the student's chosen country, plus another 10 minutes answering questions from the instructor and the classmates on your presentation or on the issues assigned for reading during the course which had already been discussed in class. There must be a thorough study of the field or fields you have chosen for this presentation. b) The
Final
will
consist of an 8-minute per person group presentation (two or three
people per group only) to explain the process followed in the production
of a video on any subject you would like to choose and the reasons for
doing what you did in that video. Remember, this project is not for your
classmates to watch your video, but instead for you explain what you did.
In order to make your point, you may use brief segments of the video, but
the time of the projection should not be more than five minutes total.
The idea is not to show the video, but to tell your audience why you chose
that subject, how you did, where, when, etc.] A 10-minute question and
answer session will follow, just as in the midterm. If you have difficulty
finding a camera or trying to find someone to film you, your group could
opt for actually acting the presentation in front of the class, instead
of filming it.
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Students are
responsible for reading at least one
Spanish
newspaper from two different countries every day and for informing
the class about their findings on the chosen issue or issues on one country
[click on QUIOSCO to see revistas
from all over the Spanish speaking world or listen to the radio,
read a the comics in Spanish or even watch TV on your screen]. The GMU
Spanish page has also several newspapers
from each Spanish speaking country and also radio
and TV stations. Go there to check them out. [http://mcl.gmu.edu/spanish/resources.html]
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Este es un plan de trabajo que puede cambiar en cualquier momento, pero siempre con aviso previo. Como hemos decidido no utilizar ningún libro de texto específico, nos tendremos que acostumbrar a trabajar por nuestra cuenta. Esto exige un constante estar al día por parte de cada una de ustedes, pero también les obliga a usar la lengua más activamente. |
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Lunes 5 de junio
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Introducción
general al curso y presentaciones individuales de cada estudiante con preguntas
de todos.
Discusión del programa, orientación
sobre la red y muestra de conocimiento del tema ciberespacial |
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Miércoles
7 de junio
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Hablemos
de deporte: el fútbol como fiesta mundial
Uso de los verbos
ser
y estar
La guerra y la agresión personal
y colectiva |
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12 de junio
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El matrimonio,
el divorcio y los hijos
El subjuntivo
en cláusulas subordinadas
Los engaños de la fama y
la popularidad
Uso del pretérito
perfecto y el participio pasado
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14 de junio
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El terrorismo
individual y el terrorismo de estado
Adverbios en
-mente
Las religiones: fallas y virtudes
Conjunción sino y subjuntivo en cláusulas adjetivales |
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19 de junio
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Vivir en
el pasado, en el presente o en el futuro
Verbo
gustar
y uso del gerundio
Las violaciones, el aborto, la adopción
Subjuntivo con
verbos de emoción y grados del adjetivo
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21 de junio
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La ciencia
y el arte
Subjuntivo con
sin
que
y el tiempo condicional
La migración y los indocumentados
[legalidad/ilegalidad] |
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26 de junio
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La salud
y la medicina
Pronombres indefinidos
y algunos adverbios
La censura religiosa / La censura
estatal
El infinitivo
y palabras en
-ma, -pa, -ta
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28 de junio-3
de julio [Midterm]
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Presentaciones
individuales:
Estas presentaciones serán grabadas
para que luego cada estudiante pueda regresar a ellas para estudiar problemas
gramaticales, lexicales, prosódicos, etc. |
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5 de julio
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El suicidio
entre los jóvenes
Pronombres reflexivos
y el adjetivo negativo
Las armas de fuego
Verbo
haber
y
otros pronombres reflexivos
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10 de julio
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Las Naciones
Unidas
La pena capital... muerte
Pronombres de
objeto directo o indirecto
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12 de julio
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La herencia
y el medio ambiente
Los adjetivos
posesivos
El narcotráfico
Para que con subjuntivo y ciertos pronombres con preposición |
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17 de julio
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Fumar o no
fumar
Subjuntivo en
cláusulas adverbiales
El Espanglish |
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19 de julio
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Actitud ciudadana
Explorando el espacio
Adjetivos descriptivos, los adverbios y otras cosas El pretérito
y el imperfecto
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24 de julio
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La educación
Usos de por
y para,
que y quien,
lo que,
lo cual
La vida dentro
de 100 años
Uso del futuro
y de la voz pasiva con se
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26 de julio
[Final]
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Presentaciones
en grupo
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Jueves 27 de
julio
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Ultimo día
para entregar el trabajo final
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