The City University of New York
Department of Modern Languages
Syllabus and Course Outline
Semester: Spring 2014
Title of Course: INTRODUCTORY SPANISH I
Course Number: SPN 105
Credits: 3
Instructor: Dr. Ángeles Donoso Macaya
Office # S601 C
Phone: 212-220-5172
E-mail: mdonosomacaya@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Mon 3:15 PM - 5:15 PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is for students who have had no previous background in Spanish. Grammar is taught inductively and
simple texts are read. Speaking, reading and writing are emphasized.
ADDITIONAL DESCRIPTION
This course offers you an opportunity to enhance your Spanish reading, writing, speaking and comprehension
skills. The course’s balanced, four-skills approach endeavors to prepare you to use the language in a natural way
for communication in a variety of situations. It emphasizes the use of language for oral communication without
neglecting the other basic language skills. This class will use reading and writing activities to extend your grasp of
vocabulary and grammatical structures and further your ability to express in Spanish. Activities will be largely
devoted to providing practice through form-based and communicative activities. Be prepared to work a lot, but
don’t be afraid! The more you risk, the more you will learn: you must try to lose any fear of making mistakes when
writing your posts on the discussion board.
PREREQUISITES/COREQUISITES
Pre-requisite: ESL 062 and ACR 094
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
A. Listening and Speaking: Students will be able to:
 Follow simple verbal directions and classroom management
expressions in Spanish. This will be facilitated by an emphasis on
cognates and learned sentence-level requests.
 Ask and answer questions based on vocabulary and grammar
acquired within a context of thematic units.
 Understand and respond to high-frequency classroom language.
 Communicate using acquired vocabulary and syntax by initiating and
maintaining brief conversations related to assigned tasks or projects
such as oral presentations, questions from reading materials,
situational conversations, and skits.
B. Reading/Writing/Grammar: Students will be able to:
 Meet limited practical writing needs such as note-taking and
answering questions in writing
 Demonstrate comprehension of main ideas and facts from first- and
second-semester level short stories, poems, or articles read inside
and outside class by answering questions about the text, and by
MEASUREMENTS
1. Oral and speaking assignments via
the online platform. Oral and
speaking portions of exams.
2. Short writing assignments, weekly
discussion boards, formal reading
comprehension and essay sections of
weekly homework assignments,
quizzes, and exams.
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paraphrasing verbally and in writing.
 Generate statements of opinion and/or questions pertaining to the
scope of the readings when provided with written or verbal cues.
 Demonstrate a gradually progressing control of grammatical and
syntactical elements of the Spanish language. Activities involve
responding to written questions, composing original dialogues, and
performing presentations that demonstrate mastery of particular
grammatical concepts.
C. Culture: Students will be able to:
 Identify general characteristics of Hispanic societies relating to
customs, holidays, concepts of time and personal space, etc.
 Discuss various aspects of Hispanic culture as depicted in specific
examples from sports, news media, films, literature, and music
3. Weekly homework assignments.
GENERAL EDUCATION LEARNING OUTCOMES
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Communications Skills- Students will be able to
write, read, and listen critically and effectively.
2. Arts & Humanities & Knowledge of Global
Perspectives - Students will be able to develop
knowledge and understanding of arts, humanities,
and global perspectives via exposure to secondsemester level readings in literature, culture, and
history.
MEASUREMENTS
1. Short writing assignments, Wiki posts, Discussion
Board.
2. Tests, Discussions Board, writing assignments, and
culture content reading assignments.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND/OR SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
For this class, besides Blackboard, you will need to purchase an access key to the Online Textbook: En Línea 3.0.
(Eds. Blanco and Dellinger, Vista Higher Learning, Boston, MA, 2012).
You have 3 options:
a) 6-month Access Key alone (REQUIRED)
b) 6-month Access Key + companion textbook (loose-leaf printed copy of online textbook) (OPTIONAL)
c) 18-month Access Key, if you are planning to take SPN 106 online. Face-to-face classes use a different textbook
(OPTIONAL; With this option, you may choose to purchase a hardcover accompanying textbook).
Please don’t use your BMCC e-mail address to register your online key. If BlackBoard encounters any problems
during the semester, I would like to have an alternative e-mail to contact you at. Also activate your BMCC e-mail
address to make sure that you will receive all my messages. BlackBoard only sends e-mails to BMCC e-mail
addresses.
If you who cannot afford the textbook you can use the textbook that has been placed on reserve at the BMCC Library.
You must buy the access code anyway.
WORKBOOK/ VIDEO MANUAL: Online through the Quia platform.
WHERE TO PURCHASE THE ONLINE TEXTBOOK: www.vistahigherlearning.com/store/bmcc.htm
RESOURCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
Language Lab (S532)
Free Tutoring at the Learning Resource Center (S-510)
E-tutoring, http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/etutoring/
Check a list of our Student Services at http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/student_services/
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USE OF TECHNOLOGY
We will use BlackBoard. To find a BlackBoard orientation, check the schedule posted at
http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/elearning/announcement_detail.jsp?id=1040
 Internet, audio, video software, headset for audio and recording purposes for laboratory and homework
assignments.

ASSESSMENT
Your progress in this course will be evaluated in several ways:
 Lab (10%): audio/visual comprehension and pronunciation activities on the online textbook,
interactive Wiki activities on Bb.
 Discussion Board (15%): you have to participate actively on the DB throughout the semester. The
forums will be the place where you put Spanish into practice (see DB rubrics)
 Online Homework (12%): I will assign exercises on En Línea 3.0 as homework, so you get to practice
the new grammar and vocabulary studied in each chapter. Some of these exercises will be
credit/non-credit; some will be graded. All the exercises have a due date. Make sure to complete
the assignments before the due date, otherwise you won’t get the credit/grade for them.
 Quizzes (10 x 2% = 20%): Each chapter includes short quizzes covering the vocabulary (Contextos)
and the grammatical structures (Estructura). You should complete these quizzes on the Online
Textbook at the end of each section. The quizzes are located on the Assignments Tab and have due
dates.
 Tests (5 x 4% = 20%): Each test will cover the grammar, vocabulary, and culture studied in each
chapter. The Tests are located on Blackboard, inside the folders at the end of each Lesson. The test
will be available for one day; you will have one hour to complete them. The dates and instructions
are clearly stated in each test.
 Midterm Exam (10%): The Midterm Exam will be cumulative. It will cover chapters 1, 2, and 3. The
Midterm will be face to face (F2F).
 Final Exam (13%): The Final Exam will be cumulative. It will cover all 5 chapters studied throughout
the semester. The Final will be face to face (F2F).
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