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THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
SPANISH IN SPAIN PROGRAM
SPA 481 CA & SPA 482 CA – Summer 2015
Course Information, Syllabus, Grading Criteria
PROFESSOR OF RECORD
OFFICE
OFFICE HOURS
PHONE
E-MAIL
APPOINTMENTS
Carmen Carracelas-Juncal
UCA
By appointment M,T,W,Th
630741533
carmen.carracelasjuncal@usm.edu
Please schedule an appointment with your professor of record or the teaching assistant, if
needed.
TEACHING ASSISTANT FOR THE COURSE
Estefanía Núñez Cantero
UCA
Office hours by appointment
estefania.nunezcantero@eagles.usm.edu
Phone: TBA
DEPARTMENT CHAIR
Dr. Christopher Miles,
christopher.j.miles@usm.edu
COURSE PREREQUISITES
USM – 6-9 hours at the 300-level or equivalent
NUMBERS OF HOURS OF COURSE Six
NATURE OF COURSE
This course counts toward second/foreign language requirements.
This course counts toward Spanish Minor requirements.
This course counts toward Spanish Major Requirements.
NATURE OF STUDENTS
Undergraduate
FORMAT OF COURSE
Lecture & Class discussion
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
SPA 481. Advanced Oral and Written Communication Credit for Study Abroad. 3 hours.
Prerequisites: Six to nine hours at the 300-level or equivalent. Advanced study and practice of
oral and written skills. Equivalent to SPA 421, 406.
SPA 482. Hispanic Culture and Civilization Credit for Study Abroad. 3 hours.
Prerequisites: Six to nine hours at the 300-level or equivalent. Advanced culture and civilization
study abroad. Equivalent to SPA 435, 436.
Credit for study abroad will be granted for systematic study of the Spanish language and culture
in a recognized teaching institution in a Spanish speaking country, approved in advance by the
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The department will examine and grade the
progress and achievement of the participants in this program before granting credit.
COURSE GENERALLY SCHEDULED/OFFERED
Summer
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COURSE GOALS
The main goal of this course is to hone listening and oral skills beyond the conversational skills gained in the first three years of
study of the language. This course will provide students the necessary syntactic background that will allow them to develop their
writing and speaking skills. Students will be given the opportunity to learn by doing and to practice their written and oral skills on
specific topics under the guidance of a skilled instructor.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The main focus and goal of this course is “Composición”, i.e., learning how to write well in Spanish.
The secondary focus of this class is “Gramática”; to write well in any language, one must have a good grasp of its grammar,
complex grammatical structures, vocabulary, language construction and idioms/expressions.
By working in groups, participating in class discussions, asking and answering questions, and making oral presentations, student
will develop communicative oral and written skills necessary to perform numerous communicative tasks in Spanish.
The course aims at facilitating students to:
 communicate at an intermediate-advanced level in real daily life occurrences
 understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics
 discuss certain topics pertinent to life in the city
 present information, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics
 use proper vocabulary in context as needed to communicate in real life situations
 understand oral and written news on current topics
 discuss pertinent cultural information
 read aloud in front of the class
 make oral presentations on specific topics
 improve pronunciation
 demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the Spanish and English languages.
TEACHING TECHNIQUES / METHODS USED IN COURSE
The course takes a communicative approach to the learning of the Spanish language. The course implements pair work, small
group work, class circulation, information gap, and task-based and other activities to engage students in communicative oral and
written exchanges such as providing and obtaining information and exchanging opinions.
 The written assignments and “composiciones” will follow a process in which correct use of grammar is essential.
 Use more sophisticated vocabulary, idioms and expressions.
 Learn and practice composition techniques by examining short essays and stories to examine structures and, in that
manner, improve our own writing.
 Follow a certain process for organizing ideas which we can then develop in writing. This process will be based on
written compositions and other assignments which will be presented at certain dates, will be “corrected” by the instructor
(who will point out the mistakes and the class of mistake)
 A self-correction and re-writing of the composition we will have a better compositions or end products.
LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS
Because this course takes place in Spain, students are required to have continuous outside-of-class interaction communicating
with the Spanish family they live, accessing transportation in the city, requesting every noon meals at local restaurants, shopping,
etc. and using written materials, such as newspaper articles, ads, and other realia, etc.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Requirements
Attendance and
Participation
Due
Daily
Points / Grading
Specifics
20%
Any student who is absent for
more than four (4) hours will
have his/her final course grade
lowered by two percentage
points per hour absent.
Attendance will be taken daily.
Extracurricular activities are not
grounds for exemption from
attendance and participation
policies except as pre-arranged
with instructor.
Journal Writing
20%
You will need to keep a reflective
journal about your language
learning and culture learning
experiences while in Spain. The
journal can be written both in
English and Spanish, including
more Spanish as the weeks
progress. See instructions below
In-Class
Presentation
20%
The last week of class, you will
give a short 5-10minute
presentation about one of the
topics highlighted in your journal
entries. You can be as creative
with your presentation as you
wish.
Homework
Assignments
Daily, as specified in the course
syllabus or by the instructor in
class.
Late submission is not
accepted
20%
Homework is any out-of-class
activity assigned by the
instructor.
Final Examination
The final examination cannot
be waived or made up. It will
take place on the last week of
class.
20%
The final examination is a
comprehensive examination
covering the skills and material
acquired in this course.
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JOURNAL ENTRIES: Topics and Timeline (to be submitted to Dr. Carracelas-Juncal)
You can write the journal entries in Spanish with some English when needed. Include a list of 5-10 new words or expressions that
you have learned as part of each weekly entry.
 First entry due: Monday May 18th
You should write your first entry upon arrival in Spain or on the following day. Please include the date on your entry.
Topic: Your reactions to your arrival in Spain and your first impressions of your new surroundings. Also include your goals for
the program.
For the next four entries you should write about your learning progress during the first week. Describe the strategies you use in
order to learn the language. Comment on the culture of your new environment, compare and contrast what you see with your
own culture. Include any experience you might have had during the week, how you are feeling, what you are doing with the
language, whether you are integrating yourself in the culture, etc.
 Second entry due: Monday, May 25th
You should write this entry by the end of the first week in Spain. Please include the date.
 Third entry due: Monday, June 1st
You should complete this entry by the end of the second week in Spain. Please include the date.
 Fourth entry due: Monday, June 8th
You should complete this entry by the end of your third week in Spain. Please include the date.
 Fifth entry due: Monday, June 15th
You should complete this entry by the end of your fourth week in Spain. Please include the date.
 Last entry due: Monday, June 20th
You should write your last entry two or three days before your departure to the USA. Please include the date.
Topic: Evaluate your experience in Spain. Evaluate your initial goals and whether you accomplished them. Include a final
reflection of your 5 weeks in Spain and whether the experience has changed you in any way. You can include a self-evaluation of
your skills, how you are feeling, etc.
GRADING SCALE/CRITERIA/POINTS FOR EACH ASSESSMENT USED
In Class Contributions and Collaboration
Class contributions and collaboration will be evaluated as following:
0: never
1-2: less than half of the time and needs a lot of assistance
3-4: less than half of the time and usually needs assistance
RUBRICS / CRITERIA
PREPARATION
Brings all materials and assigned work to class every day; has
read/studied all assigned pages before coming to class.
LANGUAGE
Speaks only in Spanish during the class, regardless of
accuracy.
EFFORT / SKILL
Demonstrates high effort to apply new vocabulary and skills,
self-corrects, applies skills learned in previous lessons with high
accuracy.
PARTICIPATION
Volunteers often and participates fully in whole-class
discussion.
Scale
5-6: about half the time and often needs assistance
7-8: almost all the time, but usually needs assistance
9-10: most of the time, and needs very little assistance
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4
5
GROUP WORK
Works well in groups and pairs—speaks in Spanish and stays
on task
TOTAL POINTS _______X 2_/ 100
Oral Presentation
You are required to prepare and give an oral presentation.
Clarity of Information
Vocabulary
Preparation
Organization
Presentation Style (natural
speech, not read)
Effectiveness of Topic
Grammar Structures
Use of Visuals
Inclusion of Examples
Use of Time / Respect of
Time Limit
Exemplary
Good
Acceptable
Lacking
Not
Acceptable
10-9
10-9
10-9
10-9
10-9
8
8
8
8
8
7
6
7
7
7
6
6
6
6
6
0-5
0-5
0-5
0-5
0-5
10-9
10-9
10-9
10-9
10-9
8
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
7
7
6
6
6
6
6
0-5
0-5
0-5
0-5
0-5
SCORE
TOTAL POINTS _____ / 100
Journal entries
You are required to prepare and submit 6 journal entries to your professor of record on the dates specified in the timeline.
RUBRICS / CRITERIA
Exemplary
Good
Acceptable
Lacking
Appropriate Details
20
18
16
14
Not
Accept
able
0-12
Content
Relevant and in accordance to task
Organization
Logical ordering of information
Use of Vocabulary
Integration of new and varied vocabulary and
expressions
Grammatical Accuracy and Mechanics
Application of newly acquired grammatical concepts;
varied sentence structure; orthography; use of
accentuation and punctuation
Reflection and Creativity
Evidence of critical thinking, reflective writing, and
creativity
Length
One to two pages per entry
20
18
16
14
0-12
20
18
16
14
0-12
15
13
11
9
0-7
15
13
11
9
0-7
10
8
6
4
0-3
If your work does not meet length requirements, your total score
may be severely lowered.
TOTAL POINTS _____ / 100
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Homework Assignments
Homework is evaluated on completion. Late submissions are not accepted. Homework will be evaluated as following:
Exemplary
Good
Acceptable
Lacking
Not Acceptable
40
30
20
10
0
Week 2 (4 days)
Homework
Teacher’s Comments:
40
30
20
10
0
Week 3 (2 days)
Homework
Teacher’s Comments:
20
15
10
5
0
SCORE
Week 1 (5 days)
Homework
Teacher’s Comments:
TOTAL POINTS _____
Final Comprehensive Exam
Final Comprehensive Exam is evaluated based on percentage of linguistic / communicative accuracy and appropriateness on a
scale of 0-100%. The Final Exam will assess the following components:
 Listening Comprehension 20%
 Oral Expression
20%
 Reading Comprehension 20%
 Written Expression
20%
 Grammatical Structure
20%
FINAL GRADE
A
B
C
D
F
90-100%
80-89%
70-79%
60-69%
0-59%
DISABILITY STATEMENT
Students with disabilities requiring assistance, and who qualify under Section 504 and/or the American with Disabilities Act
(ADA), she should contact the Coordinator for Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies
and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical impairments, or chronic health disorders.
Students should contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies. Box 8568; Telephone (601)
266-5024; TTY (601) 266-6837; Fax (601) 266-6035.
PLAGIARISM
Students are expected to adhere to the highest standard of academic honesty outlined in the USM Student Handbook. Any
information that is copied from another source must be noted as such in student materials. Page numbers or Internet reference
must appear in the text and full bibliographic references must appear in the reference section of the paper/assignment. Sources
must be in quotes and include author(s), year of publication or other reference notes as required by the college department
format (e.g. MLA, APA or Chicago styles). Other forms of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to, buying papers,
copying paragraphs/pages of text/whole papers off the Internet, copying another student’s answers, etc. Academic dishonesty
will result in the grade of a “0” on the assignment and/or in the course and/or the student may be reported to the Vice President
for Academic Affairs for further action.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Spanish in Spain Program
SPA 481 & SPA 482 SYLLABUS –– Summer 2015
GENERAL EVALUATION RUBRICS
Homework
20%
Participation
20%
Oral Presentation
20%
Journal and Presentation
Final Exam
Contenidos Funcionales
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Informar sobre algo con mayor o menor implicación
Introducir un elemento nuevo en el discurso
Relacionar una información con algo dicho anteriormente:
oposiciones y contrastes.
Reaccionar ante informaciones nuevas referidas a
conocimientos anteriores.
Tratar de convencer a alguien de la veracidad de nuestras
palabras
Poner ejemplos en el discurso.
Referirse a la información que ha dicho otra persona o uno
mismo
Seleccionar información para resumir
Cambiar de tema
Hacer un inciso
Recordar algo a alguien
Describir a personas con expresiones coloquiales que
contienen nombres de animales
Describir objetos en situaciones específicas
Mostrar acuerdo o desacuerdo: disconformidad
Expresar opiniones y enlazar ideas
Reaccionar ante la insatisfacción y/o pena ajena
Manifestar estados físicos y estados de ánimo
Expresar miedo y preocupación
Tranquilizar, consolar, animar a alguien
Lamentarse de algo
Hablar de manías
Hablar de algo que no queremos o no podemos nombrar
Expresar probabilidad e hipótesis
Referirse a hechos que presentamos como irreales porque
dependen de
condiciones que según nosotros no se
han cumplido
Expresar prohibiciones
Conceder permiso con reserva
Expresar extrañeza o asombro
Expresar desinterés y aburrimiento
Expresar lástima
Expresar esperanza y deseos
La expresión de la impersonalidad y la indeterminación
Quitar importancia a algo
Reclamar o protestar
Pedir recomendación. Recomendar
Hacer cumplidos y reaccionar ante ellos
20%
20%
Contenidos Gramaticales
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Pronunciación
Entonación: reticiencia, retintín, insinuación,
etc.
División silábica
Normas de ortografía:
Acento ortográfico y puntuación
Abreviaturas y siglas
Sustantivos y géneros: prefijos y sufijos
Formación del número: casos especiales
El pronombre “lo” en las frases
proposicionales
Lo + adjetivo
Determinantes indefinidos. Uso de uno/a
La comparación: más/ menos de, cuánto
más/menos, ...
La involuntariedad: uso de “se”
Pronombres y adjetivos relativos
Las preposiciones: usos específicos de para
y por
Construcciones pasivas
Contraste de oraciones impersonales/
pasiva refleja
Locuciones adverbiales
Estilo indirecto referido al presente, pasado
y futuro. Verbos que lo introducen
Contraste de ser/ estar. Usos especiales
Tiempos de Indicativo que se refieren al
presente/pasado/futuro
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Indicativo
Pretérito Anterior
Recursos y expresiones para convencer
Recursos para informar con mayor o menor
implicación: Parece ser que..., resulta
que..., así que...
Contraste Indicativo/Subjuntivo en la
expresión de la condición, de la suposición
Otros valores de “se”
Usos preposicionales en expresiones de
tiempo
Futuro Perfecto de Indicativo
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Presente de Subjuntivo
Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo
Pretérito Imperfecto de Subjuntivo
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo
Condicional simple y compuesto
Oraciones subordinadas +
Indicativo/Subjuntivo
 Sustantivas (Indicativo/Subjuntivo)
 Adverbiales , introducidas por
conjunciones /
locuciones(Indicativo/Subjuntivo):
 Causales
 Concesivas
 Finales
 Condicionales
 Modales
 Consecutivas
 Temporales
 Adjetivas (introducidas por pronombres
relativos)
Perífrasis Verbales
Contenidos Culturales
(No todos los temas culturales serán discutidos
durante las cinco semanas del curso)
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Contenidos Léxicos
(Serán asignados por el profesor
según los temas escogidos)
La familia española
Nombres y apellidos en España
Reuniones y acontecimientos familiares
Relaciones sociales: el saludo formal
La vida cotidiana
Documentos de identificación personal
El transporte público
El mundo del espectáculo: cine, teatro, etc.
Fiestas y tradiciones populares
La vida cotidiana
La compras en España
La gastronomía
El clima y el paisaje en España
Los jóvenes españoles
El mundo del deporte español
El folklore en España: bailes y trajes regionales
Los medios de comunicación: prensa, radio, TV
La vivienda: casa típicas en España
El regateo y la propina
Las supersticiones en España
La influencia de la religión Católica en los
españoles
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La vivienda: casa típicas en España
El regateo y la propina
Las supersticiones en España
Los juegos de azar
La vivienda: casa típicas en España
El regateo y la propina
La comunicación no verbal: el lenguaje de los
gestos
Las supersticiones en España
El medioambiente en España
El Código de Circulación: respeto de las normas
de tráfico
El Sistema educativo Español
El Sistema monetario
Pesos y medidas
La burocracia
El mundo laboral
La Seguridad Social: seguros médicos
La vida política en España: sistema y
organización
Las Comunidades autónomas de España
La monarquía española
España y la Unión Europea
El mundo de la publicidad y el sensacionalismo
España e Hispanoamérica: ayer y hoy
SPA 481
Presentación (TBA)
Examen Final (TBA)
SPA 482
Presentación (TBA)
Examen Final (TBA)
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