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Spanish Language in Context: Independent Abroad III

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Course Information
Program(s): 
Salamanca - Language & Area Studies
Salamanca - Psychology
Discipline(s): 
Spanish
Terms offered: 
Fall, Spring
Credits: 
5
Language of instruction: 
Spanish
Contact Hours: 
75
Prerequisites: 

Completion of IES Abroad’s SP352 Independent outcomes, determined by placement exam

Description: 

In this course, students will expand their linguistic and communicative competence through the effective use of linguistic resources (grammatical, lexical, and communicative) that are provided throughout the course (see Contents). In this sphere, we pursue a triple objective: consolidate previous knowledge and facilitate its practical use; allow the students to succeed in more advanced discursive environments (for example, communicating on a more abstract and complex level to develop their skills in more difficult communicative situations) and promote the students’ oral and written fluency.

Student Profile: Students who enter this level are able to accomplish everyday needs required to live in a new culture.  In this course, students will develop independence and autonomy so that, when communication does break down, they have enough tools at their disposal to resolve these challenges on their own.  Students should welcome correction and guidance from their instructors, hosts, and others in the community as they progress. They will also begin to recognize their own and their peers’ errors.

By the end of this course, students will begin to converse at a rate of speed approaching normal conversation. They will be creative, spontaneous and self-reliant as they solve problems, interpret texts, negotiate, express their opinions, likes and dislikes in the culture. Although students will still make errors and experience communication breakdowns, they are much more likely to resolve these on their own. Students will understand a variety of colloquial expressions and slang, and will be able to understand a wider variety of native speakers from different backgrounds. By the end of this level, students will be capable of achieving the learning outcomes outlined below.

Attendance policy: 

Class attendance is MANDATORY. Each student will be allowed only two unexcused absences throughout the whole course. For each unexcused absence beyond this there will be a reduction in their final grade.

Punctuality: Students who are late to class on a regular basis will also receive a reduction in their final grade.

Learning outcomes: 

Students who are placed in this level should be capable of achieving the outcomes defined by the Emerging Independent Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication.

By the end of the course students will be able to achieve the outcomes for Independent Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:

  1. Intercultural Communication
    1. Students will be able to identify and describe at a basic level key host cultures, subcultures, habits, norms, and behaviors in a variety of settings, and they will be aware of the risk that generalizations can lead to stereotypes.
    2. Students will be able to discuss the validity of their own cultural beliefs, behaviors, and values by contrasting and comparing them with the host cultures.
    3. Students will be able to interpret gestures and body language, and they will integrate some of those non-verbal actions into their interactions with native speakers.
    4. Students will know how to conform to socio-cultural norms in almost any transactional event.
  2. Listening
    1. Students will be able to understand most spoken communications of moderate complexity (media, speeches, music, conversations, etc.) on a wide range of concrete everyday topics as well as abstract topics covered in classes.
    2. Students will be able to understand native speakers from a variety of backgrounds and limited experience with non-native speakers, and they will comprehend common colloquial expressions and slang.
  3. Speaking
    1. Students will be able to speak on and discuss a wide range of concrete everyday and personal topics, abstract topics covered in classes as well as other topics of particular interest to them.
    2. Students will be able to participate, initiate and respond actively in a wide variety of interactions.
    3. Students will be able to narrate sequences of events with some degree of accuracy.
  4. Reading
    1. Students will be able to read and understand a wide variety of articles, stories, and online texts using background knowledge to aid their comprehension.
    2. Students will be able to read and understand academic texts with assistance.
  5. Writing
    1. Students will be able to meet their everyday writing needs (notes, text messages, emails, chats, letters, and online forums).
    2. Students will be able to write brief essays for class that narrate, describe, report, compare, contrast, and summarize on a wide range of topics.
    3. Students will be able to edit their own and their peers’ writing.
Method of presentation: 
  • Creating communicative situations inside the classroom
  • Working in groups and in pairs to practice language in a safe context
  • Semi-controlled and free activities with an increasing degree of difficulty
  • Input processing activities
  • Grammatical awareness tasks
  • Output activities
  • Research project which must be related to Spanish culture, society, or lifestyle
  • IES Abroad Salamanca Moodle platform as an additional learning tool
Required work and form of assessment: 
  • Class participation - 10%
  • Language journal and written compositions - 20%
  • Midterm - 20%
  • Final - 20%
  • Research written paper - 10%
  • Oral presentation - 10%
  • Field study - 10%
content: 

Week

Content

Assignments

Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)
Week 1

Functional:

  1. Describing and discussing stereotypes

Grammatical:

  1. Review verb tenses of indicative mood

Vocabulary:

  1. Social relations and stereotypes

Culture:

  1. Spanish customs
  2. Polite expressions in Spain

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 9-40.

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

 I.A., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.A., V.B.
Week 2

Functional:

  1. Talking about the past
  2. Telling anecdotes, stories and tales

Grammatical:

  1. Review of past tenses of indicative mood

Vocabulary:

  1. Short stories, anecdotes and nightmares

Culture:

  1. Spanish and Hispanic American literature

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 41-70.

Literary blog (Moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

 I.B., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.B., V.B.

 
Week 3

Functional:

  1. Giving instructions, orders, advices, recommendations and solutions
  2. Analyzing and creating advertisements

Grammatical:

  1. Review the imperative mood (affirmative, negative, + pronoun)
  2. Obligation periphrases

Vocabulary:

  1. Advertising
  2. Human body (movement verbs)

Culture:

  1. Television in Spain

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 70-100.

Literary blog (Moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Task before the field study activity: Research on the history of the University of Salamanca (documents and on-line resources)

 I.B., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.A., V.A.

 
Week 4

Functional:

  1. Expressing wishes
  2. Reacting to a wish
  3. Cheering someone up
  4. Expressing feelings and impressions

Grammatical:

  1. Present subjunctive
  2. >Ojalá, espero que, deseo que, quiero que

Vocabulary:

  1. Education and studies
  2. Rites and ceremonies

Culture:

  1. Education system in Spain

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 101-131

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Field study activity: Visit to the old library of the University of Salamanca

 I.B., II.B., III.A., III.B., IV.B., V.B.

 
Week 5

Functional:

  1. Expressing agreement and disagreement
  2. Assessing and giving an opinion
  3. Arguing

Grammatical:

  1. Opinion expressions: me parece/es + adj + que + subj, me parece/está + adv + que + subj., es cierto/evidente + que + ind, está claro + que + ind
  2. Argument markers

Vocabulary:

  1. Cinema

Culture:

  1. Hispanic cinema

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 131-161.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Task after the field study activity: Each student makes a presentation on one of the books kept at the library (date, author, etc.)

Film seminar I:Intacto Fresnadillo, 2001

 I.B., I.C., II.B., III.A., III.B., IV.A., V.A.
Week 6

Review for mid-term exam

Midterm exam (2 hours-written & oral)

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 162-190.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

 I.B., II.A., III.A., IV.B., V.B., V.C.
Week 7

Functional:

  1. Analyzing and writing press articles

Grammatical:

  1. Contrast indicative with subjunctive mood: assess information, identify entities or not
  2. Connect two moments in time: después de/antes de + inf, cuando/después de que/hasta que + ind/subj, antes de que + subj, and other time connectors
  3. Indirect speech

Vocabulary:

  1. Journalism

Culture:

  1. Hispanic newspapers

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 190-222.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Film seminar II: Intacto Fresnadillo, 2001

 I.B., I.C., II.B., III.A., III.B., IV.A., IV.B., V.B.
Week 8

Functional:

  1. Giving advice
  2. Expressing probability
  3. Expressing conditions

Grammatical:

  1. Review conditional tense
  2. yo que tú/si yo fuera tú + cond, es posible que + subj
  3. Types of conditional

Vocabulary:

  1. Travelling

Culture:

  1. American Spanish

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 222-250.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Task before the field study activity: Read an extract from El manuscrito de piedra García Jambrina

 I.A., I.B., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.B., V.B.
Week 9

Functional:

  1. Describing and defining
  2. Identifying objects, places and people
  3. Asking for information

Grammatical:

Vocabulary:

Culture:

  1. Review the uses of ser/estar
  2. Prepositions
  3. Place location
    1. Clothes
    2. Personal image
    3. Character/personality
    1. Important figures in Spanish History (biography of scientists, inventors, artists, musicians, etc.)

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 250-280.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Bio-bibliographical review on Mario Vargas Llosa

Field study activity: Visit to the Cave of Salamanca

 I.C., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.A., V.A.
Week 10

Functional:

  1. Dialogues (in different registers)
  2. Job interviews
  3. Group discussions
  4. Colloquial conversations

Grammatical:

  1. Conversation markers
  2. Connect past actions (contrast of pretéritos)
  3. Periphrases: llevar/seguir + gerund, llevar/seguir sin + inf, ponerse a + inf, volver a + inf

Vocabulary:

  1. Work, taking turns to speak

Culture:

  1. Job interviews
  2. Language of young people

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 280-308.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words).

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading.

Language journal: Composition (200 words)

Literary seminar: Mañas Historias del Kronen (4-page extract)

 I.C., II.B., III.A., III.B., IV.A., V.A.
Week 11

Functional:

  1. Expressing complaints
  2. Giving excuses

Grammatical:

  1. Estar + adj + de que + subj
  2. Ask for a solution (exigir, pedir, solucionar)

Vocabulary:

  1. Proverbs
  2. Idioms

Culture:

  1. Spanish art

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 308-338.

Literary blog (moodle): Critical commentary on the reading (50 words)

Glossary creation (Moodle): 10 new words/expressions that appear in the reading

Language journal: Composition containing 12 words from the glossary (200 words)

 I.B., II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.B., V.B.

 
Week 12 Review for final exam

Required reading: Vargas Llosa Travesuras de la niña mala pp. 338-375.

Language journal: Critical review on Travesuras de la niña mala (200 words)

 II.A., III.A., III.B., IV.B., V.B., V.C.
Week 13 Final Exam (2 hours)    
Required readings: 
  • Prisma B1 Progresa (Student book + CD). Equipo Prisma. Madrid: Edinumen, 2003.
  • Vargas Llosa, Mario. Travesuras de la niña mala. Madrid: Alfaguara, 2006.
  • García Jambrina, Luis. El manuscrito de piedra. Madrid: Alfaguara, 2008.
  • Mañas, José Ángel. Historias del Kronen. Barcelona: Destino, 1994 [2011].
Recommended readings: 
  • Rosario Alonso
  • Alejandro Castañeda
  • Pablo Martínez
  • Lourdes Miquel
  • Jenaro Ortega
  • José Plácido Ruiz
  • Gramática básica del estudiante de español. Barcelona: Difusión, 2005.

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