Spanish 202: Spanish in Review
Section 001
MW 4:30-5:45, TETC 155
Spring 2009
Professor
Dr. Keith Brower
342 Holloway Hall
410.543.6442
Office hours: MW 3:00-4:00, and by appointment
IMPORTANT NOTE: Spanish 202 is an “enhanced” course; that is, a course that might traditionally be offered for 3 credit hours, but which, within the context of both the newly reformed Spanish program and the Fulton School’s overall curriculum reform initiative, is being offered here in a 4-credit context. The main purpose of the Fulton reform and the courses in it is to engage students more in the individual courses they take and, as a result, provide students with a deeper—and often more active—learning experience and encounter with the subject at hand. All "enhanced," 4-credit courses in the Fulton School will require significantly more—and sometimes different—work than they might (or used to) require as 3-credit courses. For more information on the Fulton reform and "enhanced" courses, and what both mean to you, as a student, please visit the Fulton reform student Web site at http://www.salisbury.edu/fulton/currref-students.html.
IMPORTANT NOTE #2: Directly related to the above, as a 4-credit course, students will be expected to devote, on average, 12 hours a week to work related to this course. This includes the three hours spent in class, plus nine hours of outside work, including preparation for class, doing exercises and readings in the two required texts, preparing work to be turned in, writing and revising essays, viewing films and writing reaction papers, preparing for presentations, etc. Though the class meets three hours a week—just as a 3-credit course traditionally does—it achieves its fourth credit by virtue of the additional independent work done outside of class each week, at a rate of about three hours more outside work hours a week than in a 3-credit course that also only meets for class time three hours a week. This extra time/credit allows students to explore the texts and content/activities associated with the course much more widely and deeply than in the former 3-credit version of this same course, the result of which will be a more advanced knowledge of Spanish and Spanish-speaking cultures than possible in a 3-credit version of the course.
Course Introduction and Objectives:
This course is designed as a bridge between the basic language sequence (101-201) and upper-level course work. It reviews the major structural features of Spanish grammar while continuing to develop all four linguistic skills: Reading, writing, speaking and listening. The objective of this course, then, is to provide a review of major grammatical features while at the same time achieving the five “C’s” that are at the heart of the National Student Standards:
Communication – Through paired and group activities students will be engagedin interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational aspects of communication. The readings from the culture book will aim at improving oral and written communication.
Culture – Through readings, research, presentations, and discussion students will be exposed to the perspectives, practices and products of the Hispanic world. Students will view films from the Spanish speaking world outside of class. These films will provide authentic material in context to enrich students’ comprehension and analysis of Spanish-speaking culture(s) and its contrast with the cultures of the United States.
Connections – Students will be in contact with other disciplines that also shed light on the Spanish-speaking world such as geography, religion, literature, art, and history. They will use a culture textbook to make many of these connections.
Comparisons – In their study of the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture, students will inevitably make comparisons to the English language and their own cultural experience in the U.S. These comparisons will provide enlightenment about their own lives, in addition to that of native Spanish-speaking peoples. Students will take these comparisons to higher levels of critical thinking in order to move beyond a “tourist approach” to culture.
Communities – Particularly through the study of Hispanics in the U.S., students will gain an appreciation for the importance of the role of Spanish in what has become the largest ethnic community in our country. Students also will study historic communities, family communities, economic communities, and religious communities by focusing on four main aspects of each.
Put another way, and in some ways in addition to the above, the objectives of this course are:
· To review the Spanish grammar concepts presented in Spanish 101, 201, and 201.
· To continue to acquire practical vocabulary in Spanish.
· To continue to learn about various aspects of Hispanic culture, both in the “big-C” sense (“Culture”–as in history, art, architecture) and the “small-c” sense (“culture”–as in mind-set and social behavior), and to make cross- and inter- cultural observations regarding Hispanic culture and U.S. culture.
· To apply–through speaking, writing, listening and reading–the language skills and cultural knowledge acquired in prior and current Spanish study more fully.
RequiredTexts:
Sandstedt, L. A., Kite, R., & Copeland, J. G. Conversación y Repaso. Intermediate Spanish. 9th
ed. Thomson & Heinle.
Sandstedt, L.A. & Kite, R. Civilización y Cultura. 9th ed. Thomson & Heinle.
Grading:
In-class participation, evidence of preparation, level of performance skills 20%
Essays (3) 10%
Oral Presentation 10%
Quizzes (indefinite number) 5%
Exam 1 10%
Exam 2 10%
Culture book work (turned in) 15%
Film reaction papers (2) 5%
Final Exam 15%
In-class participation – 20%
In-class participation is profoundly important in this course, not just because it represents the largest single grading category, but much more importantly, because this is a foreign language course and thoughtful, active participation—supported by and which reveals solid preparation for class, demonstrates a positive attitude toward the subject matter and respect for and toward all other members of the class room community—is absolutely essential, even critical, to each student’s learning, progress and course experience.
Essays – 10%
Each student will write three outside-of-class essays during the semester. The drafts of the essays must be typed and double-spaced. The top center area of the first page must include the author’s name, date, title of the paper, identification (draft or final paper), and the word count of the essay. See model below:
Essays will receive a preliminary grade for the first, turned-in draft, and students will have the opportunity to improve their essays (and their grades) by revising their essays according to an “error symbols” sheet and instructions provided by the professor. In this way, students will not simply write an essay and receive a one-chance grade to it; they will learn from their original errors, and in correcting them make both the writing and the grading of the essays a process.
Oral Presentation – 10%
Each student will make one formal oral presentation of 3-4 minutes in length, organized, structured and presented in accordance with instructions provided to all students well in advance. Presentation grades will be based on the quality of the presentation as defined in a rubric given to students, along with the aforementioned instructions. Presentations may not be read, though students may use notes, as outlined in the instructions.
Quizzes – 5%
Students will be given short quizzes on grammar (particularly verb forms), vocabulary and/or other material discussed in class or contained in assigned work in either of the two textbooks. Some of these quizzes will be scheduled in advance; others may be “pop” quizzes.
Exam 1 / Exam 2 – 10% each
There will be two equally weighted exams during the semester. The first will cover the material covered during the time associated with the work of Unidades 1-3 (this may, in other words, include work done outside of the Unidades themselves). The second will cover the material covered during the time associated with the work of Unidades 4-6 (the parenthetical statement regarding the first exam applies here as well; this exam may also and quite naturally contain, though not focus on, material, grammatical or otherwise, covered during the timeframe associated with the first exam). The exams may be a combination of essay, short answer, matching, multiple-choice, or other assessment strategies. The exams will cover the content of the readings, vocabulary, grammar, and the writing process itself.
Final Exam – 15%
The final exam will be comprehensive and will include all the material seen during the semester, though it will focus more on the material covered following the second exam, above. As with the previous exams, the final exam may also be a combination of essay, short answer, and/or other assessment strategies and will cover the content of the readings, vocabulary, grammar, and the writing process itself. It will take place in the normal classroom on Thursday, May 14, 7:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. No re-scheduling will be possible for the final exam. Please plan now so that you are available at the aforementioned date and time.
Culture textbook (turned-in work) – 15%
Students will be assigned ten sets of readings from the culture book Civilización y cultura, each on corresponding with and supporting the cultural focus of an Unidad in the Conversación y repaso book. These sets of readings will vary from 7 to 12 pages and will address topics such the Spanish and Latin American history, family, the economy, religion, customs, and beliefs within the Spanish-speaking world. Students will do the readings and turn in answers to questions provided either by the professor or assigned from those contained in the book and associated with the readings in question.
Two films and reaction papers – 5%
During this semester, students will be required to watch two foreign films from the Spanish-speaking world outside of the class and write a brief reflection paper for each film. The movies (titles of which at this time are TBA) will be on reserve and available at the Blackwell Library.
Attendance Policy and Role in Determination of Course Grade
Each student is expected to attend class regularly, for obvious reasons, but particularly because of the pace of this course, the importance of in-class participation, and because this is, again, a foreign-language course, in which regular and structured practice is essential. Because conflicts do come up, however, each student is allowed three (3) absences with no penalty. These three days may be used for sickness, trips, weddings, funerals, interviews, or emergencies of any kind, and they need not be explained to the professor. After the three absences are used, a penalty of 5% points off the final course grade will be incurred for each additional absence. Therefore, if, for example, after calculating a student’s final semester grade, the student in question had a 92%/A, but has a total of four absences, the student’s grade would drop to 87%/B. (Each absence beyond the fourth absence would add a deduction of another 5% from the final grade.) Since true emergencies do occur, and important events do occasionally interfere with class time, you are advised to be judicious about using the three absences. Any excused absences (including official college business, varsity athletics, college sanctioned extra-curricular activities, military service, etc.) must be arranged privately with the professor prior to the scheduled absence.
Make-ups / late turn-in policies
No make-ups will be given for exams, announced quizzes, or like work unless the professor is informed of the student’s absence prior to the beginning of class on the day of the absence. A 4:30 p.m. class leaves students ample time to call the professor’s office phone to leave a message regarding the absence. The professor assumes that a student misses an exam or announced quiz, etc. only in the case of illness or some other legitimate emergency. Any exam, announced quiz, or like work missed must be made up immediately upon the student’s return. Exams not made up immediately upon the student’s return to class will receive a zero. The same policy applies to announced quizzes and like work (and if, for example, an announced quiz is an oral quiz, such a quiz cannot be made up). “Pop” quizzes of any kind, as opposed to announced quizzes, are part of the natural flow of the course, and these cannot be made up (if for no other reason than as a make-up they obviously lose the “pop” factor).
Work turned-in (in-class work done on a particular day or outside work due that day), whether the student is in class or not, will be accepted late for 48 hours from the beginning of the class in which the work was originally due, with an automatic grade deduction (the later the work is turned in, the more significant the grade deduction). Late status begins following the time the work was to be turned in in class. Work not turned in after the aforementioned 48 hours will receive a zero.
Writing Across the Curriculum
All writing assignments—both in-class and out—are assigned with Writing Across the Curriculum in mind. The transfer of writing skills from one language to another enhances the ability to write well in both English and Spanish. Evaluation of your writing will be based on both form and content.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to complete all assignments and activities for this course in accordance with the principles of academic integrity covered in the SU Student Handbook under “Policy for Student Academic Integrity” (pages 18-21). At Salisbury University—and elsewhere—plagiarism and cheating are considered acts of “academic dishonesty.” See the aforementioned section of the SU Student Handbook regarding cheating, plagiarism, and illicit collaboration, and the penalties for these offenses.
ALSO: All students are encouraged to sign the Fulton Academic Integrity Pledge and return it to the professor by Monday, February 2, 2009.
Writing across the Curriculum
This course supports the commitment of the university to providing opportunities for students to continue to develop their ability to express themselves clearly in writing. To learn to write well and correctly in a second language also helps to develop that capacity in English. All writing assignments in this course are designed with this philosophy in mind.
E-mail communication
All emails sent out to the class by the professor will be sent via the SU GroupWise system, so be sure you check your GroupWise account regularly, even often.