SPAN1001
– SPANISH I.1
;
This course is intended for students who have no previous knowledge of Spanish. The main objective of the course is to teach students the basics of Spanish grammar and to provide the participants with a firm foundation in the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) as well as to offer insights into Spanish-speaking cultures. Through a communicative approach this course should quickly enable participants to engage in simple conversations and understand a variety of interactive situations. By the end of the course, students should be able to use the Spanish language at a level of elementary proficiency where they can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases.
They should also be able to introduce themselves and others, ask and answer questions about personal details and interact in a simple way. Classes will be conducted in small groups in order to ensure a high degree of interaction between students and teachers.
1.1 COURSE INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Listening

Recognise familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type when people speak slowly and clearly
Reading

Understand familiar names, words and very simple sentences, for example on notices and posters or in catalogues
Spoken interaction

Interact in a simple way provided the other person is prepared to repeat or rephrase things at a slower rate of speech

Ask and answer simple questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have
Spoken production

Introduce themselves and others and speak about where they live using simple phrases
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Writing

Write a short, simple postcard, for example sending holiday greetings and fill in forms with personal details.
1.2 PRE-REQUISITES
None.
1.3 ASSESSMENT
This course is graded on the basis of continuous assessment and is as follows:

Two written tests worth 60% of the final grade (20%+40%)
The first test has the following components:

Grammar and vocabulary

Reading comprehension
The second test has the following components:

Grammar and vocabulary

Reading comprehension

Writing

Assignments worth 40% of the final grade

Listening comprehension tests (LAB)

Participation in 2 Moodle forums

Attendance and participation in oral classes
15%
5%
15%
10%
15%
20%
5%
15%
The course has 6 contact hours per week: 4 hours of lectures plus 1 hour of oral class
(speaking) and 1 hour of LAB class (listening comprehension). Lectures are organized in blocks of 2 hours (4 hours per week). Attendance is compulsory to all classes and nonattendance may affect students’ final grade.
The textbook used for this course is Cerrolaza Aragón, Matilde, Óscar Cerrolaza Gili and
Begoña Llovet Barquero. Pasaporte Compilado A (A1+A2). Madrid: Edelsa, 2011 (a set of two books, the student book and the workbook), and the units covered in the course are from módulo 1 to módulo 3. A detailed description of the course contents is shown below:
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Units Communication Grammar Vocabulary
Módulo 1
Introducing
Oneself

Fill in basic details of an immigration form

Greet people and introduce yourself

Enquire and inform about name and origin

Greet and register in a hotel

Make your own business card to introduce yourself formally in
Spanish

Talk about professions or occupations

Verbs (present tense of ser , llamarse , tener , and some regular verbs)

Subject pronouns

Number and gender of adjectives

Interrogative pronouns

Personal details, names of countries and nationalities, useful expressions to communicate in the classroom, numbers
(0-10), basic vocabulary at the hotel, professions or occupations and terms to indicate addresses.
Módulo 2
Talking about other people

Explain your family tree
 Describe people’s physical appearance

Write an ad to find friends
 Describe people’s personalities

Describe a company

Make formal introductions

Possessive adjectives

Verb gustar in present tense

Demonstrative adjectives and pronouns

Family

Adjectives to describe physical appearance and character
(personality)

Basic vocabulary to describe a company
Módulo 3
Eating

Talk about your diet

Discuss tastes

Talk about frecuency

Organize a party

Order food in a Spanishspeaking restaurant
 Verb ‘parecer’ in present tense

Gender (masculine / feminine)

Number (singular / plural) of nouns

Definite and indefinite articles

Food (ingredients; well-known dishes from the Spanishspeaking world)

Numbers (10
– 1,000)

Weights and measures
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