Spanish 101, 102, 105, 109, 201, 202, 209
Department of Modern and Classical Languages

Fall 2001
George Mason University

 

Program Description

Spanish 101 and 109 are for people who have never studied Spanish or who have had less than two years of high school Spanish. If you have two or more years of high school Spanish, you should take Spanish 105. Spanish 101 is followed by 102. Spanish 109 covers the work of 101 and 102 at a uniform pace; it is followed by 201 or 209.

Spanish 102 is for people who have completed Spanish 101 at GMU using the Destinos materials. If you have one semester of college Spanish using other materials, you may benefit from taking Spanish 105. Spanish 102 is followed by 201 or 209.

Spanish 105 is a review course for anyone with two years or more of high school Spanish or one semester of college Spanish. It starts at the beginning, covers the equivalent of Spanish 101 at a rapid pace, then slows down for the equivalent of 102. Spanish 105 is followed by 201 or 209.

Spanish 201 and 209 are for people who have completed the first-year program at GMU, have one year of college transfer credit in Spanish, or have tested into second year on the GMU placement test or the SAT-2. Spanish 201 is followed by 202. Spanish 209 fulfills the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree at GMU and is followed by Spanish 300.

Spanish 202 is for people who have completed Spanish 201 at GMU, or its equivalent at another college, or have tested into fourth semester on the GMU placement test or the SAT-2. Spanish 202 fulfills the foreign language requirement for the B.A. degree at GMU and is followed by Spanish 300.

 

Textbooks

1. VanPatten, B., Marks, M., and Teschner, R. Destinos. Alternate Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.

2. VanPatten, B. Destinos Workbook/Study Guide I and II. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. (The 100-level uses volume I and the 200-level uses volume II.)

3. Highly recommended: A good Spanish - English dictionary.

 

Your Grade

Your final grade will be determined as follows:

Class Preparation and Participation20% or 30%
Quizzes and Written Assignments15%
Midterm and End-of-term Written Tests, each 20% :40%
Oral Presentation5%
Final Oral Exam10%
Final Written Exam10% or 0%

 

Attendance

You must be exposed to Spanish and use Spanish in order to learn it. Class attendance provides the kind of interaction in Spanish that you cannot obtain at home. For this reason, there is no real substitute for attendance. However, you will have to take a final written exam if you miss more than 10% of your classes during the term. This means more than four absences for a fall or spring class that meets three times weekly, or more than three absences for a class meeting twice weekly. For summer classes it means more than one absence. This policy should not be viewed as a punishment for not attending, but as an opportunity to make up for not participating in class on the days you were absent.

Class Preparation

In order for you to actively participate in class, you have to read the material assigned for each class and prepare the activities assigned by your instructor. These activities can include workbook and textbook activities, and the viewing of videotapes.

Class Participation

In order to participate, you must be present. Your grade for this component of the course will be based on the quality and quantity of what you say in Spanish in class. The participation grade includes your active contribution in Spanish in regular class sessions, pair work, and small group activities. It is primarily your instructor's evaluation of your spoken Spanish. You are encouraged to ask questions in English, but only what you say in Spanish will affect your participation grade. Cell phones and pagers that interrupt the class will negatively affect your participation grade. Please set these devices so that they can not be heard.

Midterm and End-of-term Written Tests

Test dates will be announced well in advance on the web site and in class. Each test will include the material covered in class up to the date of the test. Tests will involve listening, vocabulary, writing, and culture. There are NO MAKE-UPS for missed tests. If you have to miss a test, your grade on the next test will count double; if you miss the last test, you will have to take the written final exam.

Oral Assignments

Your skill in speaking Spanish will be evaluated by means of a five-minute oral class presentation on a date to be scheduled individually, and a ten-minute oral activity on the date announced in the GMU schedule of classes as your final exam date. The class presentation may be on a topic of your choice. You may use notes for the class presentation, but not for the final oral activity.

Final Written Exam

Whether or not you will be required to take the final written exam will depend on your attendance as mentioned above. If you miss more than 10% of your classes, you will have to sit for the written final which will count as 10% of your grade, reducing your preparation/participation grade to 20%. If you voluntarily elect to take the final written exam, it will be counted only if doing so would improve your semester grade.

Grading Scale

A 93-100

B+ 87-89

C+ 77-79

D 60-69

A- 90-92

B 83-86

C 70-76

F 0-59
 

B- 80-82

    

Honor Code

Written work submitted for a grade must be done independently. Your instructor will tell you when you may use dictionaries for quizzes. All students are expected to be familiar with the GMU Honor Code.

Last day to add classes: September 11, 2001
Last day to drop courses without your dean’s permission: September 28, 2001