An advanced Spanish course, in which the linguistic and communicative contents of each course are based on three criteria: a) grammar, b) oral and written expression and comprehension, and c) cultural context. The specific content will be chosen based on usefulness and frequency in everyday communication, especially in a university-level academic setting.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Communication
Understand presuppositions and metaphors in different text types;
Read and understand complex literary texts;
Write argumentative and narrative texts, and opinion pieces in a cohesive, coherent, adequate and proper way; produce clear, coherent and well-structured texts about complex topics, showing a correct use of text organization and cohesive devices.
Summarize stories both orally and in writing; paraphrase concepts;
Express opinions, hypothesis, congratulations, complaints, suggestions, predictions of their own and of others;
Explain complex concepts, likes, wishes, etc;
Argue;
Explain complex topics to an audience; participate in a wide range of communicative situations;
Express feelings in an accurate way;
Understand cultural codes and gestures;
Understand covert and explicit meanings in long and complex texts;
Express themselves in an accurate manner without effort;
Make use of the language for different purposes and in various environments: social, academic, professional, familiar, etc.
Grammar
Complex uses of the subjunctive mode;
Relative pronouns: cohesive functions; modality and modal verbs in different tenses (debe de haber venido; podría habértelo dicho);
Communication strategies for the working environment;
The explanation: sequence and explanatory resources;
The metaphor;
Narration: organization of the tenses;
Reported Speech;
Polyphony in literature: multiplicity of voices and points of view in the text;
Specific language in journalism; the newspaper and its sections: semantic fields
Use of the conditional;
Speech verbs: manifestar, acusar, declarar, etc.;
Use of lo/la/le;
Terms related to football: words and phrases used in the Argentinean variety;
The essay: characteristics of the genre;
Research projects; academic writing: the paper and the abstract, generic conventions in Spanish, quoting;
Lunfardo (slang); tango as a cultural and linguistic manifestation; poetry: Juan Gelman´s work; 20th Century Latin American Writers: García Marquez, Borges, Cortázar, Dabove, Cardenal, Galeano, Conti, Tizón.
Method of presentation:
Lectures will be supplemented with activities and exercises, such as role plays and field studies, designed to actively involve the students in the use of language. Assignments on grammar and vocabulary, quizzes, authentic reading materials, and weekly written and oral assignments will be a regular part of the course as well. Students will complete 3 research projects, a midterm and a final examination.
Required work and form of assessment:
10% Participation
10% Daily Homework
10% Quizzes
10% Research Project 1
10% Research Project 2
10% Research Project 3
20% Midterm exam
20% Final exam
An 80% attendance is required.
content:
(This weekly schedule may be subject to change)
Week 1
Communication: Reading Jorge Luis Borges, ―Juan López y John Word
Grammar: Review of the Spanish Tenses. The subjunctive: main uses.
Culture: The dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983)
Week 2
Communication: Reading Gabriel García Marquez, ―Algo muy grave está por suceder en este pueblo
Grammar: Reported Speech. Narration. Speech verbs (manifestar, acusar, declarar, etc.). Connecting words to express time, cause and goal.
Culture: Expressing your opinions.
Week 3
Communication: Reading Julio Cortázar, ―Continuidad de los parques
Grammar: Relative pronouns: que, quien, cual, cuyo, donde, cuando, quien. Uses in different registers. Tenses: imperfecto and pluscumperfecto in conditional structures (si yo fuera vos…/lo haría si…)
Culture: Education system in Argentina – vocabulary and phrases related to education
Week 4
Communication: Reading Santiago Dabove, ―Ser polvo
Grammar: Academic texts: lexical analysis and discursive strategies: explanation, definition, etc. How to write in a local university? Writing conventions.
Culture: Tango – analysis of the lyrics of ―Barrio de tango‖ performed by Roberto Goyeneche.
Week 5 PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 1
(Interview of a Porteño)
Week 6
Communication: Quino’s comic strips. Reading and analyzing humor: social and political connotations. Grammar: Formal vs. informal register: Academic writing conventions (how to write in a local university?). Quoting techniques. Specific vocabulary. Structures with relative pronouns.
Culture: Terms related to football: words and phrases used in the Argentinean variety MID-TERM EXAM
Week 7
Communication: Watch and analyze the film ―Historias mínimas by Carlos Sorín.
Grammar: The review: main characteristic. The criticism of films, books, etc. False cognates, polisemy, word-formation processes, etc.
Culture: Body language: Understanding cultural codes and gestures.
Week 8
Communication: Reading Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano
Grammar: The essay and the opinion piece. Connecting words. Quoting techniques in Spanish: use of the bibliographic reference system. The written accent: uses of the diacritic.
Culture: Argentine writers and their legacy.
Week 9
Communication: Reading Haroldo Conti, ―Como un león
Grammar: Polyphony in literature: multiplicity of voices and points of view in the text. Emphatic expressions, comparatives, cleft sentences;
Culture: Newspapers – the discourse of the news. Sections and typical vocabulary.
Week 10 PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 2
(Theme: city/country, students will present on a chosen topic (a museum, food and drink, parks, art, a TV show, traditions, soccer, etc.))
Week 11
Communication: Watch and analyze the film ―Una estrella y dos cafés by Alberto Lecchi.
Grammar: Immigration, its impact on language. Lunfardo (slang): its history and its presence in the language; Stylistic use of se (se estudió todo, véngase esta tarde, creérsela, etc.)
Culture: Juan Gelman’s poetry / Hector Tizón’s works as an example of non-metropolitan literature.
Week 12
REVIEW
Week 13 PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 3
(Presentation of a cultural topic of the students’ choice—ex. something learned in a field-study, IES Abroad trip, another IES Abroad course, cultural activity, etc)
Week 14 FINAL
Required readings:
Reading materials are chosen according to Spanish level: signs, magazines and newspaper articles, short stories, reviews, biographies, manuals, poems, lyrics, recipes, papers, short novels, etc.
An advanced Spanish course, in which the linguistic and communicative contents of each course are based on three criteria: a) grammar, b) oral and written expression and comprehension, and c) cultural context. The specific content will be chosen based on usefulness and frequency in everyday communication, especially in a university-level academic setting.
None
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
Communication
Grammar
Lectures will be supplemented with activities and exercises, such as role plays and field studies, designed to actively involve the students in the use of language. Assignments on grammar and vocabulary, quizzes, authentic reading materials, and weekly written and oral assignments will be a regular part of the course as well. Students will complete 3 research projects, a midterm and a final examination.
10% Participation
10% Daily Homework
10% Quizzes
10% Research Project 1
10% Research Project 2
10% Research Project 3
20% Midterm exam
20% Final exam
An 80% attendance is required.
(This weekly schedule may be subject to change)
Week 1
Communication: Reading Jorge Luis Borges, ―Juan López y John Word
Grammar: Review of the Spanish Tenses. The subjunctive: main uses.
Culture: The dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983)
Week 2
Communication: Reading Gabriel García Marquez, ―Algo muy grave está por suceder en este pueblo
Grammar: Reported Speech. Narration. Speech verbs (manifestar, acusar, declarar, etc.). Connecting words to express time, cause and goal.
Culture: Expressing your opinions.
Week 3
Communication: Reading Julio Cortázar, ―Continuidad de los parques
Grammar: Relative pronouns: que, quien, cual, cuyo, donde, cuando, quien. Uses in different registers. Tenses: imperfecto and pluscumperfecto in conditional structures (si yo fuera vos…/lo haría si…)
Culture: Education system in Argentina – vocabulary and phrases related to education
Week 4
Communication: Reading Santiago Dabove, ―Ser polvo
Grammar: Academic texts: lexical analysis and discursive strategies: explanation, definition, etc. How to write in a local university? Writing conventions.
Culture: Tango – analysis of the lyrics of ―Barrio de tango‖ performed by Roberto Goyeneche.
Week 5
PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 1
(Interview of a Porteño)
Week 6
Communication: Quino’s comic strips. Reading and analyzing humor: social and political connotations. Grammar: Formal vs. informal register: Academic writing conventions (how to write in a local university?). Quoting techniques. Specific vocabulary. Structures with relative pronouns.
Culture: Terms related to football: words and phrases used in the Argentinean variety
MID-TERM EXAM
Week 7
Communication: Watch and analyze the film ―Historias mínimas by Carlos Sorín.
Grammar: The review: main characteristic. The criticism of films, books, etc. False cognates, polisemy, word-formation processes, etc.
Culture: Body language: Understanding cultural codes and gestures.
Week 8
Communication: Reading Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano
Grammar: The essay and the opinion piece. Connecting words. Quoting techniques in Spanish: use of the bibliographic reference system. The written accent: uses of the diacritic.
Culture: Argentine writers and their legacy.
Week 9
Communication: Reading Haroldo Conti, ―Como un león
Grammar: Polyphony in literature: multiplicity of voices and points of view in the text. Emphatic expressions, comparatives, cleft sentences;
Culture: Newspapers – the discourse of the news. Sections and typical vocabulary.
Week 10
PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 2
(Theme: city/country, students will present on a chosen topic (a museum, food and drink, parks, art, a TV show, traditions, soccer, etc.))
Week 11
Communication: Watch and analyze the film ―Una estrella y dos cafés by Alberto Lecchi.
Grammar: Immigration, its impact on language. Lunfardo (slang): its history and its presence in the language; Stylistic use of se (se estudió todo, véngase esta tarde, creérsela, etc.)
Culture: Juan Gelman’s poetry / Hector Tizón’s works as an example of non-metropolitan literature.
Week 12
REVIEW
Week 13
PRESENTATION OF PROJECT 3
(Presentation of a cultural topic of the students’ choice—ex. something learned in a field-study, IES Abroad trip, another IES Abroad course, cultural activity, etc)
Week 14
FINAL
Reading materials are chosen according to Spanish level: signs, magazines and newspaper articles, short stories, reviews, biographies, manuals, poems, lyrics, recipes, papers, short novels, etc.