Spanish 1234 Syllabus
Fall 2014/Spring 2015
COURSE CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY
The language teaching community agrees that learning language and culture are inextricably
connected. Thus, this course focuses on developing students’ Spanish- language proficiency
through modes of communication that reflect real life communication in the varied cultures of
the Spanish-speaking world. By employing interpersonal, interpretive and presentational
communicative modes in Spanish, students will explore the ideas, values, beliefs and other
cultural aspects of Spanish-speaking peoples across the world and how these aspects work
together to affect human experience.
SKILLS AND OUTCOMES
This course involves the development of specific Spanish grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic
usage in the context of the varied cultures of the Spanish-speaking world for the purpose of
exploring ideas that foster aesthetic and intellectual creation in order that students may
understand the human condition across cultures. In this course, students will also continue to
develop awareness of and practice the use of appropriate cultural norms in the Spanishspeaking world for formality, informality, personal space and gestures. Furthermore, students
will continue developing language in the context and manner it is used in the Spanish-speaking
cultures and recognize how these uses are different from those of English-speakers. By the end
of the semester, students will be able to:
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Make reservations for travel, inquire about hotel amenities, order in a restaurant,
shop for food and clothing, follow or give instructions for recipes.
Engage in simple question/answer conversations using memorized and/or highfrequency expressions indicating cultural sensitivity and awareness to talk about
pastimes, hobbies, holidays, celebrations and daily chores.
Provide and request basic information (continued development).
Give and receive instructions and directions (continued development).
Express ongoing actions, routine actions, future actions and past actions in the
context and manner these are used in the Spanish-speaking cultures and recognize
how these uses are different from those of English-speakers (continued
development).
Express preferences and comparisons.
Describe the state of objects and people (continued development).
Express doubt, uncertainty and emotional reactions to
Discuss hypothetical situations.
Describe and illustrate aspects of the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries and
make comparisons between these cultures and their own culture(s) using basic
linguistic structures and vocabulary in the target language.
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Evaluate their own values, behaviors and worldviews on the socio-cultural topics
presented and compare these to those of Spanish-speakers.
CORE OBJECTIVES AND ASSESSMENT
Core objectives for the Language, Philosophy and Culture Foundational Component Area are
addressed in this course according to the following descriptions. A global assessment tool that
incorporates all required core objectives is used for assessment rather than objective specific
assessment tools. This global assessment tool is called a Portafolio Cultural (Cultural Portfolio)
and will be completed by students over the length of the course. Please see the attached
description of the Portafolio Cultural assessment tool.
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Critical Thinking:
o Students will respond in the target language orally and in writing to questions
and/or topics based upon in-class readings, presentations, and/or out-of-class
assignments that require students to extract information, analyze and evaluate
information and draw conclusions and/or form opinions on the topic.
o Students will inquire, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information from various
resources available in the target language on a cultural topic of his/her choosing
to be presented in a variety of modes to the instructor and/or class (e.g. art
work, presentations, theatrical works, essays, music)
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Communication Skills:
o Students will demonstrate ability to effectively use memorized vocabulary, highfrequency expressions, accurate grammatical usage and idiomatic expressions in
the target language to effectively develop, interpret and express ideas orally and
in writing with culturally appropriate sensitivity.
o Students will demonstrate effective interpretation of memorized vocabulary,
high-frequency expressions, grammatical usage and idiomatic expression in the
target language both aurally and in print through the use of culturally-bound
print and multi-media.
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Personal Responsibility
o Students will demonstrate the ability to connect choices, actions and
consequences to ethical-decision making by writing a personal reflection
essay on a specific cultural topic that presents an ethical dilemma or issue for
resolution.
o In their personal reflection essays, students will identify their core beliefs
and the origins of those core beliefs, recognize complex ethical issues and
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relationships between issues, state a position on an ethical issue and connect
their position to implied actions and consequences.1
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Social Responsibility
o Students will demonstrate intercultural competence and knowledge of civic
responsibility as demonstrated in the connections or comparisons made by the
student between his/her own culture and the target culture
o Alternatively and/or additionally, students will demonstrate intercultural
competence and knowledge of civic responsibility by engaging in four (4)
volunteer hours in the local, regional, national or global Spanish-speaking
community through the service projects of the Spanish Club, another campus or
community organization and/or through an alternative Spring Break option.
Required text and materials:
1. Textbook: Exploraciones. Blitt, Mary Ann/ Casas, Margarita. 2012.
2. 10 long Scantrons (please turn in to instructor)
Recommended materials:
Student Activities Manual and CourseMate for Exploraciones
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Participation & Attendance
Ten percent of the course grade will be based on a combination of attendance and
participation. Six percent (6%) will be based on the student’s use of Spanish, active
participation and volunteering in classroom activities. The remaining four percent (4%) is based
on your attendance.
The instructor will take attendance every day. Students are required to be in class for
the entire 50 minute period. Students may be counted absent if arriving more than 10 minutes
late or leaving class early. This syllabus serves as notice that a student may be dropped from
the class without further notification if absent more than six times. Please note that if a student
decides to drop the course, he/she must follow university procedure for dropping a course in
order to receive a “W.” University policy dictates that if an instructor instigates a drop, the
student will receive a “WF” or “F,” depending on the date of the drop.
Absences due to official university functions or documented illness will be dealt with on an
individual basis and should be discussed with the instructor outside of class time. There are no
“excused absences” from regular class periods. If a student misses an exam, he/she must
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Modified from AACU Ethical Responsibility VALUE Rubric.
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present documented proof of illness or university activity to the instructor before a make-up
exam will be allowed. Students will not be allowed to make-up quizzes nor Exploraciones video
lab quizzes (taken in Moffett 112A).
Homework, quizzes and other assignments
Regular study, reading and homework assignments will be made from the text and from
the Student Activities Manual (SAM). Students are expected to prepare homework as assigned.
Frequent quizzes, based on homework and class work, will be given. Graded quizzes and
homework assignments will account for 10% of the course grade.
Language Lab (Moffett 112A)
You must take a listening comprehension quiz in the Foreign Language Laboratory in Moffett
112A once for each chapter covered this semester. There are a total of six lab quizzes to
complete (only portions of Chapters 13 and 14 are covered). Please give your MSU Student ID
to the lab attendant in order to receive your quiz. You will receive a cassette tape, a quiz and a
Scantron. No materials other than your textbook may be used while you complete the quiz and
you may not write on the quiz. Please sign out at the lab attendant’s desk in order to retrieve
your student id. Make-up and/or late quizzes are NOT permitted. One lab grade will be dropped
at the end of the semester. Please note the due dates given below. You will be given a schedule
of Language Lab Hours.
Language Lab Assignment Due Dates:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8:
Chapter 10:
Chapter 11:
Chapter 9:
Chapter 12:
Grading components
Participation and Attendance
Quizzes and Homework
Language Lab Quizzes
Exams (3 major exams) and Portafolio Cultural (10% each)
Comprehensive Final Exam
10%
20%
10%
40%
20%
COURSE CALENDAR
Week 1
Chapter 7
Core Course Review Documentation-SPAN 1234
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Request a room and hotel services; hotel vocabulary
Use numbers greater than 100
Irregular verbs in the preterite
Uses of por and para
Culture: Unique lodging for travel in the Spanishspeaking world; Tourism and the Economy
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Week 2
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Week 3
Chapter 8
Week 4
Week 5
EXAM I
Chapter 9
Uses of direct object pronouns
Reading (Reading out loud): ¿Dónde quedarse: hotels,
motels, pensiones o albergues?
Food, utensils, ordering in a restaurant
Culture: Unique restaurants in the Spanish-speaking
world; Eating habits; specialty stores
Bilingualism and Careers: The hotel industry
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More food vocabulary; vocabulary for preparing food
Uses of indirect object pronouns
Verbs like gustar and indirect object pronouns
Constructions with se: Passive and impersonal se
Reading (recognizing root words): Los alimentos del
Nuevo Mundo
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Childhood pastimes and activities
Introduction to the imperfect
Describing your childhood and adolescence (imperfect)
Culture: Music and dance
Double object pronouns
Reading (combining strategies): Literatura para niños
 Bilingualism and Careers: Professional Chef
 Exploring Literature: José Martí
Chapters 7 and 8
 Celebrations and those unique to the Spanish-speaking
world
 Comparison of the preterit and the imperfect
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Week 6
Week 7
Chapter 10
Core Course Review Documentation-SPAN 1234
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Culture: Festivals and Celebrations
Celebrations in the Spanish-speaking world
Uses of the preterit and the imperfect
Reading (reading interactively): El Día de los Muertos
Transportation, emergency services, navigating the city
Preterite and imperfect with emotions and mental states
Culture: Traffic and accidents, driving habits, highway
systems
Overview of the Preterite and Imperfect
Reading (Reading interactively): Leyendas urbanas
Bilingualism and Careers: Police Officer
Travel and transportation
Relative pronouns
Culture: Tourism Industry
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Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
EXAM II
Chapter 11
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Formal and nosotros commands
Reading (visualizing and paraphrasing): ¿Adónde ir de
vacaciones?
The home and domestic chores
Informal commands
Culture: workers in the Spanish-speaking world
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Pronoun use with command forms
Reading: Mexicanos…con escoba y aspiradora
Bilingualism and Careers: Airport security
Exploring Literature: Marco Denevi
Review of Chapters 9 and 10
Chapters 9 and 10
 Clothing and shopping for clothing
 Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
 Culture: Traditional Dress, appropriate dress for different
occasions, fashion
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Week 11
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Week 12
Chapter 12
Week 13
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Se to indicate accidental occurrences
Reading (identifying patterns): Remedios Varo
Bilingualism and Careers: Retail sales
Nature, geographical terms, environmental concerns
Future tense
Culture: Geographic Diversity
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Present Perfect
Reading: Los parques nacionales de Costa Rica y de
Ecuador
Farm animals and wild animals
The present subjunctive and its use with impersonal
expressions
Culture: Animals; El burro y la flauta; biodiversity;
ecology
Exploring Literature: Mario Benedetti
Reciprocal verbs
Subjunctive with expressions of doubt
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Week 14
Chapter 13
Core Course Review Documentation-SPAN 1234
Making comparisons of equality and inequality
Reading (identifying patterns): Las tapadas: una moda
escandalosa
Art, description of art work
Estar with the past participle
Culture: Traditional art forms; attitudes toward artists;
art for the community
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Chapter 14
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Week 15
Exam III
Subjunctive with expressions of influence (desire) and
expressions of emotion
Conditional; hypothetical situations
Bilingualism and Careers: Mass communications
 Review of Chapters 11, 12 & portions of 13, 14
Chapters 11, 12 & portions of 13, 14
 Review for Comprehensive Final Exam
Departmental Final Exam given during week of Final Exams: TBA
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