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DESCRIPTION & OBJECTIVES:
The objective of this course is the students' high proficiency at all levels of language use, especially at the colloquial level, as well as on topics of daily conversation and current interest such as art, culture, politics, health, sport, family, and social life. This will be reached through constant class discussion and daily oral reports. To this aim, the class period is going to be divided into three segments:
1. Warming up: Every day, upon arrival to class, students will be required to move freely around their classmates, greeting everyone, looking for a spontaneous subject for conversation in Spanish, and sharing the idiomatic expressions they have learned at home prior to coming to class (and there will be plenty of them).
2. Report: Every day students will have to report to the rest of the class on the status of their research on a subject previously selected under the supervision of the instructor and on which they will become specialists during this course. This report could include general news about one or more issues, the government and politics of a region or country, issues related to research in the sciences or humanities, etc., but it should always include a segment on culture.
3. Checkup: Discussion with the professor and other classmates about the assignments for that day. The readings assigned will be selected mainly from the textbook, but also from books, the web, newspapers, etc.
No notes will be
allowed during reports and presentations.
All assignments must be done at home, so that classroom time should be
reserved for oral work. We all should make a commitment to speak only Spanish
in the classroom and devote a minimum of 30 minutes a day to speak the
language on days we don't meet. Besides the Midterm and Final Exams [see
dates ahead], you will be evaluated every day on the areas mentioned above
and on every presentation you make in class.
REQUIREMENTS
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 in Spanish 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 am very sorry, 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 and, consequently, your final grade in this course. Make
sure you get the phone number and e-mail address of two classmates.
Exams
The Midterm Exam
(around September 18) will consist of a 10-minute presentation to the rest
of the class. Be prepared for questions after your report (another 10 minutes).
This conversation will be recorded so that after your presentation you
will be required to listen to it and correct the mistakes you made. The
Final Exam (October 11) will consist of a 20-minute group presentation
to the rest of the class. [See below for more information on this issue.]
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Progress made by students in this class will be evaluated by the following percentage: Daily presentations: 30% Active participation in discussions: 30% Midterm: 20% Final: 20% |
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Participation and class preparation Participation means active involvement in the class. Students are encouraged to contribute in class discussions and are required to speak only Spanish. The participation grade includes:
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, mainly to show signs of knowing the idiomatic
expressions, will be collected regularly. Homework submitted for
correction has to be written legibly [preferably, typed double-spaced].
Late assignments will not be accepted.
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Individual (a) and Group (b) Presentation Besides daily presentations, there will be two major presentations in this class: a) the midterm, which will be an individual effort; and b) the final, which will be a group enterprise. The Midterm will consist of an oral presentation [10 minutes] on the culture of your chosen country or the current events of the subject you have previously chosen. There must be a thorough study of the field or fields you have selected for this presentation. b) The Final will consist of a 20-minute presentation to explain the process followed in the production of a video and the reasons for going one way or another [to make your point, you may use segments of the video]. Every one is required to be present at these presentations, since the evaluation of these two projects is a joint venture between the class and the instructor. |
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You are responsible for reading at least two Spanish papers from two different countries every day. As mentioned before, you will be asked to inform your classmates about your findings at every class. [Click on QUIOSCO to see newspapers from the Spanish-speaking world]. |
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Para cada clase hay que memorizar un grupo mínimo de 50 expresiones idiomáticas, 20 de las cuales deben ser utilizadas en un párrafo que se debe entregar en cada clase. |
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Martes
28 de agosto
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Introducción
general al curso y presentaciones de cada estudiante. Discusión
del programa.
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Jueves
30 de agosto
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1:
Costumbres alimenticias en el mundo actual
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Martes
4 de septiembre
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2:El
dinero, la inflación y el desempleo
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Jueves
6 de septiembre
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3:
El estrés y sus consecuencias
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Martes
11 de septiembre
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4:
El alcohol y las drogas
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Jueves
13 de septiembre
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5:
La desigualdad social entre los sexos
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Martes
18 de septiembre
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Examen
de medio término
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Jueves
20 de septiembre
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6:
La destrucción del medio ambiente
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Martes
25 de septiembre
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7:
Diversidad étnica y discriminación
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Jueves
27 de septiembre
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8:
La presencia hispana en los Estados Unidos
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Martes
2 de octubre
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9:
La revolución tecnológica
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Jueves
4 de octubre
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10:
La influencia de la televisión
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Martes
9 de octubre
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Descanso:
(Fiesta del Encuentro de Dos Mundos)
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Jueves
11 de octubre
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11:
Examen final
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