WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY
Department of Humanities
Silver City, New Mexico
SPAN 435/535 – CRN 30037 & 30038
Intensive Spanish Language Development
Summer I, 2010
Online
Instructor:
Office:
Office Phone:
Home Phone:
E-mail:
Fax:
Office Hours:
Online Hours:
Patricia Morales Cano
Bowden Hall 228
575-538-6512
575-590-3016
canop@wnmu.edu or canop1@excite.com
505-538-6535
By appointment only
8:00 to 12:00 daily from June 1 – July 2
PREREQUISITES: Fluency in Spanish or recommendation of instructor. It is highly recommended that
students complete Spanish 213 and 214 (Spanish for Heritage Speakers I and II) and Spanish 308 (Advanced
Composition) before enrolling in the course.
TEXT MATERIALS:
All text materials have been created and uploaded to the course by the instructor. A complete text can be found
in the course for students to refer back to during the course of the session. Assignments from the text have also
been uploaded separately and included in the ASSIGNMENTS section of the course. Students should begin the
course by familiarizing themselves with all the materials which are included in the MEDIA LIBRARY of the
course.
RECOMMENDED MATERIALS:
Any grammar reference book
Spanish/English dictionary
501 Spanish Verbs
Other resources from MEDIA LIBRARY
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course was originally developed by the instructor to prepare prospective bilingual teachers for the
Prueba required for endorsement in the state of New Mexico. It is also an ideal course for students who are
preparing for the Spanish test which is now required for licensure of Spanish teachers or for students who
simply wish to improve their overall skills in the language. Spanish majors and minors are also encouraged to
enroll in the course to increase their proficiency and prepare for the exit exam. Students will work on grammar,
comprehension, speaking, reading and writing and will be expected to use only formal Spanish during class
time.
COURSE ACTIVITIES:
Students will be given a pre-test to determine their proficiency level in listening, reading and writing
Spanish, after which they must complete a specified number of grammar, accentuation, comprehension, writing
and miscellaneous exercises on a self-paced basis. A daily calendar of suggested assignments is provided to
prevent the student from getting behind. It is of the utmost importance that students become very familiar with
how to use the written accent on the computer. Many of the assignments have to do with accent placement and
cannot be completed without knowing how to use technology to put accents on the vowels. Each accent rule
will be explained in writing and students will be able to view explanations given by the instructor as well.
Students will be given immediate feedback on the assignments that are submitted; therefore, part of the
coursework is to review assignments that are returned and read the instructor’s comments.
A dialogue journal, in which the student and the instructor communicate on a one-to-one basis, is used
to enable the instructor to spot weaknesses and assign textbook exercises which may be of help. Students are
required to complete 20 journal entries either on an assigned topic or on a topic of their choice. This journal
gives students an opportunity to express feelings and misgivings about the course. The journal is used by the
instructor for giving encouragement, praise, advice, feedback on recurring errors, etc.
Students are also required to write 8 formal compositions of 250 words in length. The compositions are
reviewed by the instructor and coded using a rubric in which each letter of the alphabet stands for a particular
type of error. Students must then submit a correction sheet in which they give each error, how it should be
corrected and an explanation that will prevent them from repeating the error in subsequent compositions. After
the corrections sheet is returned by the instructor, the student will submit a final draft of the composition. In
order to receive a passing grade, the final draft must contain less than 10 errors of any type. The first
composition is included as part of the pretest and the tenth composition is included in the posttest.
Another important requirement of the course is that each student complete 8 high level readings with
accompanying exercises. The exercises include vocabulary building activities, comprehension questions and
critical thinking questions.
There will be group discussions and interviews to get the students accustomed to using Spanish in
formal situations. Because it is expected that many of the students enrolled in the course will be speakers of
Spanish as a heritage language in the United States, an additional focus in the course is on determining the
appropriate use of formal and familiar speech in specific situations. A student who is a non-native or heritage
speaker of Spanish is also afforded the opportunity to learn regionalisms and slang.
The course is not currently set up for speaking exercises; however, the instructor will be calling the
students by telephone twice during the session. One call will be to have an informal conversation and another
will be to have a formal conversation.
COURSE OUTLINE:
The following topics will be covered during the course, although not in this specific order:
I.
Introduction to Course and Pre-test
II.
Hints for Improving Spelling
A.
Spanish Vowels
1.
Combination of strong vowels
2.
Diphthongs
3.
The use of the written accent to break diphthongs
B.
C.
Spanish Consonants
1.
Uses of the /h/
2.
Distinguishing between the /g/ and the /j/
3.
The /b/ and the /v/
4.
The phoneme /k/ in Spanish
Division of Words in Syllables
1.
Rules for syllable division
2.
Determining the stressed syllable
III.
Rules for Accentuation
A.
Review of the use of the accent to break diphthongs
B.
Words that end in a vowel, n or s
C.
Words that end in other consonants
D.
Words that have the stress on the third syllable from the right
E.
Accents on demonstrative pronouns
F.
Accents in questions and exclamations
G.
Accents in indirect questions and exclamations
H.
Accents on monosyllabic words
I.
Accents on commands + pronouns
j.
Hints for correct accentuation
IV.
Punctuation and Capitalization in Spanish
V.
Regional Speech versus Formal Speech
VI.
Preventing Difficulties Caused by False Cognates
VII.
The Structure of a Well-Written Composition in Spanish
VIII.
Speaking
A.
Using different registers for specific purposes
B.
Determining when an informal register is appropriate
C.
How to monitor ones speech for “standard” vocabulary
IX.
Reading
A.
Determining the meaning of words from context
B.
Reading for the main ideas
C.
Critical Thinking
X.
Listening
A.
Getting the gist of a conversation
B.
Listening for details
XI.
Dictation
XII.
Sociolinguistic Considerations
XIIII. Post-test
INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES:
It is expected that students will improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills dramatically after
completing the course, that they will be able to write a 250-word composition with less than 10 errors of any
type, including accentuation, and that their score on the post-test be at the 80% level or above. The post-test is
designed to predict the readiness of the student for La Prueba (the assessment required for bilingual
endorsement) and the Content Knowledge Assessment in Spanish.
SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS:
Students are required to submit assignments via the assignments tool. No assignments will be accepted if they
are simply sent via email.
EVALUATION
Assignments are graded on a 100 point scale but are considered either pass or fail. If the grade gets below 80%,
students are required to do the assignment over. Dialogue journal entries are graded on a 10 point scale and
students will be asked to do them over only if not enough has been written. At the end of the course the final
grade will be determined according to the amount of work which has been successfully completed in each of the
following categories:
Pretest (required of all students)
Dialogue Journal Entries
Grammar & Accentuation Exercises
Discussions
Comprehension Exercises
Dictations
Readings (undergraduates)
Readings (graduate students)
Compositions (undergraduates)
Error Explanations on Compositions
Compositions (graduate students)
Post-test (required of all students)
A
B
C
D
10
25
10
8
10
8
20
8
6
8
6
15
6
4
6
4
10
4
2
4
8
10
8
4
10
6
8
6
3
8
4
6
4
2
6
3
4
3
1
4
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Much of the course content involves spelling and accentuation; therefore, students are required to set their
computers for U.S. English instead of Spanish, to allow them to correct their own errors. It will be considered
“cheating” to set the computer to write in Spanish and if any student is suspected of doing so, there WILL be
serious consequences! Students should keep in mind that the instructor has over 30 years of experience in
teaching Spanish and she WILL be able to tell if someone else is doing the student’s work.
DISABILITY SERVICES AT WESTERN NEW MEXICO UNIVERSITY
Services for students with disabilities are provided through the Academic Support Center’s Disability Services
Office in the Juan Chacon Building, Room 220. Some examples of the assistance provided are: audio materials
for the blind or dyslexic, note takers, readers, campus guides, audio recorders, a quiet testing area, and
undergraduate academic tutors. In order to qualify for these services, documentation must be provided by
qualified professionals on an annual basis. Disability Services forms are available in the Academic Support
Center. The Disability Services Office, in conjunction with the Academic Support Center, serves as Western
New Mexico University's liaison for students with disabilities.