SPAN 211: Intermediate Spanish (6 Credits)

Department of Modern Languages (http://modernlanguages.olemiss.edu/)

SPAN 211: Intermediate Spanish (6 credits)

Instructor: Term: Spring 2017 Email: Section: Office Location: Meeting days/times: Office Hours: Classroom:

DESCRIPTION AND GOALS Welcome to Spanish 211, Intermediate Spanish! This course is a continuation of Span 111, Elementary Spanish, and is therefore designed to continue to familiarize you with the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. Our main goal for you is to have you learn to communicate effectively in Spanish and develop knowledge and an appreciation for Hispanic cultures. In this course you will continue to develop your Spanish communicative skills through extensive practice in reading, writing, speaking and listening. By the end of this class you should be able to complete intermediate-level communicative tasks in Spanish using the communication strategies, grammar structures and vocabulary acquired during the semester, and understand and be able to talk about the diversity of the Spanish-speaking world.

The goals of this course are based on the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century. These standards, often referred to as the 5 Cs, emphasize the following areas:  Communication in Spanish

 Learning about different cultures in the Spanish speaking world

 Using language to make connections to other disciplines

 Comparing and contrasting languages and cultures to develop a deeper understanding about language

 Using the larger community as a way to experience and acquire knowledge about language

This course is the second in the two-semester sequence of courses in our Introductory Spanish Program.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE SPANISH CLASSROOM: OUR APPROACH If you have taken Span 111 in Fall 2016, you are now familiar with our approach. If not, we provide for you here a description of our learning environment and approach. You will be learning Spanish in a communicative, task-based language teaching program. Communicative, task-based teaching is highly student-centered and engaging! The philosophy of the communicative approach is that language is a social activity and learning happens through the act of meaningful communication. The task-based approach is based on the concept of 'learning by doing'. This philosophy simply means that with the right tools you will learn the new skill of communicating in Spanish by actually doing real-life tasks. So what role does grammar have in a task-based classroom? Depending on the language courses you have taken in the past, you may be used to receiving explanations of grammar structures in class. The task-based approach avoids the practice of giving long and explicit grammar explanations in class. Instead, this precious time is reserved for communicative practice (interaction) with your peers and instructor, and completing real-world tasks. This does not mean you will not be learning grammar! You will learn and practice grammar structures, as well as vocabulary, at home through our online platform. The online component of the course will serve as

Span 211 Syllabus 1 both preparation for class as well as for homework. As you read through this syllabus, you will gain a better understanding of how this course will function.

PREREQUISITES Span 111 or at least three years of high school Spanish.

REQUIRED MATERIALS 1. De la Fuente, Martín, & Sans (2016). Gente: Nivel básico. Textbook. Tercera edición (Third edition). **Please make sure your "Tercera edición" textbook has a green and white cover and states "2015 Release" on the cover.** You may use the printed copy and/or the eText for this course, depending on your instructor's approval. 2. MySpanishLab® access card for online workbook. 3. Access to a computer, internet, and speakers/headphones for online listening activities.

4. Access to a computer microphone for online speaking activities.

5. A copy of your course syllabus. 6. A working University of Mississippi email address that you check at least once per day and keep under quota.

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS 1. A good-quality Spanish-English dictionary, such as University of Chicago. 2. A book of verb conjugations, such as 601 Spanish Verbs.

ASSESSMENT Quizzes (4) 5% Tarea (tasks) 5% MySpanishLab® Preparation and Homework 10% Oral Communication (2) 10% Participation and daily preparation 15% Final exam 15% Writing 20% Group writing assignments (4) (5%) In-class compositions (2) (15%) Unit exams (4) 20%

DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS The communicative, task-based approach has been proven to be very effective in building communicative language competence in a fun and engaging way! Your success in this course and that of your classmates highly depends on the preparation you do before class and your willingness to participate in class. Remember that in our program classroom time is dedicated entirely to communicative practice (oral and written) and completing real-world tasks, so in class you will be using structures and vocabulary before you have mastered them. Mistakes may and will occur in this phase; this is simply part of your learning process. Your instructor's role is that of a facilitator, there to assist you in using the tools appropriately. You will begin acquiring these tools outside the classroom, before class, through our online platform: MySpanishLab®. You will also continue to practice using these tools after class, through homework assigned on the same online platform.

If you are not accustomed to this type of classroom, we ask you to please keep an open mind and to be willing to take risks, work hard and stay with it. You will find that you are able to communicate in Spanish quite effectively in a short time!

2 Attendance Policy The communicative practice and completion of tasks that occur in the classroom are absolutely necessary in order to eventually learn how to communicate in Spanish and in order to earn good grades in the course. Therefore, attendance is required and taken on a daily basis in this course. You are permitted to have three unexcused absences without affecting your grade. Any unexcused absence after that lowers your final grade by one whole letter. Students exceeding 5 absences will automatically fail the course. Any in-class work missed due to unexcused absences may not be made up. The only exception to this policy is for absences due to representing the University in a University-sponsored activity, for which the appropriate documentation will be required. You should consider these three allowable absences as potential sick leave and use them accordingly. Unusual circumstances such as serious illness or family emergencies will be taken into consideration on a case-by-case basis. Official documentation will be required. Doctors' notes for illness should state the date(s) that you could not attend class. Three late arrivals (10 minutes or more after class starts) and/or early departures (10 minutes or more before class ends) will count as one absence.

Participation and Daily Preparation Your classmates and instructor are depending on you to come to class prepared and participate in pair and group work. Everyone's success in this course depends on themselves and on their classmates. This is a group effort! Remember that your instructor will not be teaching vocabulary or grammar explicitly in class so any time that you come to class unprepared, you miss out on that day's material, on the crucial learning process of using the language, and you will not be able to properly participate in the pair and group work that your classmates depend on. Since you will ultimately be assessed on your ability to communicate correctly and effectively in Spanish, arriving to class prepared and being engaged in classroom activities are the only way to prepare for any of the assessments in this course. Because participation and daily preparation are such an important part of this course, we assess you on this component throughout the course of the semester.

Proper participation includes:  Evidence of your daily preparation for each class. This includes all MySpanishLab® preparation (see section below), as well as anything your instructor asks you to prepare.  Your use of Spanish in the classroom. Excessive English will reflect poorly on your participation grade.  Your willingness to participate actively in all class activities, including your cooperation during pair and group work.  Your respect toward the class and your support for the learning process of your peers.

You will be assigned a participation grade every two weeks. The participation grade scale is: 0 = not participative: arrives more than 5 minutes late for class or arrives for class on time, but does not come prepared at all; therefore, there is no visible participation effort, works on assignments for other classes; takes naps during the entire class or is otherwise distracted.

1 = limited participation: arrives no more than 5 minutes late for class; comes to class partially prepared and in-class participation is limited; uses more English than Spanish.

2 = limited participation: arrives no more than 5 minutes late for class; comes to class partially prepared or in-class participation is limited; occasionally uses more English than Spanish.

3 = somewhat participative: arrives for class on time; comes to class fully prepared but in- class participation is inadequate; occasionally uses more English than Spanish.

Span 211 Syllabus 3 4 = fairly participative: arrives for class on time; comes to class fully prepared; in-class participation is fair; occasionally uses more English than Spanish.

5 = fully participative: arrives for class on time; comes to class fully prepared; participates fully in all in-class activities; speaks exclusively in Spanish during the entire class.

MySpanishLab® Preparation and Homework Your textbook packet includes access to an online platform called MySpanishLab® (MSL). On MSL you will have access to various tools, including readiness checks, tutorials and practice activities. The readiness checks review some basic grammar concepts in English so that you can draw comparisons between what you are learning about Spanish and what you already (intuitively) know about English. The tutorials are explanations about the Spanish grammar structures you will see in class. The practice activities are designed to provide you with the opportunity to use your new vocabulary and grammar in a controlled and structured manner, and to provide you with the repetitive practice that is essential to language learning. The majority of these activities will be computer graded so you will receive immediate feedback. Readiness checks, tutorials and some practice activities will be due before class, as preparatory work, and some practice activities will also be due after class, to provide additional practice. Practice activities will allow you three tries, and provide feedback before grading your answer. All online work is due by 11:59 p.m. on the indicated due date. Note that some online work has a due date of Sunday. Late work will not be accepted so please ensure you plan for unforeseen technical issues that may arise. **We stress that this online portion is a vital part of the course, as all your preparation for class and homework will be done here.**

MSL Training: We will dedicate some class time to give you an MSL training session to help you learn how to work with this program. Attendance is mandatory. If you do not attend the training session, it is your responsibility to learn how to use the program and we will not make exceptions for late completion of online assignments. You must have access to MSL before the training session. Your instructor will provide you with the course ID.

Your MSL training will be on the first day of class. **Please purchase your access code in advance and make sure you are registered on MSL by the first day of class. Please bring your laptop to class if you have one available.**

Quizzes Learning a new language is an incremental process. The pieces of information you encounter at every stage, such as cultural knowledge and communicative strategies that include vocabulary and grammar structures, are used as building blocks in your learning process. Keeping up with the material is therefore crucial, and this component of the course is designed to encourage you to do just that. There will be a total of five quizzes during the course of the semester. Your grade in this component will be based on the four highest grades; in other words, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped. Quizzes may include any cultural, vocabulary, grammatical/functional elements or communication strategies seen in class. Quizzes may be announced or unannounced.

Tarea (Task) Each chapter in the book culminates in a task, or tarea, that you will complete in class in small groups. These tasks provide you with an opportunity to use the vocabulary, culture and grammar that you have learned and practiced in the chapter. You will work in small groups, using only Spanish, in order to finish the tarea. Your tarea grade will be based on the quality of the product, your active participation in carrying out the task, and your effort in communicating in Spanish spoken during its completion.

Oral Communication One of our main goals for you in this course is to have you develop effective oral communication skills in Spanish. During the semester, your ability to communicate orally will be assessed through two partner conversations. These exchanges will take place in the middle and at the end of the 4 semester (see calendar for specific dates). The purpose of these exchanges is for you to demonstrate your ability to participate in simple, spontaneous conversation using the linguistic and/or cultural information you've seen and practiced in class. Oral communication can only be developed by communicating orally, on a frequent basis, which means you need to be practicing this skill during every class, in preparation for the partner exchanges. Our goal is to provide a friendly environment in class where you feel at ease speaking in Spanish, even if this will mean making mistakes and occasionally receiving corrective feedback by your instructor and peers. These elements are simply part of the developmental process. If you prepare well for class and participate in class as required, you will have ample opportunities to practice your oral communication skills for the partner exchanges.

Writing Along with oral communication skills, we will work towards your development of effective written communication skills in Spanish. Your ability to communicate in writing will be assessed in two ways:  Group writing assignments (5%) These assignments will be completed in class. Topics will be chosen from the units (Gente que escribe section) and your group will follow the step-by-step process for the development of the assignment outlined in the relevant writing section.

 In-class compositions (15%) One entire class day and one half of a class will be dedicated to each of two in-class compositions (see the calendar for specific dates). You will write your composition individually; collaboration of any kind is not permitted on this assignment. For each composition, the first, entire class day will be dedicated to writing first draft of the composition. You will turn this draft in at the end of the class. Your instructor will then grade it and return it to you on the day in which half of the class is dedicated to rewriting/editing the composition. During the rewrite, you will correct your first draft according to your instructor's annotations and/or corrections.

Unit Exams There will be four unit exams throughout the semester (see the calendar for specific dates). Depending on the language courses you have taken in the past, the format for these exams might be unfamiliar to you at first. In our task-based program, the exams closely mirror the activities and assignments practiced in class; that is, real-world tasks. The exams will include reading, writing, culture and listening sections and will assess your ability to creatively use the grammar, vocabulary and cultural information that you learned and practiced in class. Remember that effective language learning means that you must be able to understand, use and build on previous knowledge. This means that for each exam you will be expected to use vocabulary and structures seen in previous units and exams, along with the material being assessed in that given exam.

Final Exam The date, time, and location of the final exam are listed on the Registrar’s webpage at: : http://registrar.olemiss.edu/final-exam-schedule-spring-2017/ The final exam is comprehensive and cannot be made up. **Please do not make any travel plans during final exams week.**

INSTRUCTOR-STUDENT COMMUNICATION You may communicate with your instructor:  Via e-mail: E-mails will be answered within 24 hours from Monday through Friday, and 48 hours during weekends. Your instructor will send you important messages via the Class Span 211 Syllabus 5 Roll function, so check your OleMiss e-mail account often. Please do not send your instructor e-mails via MSL. Use his/her OleMiss e-mail account.  During your instructor’s office hours: Your instructor will provide his/her e-mail address and office hours the first day of class. If there is an emergency: If you have an urgent question or must contact your instructor urgently, please contact him/her via email.

NEW ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION POLICY Beginning Fall 2015, the University must abide by federal guidelines to verify the attendance (or participation for online courses) of students in each class for which they are enrolled. The purposes of this requirement are to ensure eligibility of students for financial aid, to support retention and seat management efforts, and to enable the maintenance of more accurate enrollment data. For more detailed information, please go to: http://olemiss.edu/info/gotoclass/

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES Any student who has a bona fide disability and needs a reasonable accommodation should contact the Office of Student Disability Services at 662-915-7128 or email to [email protected]. The policy can be found at: https://secure4.olemiss.edu/umpolicyopen/ShowDetails.jsp? istatPara=1&policyObjidPara=10868401. It is the student's responsibility to take the appropriate steps in informing the professor of any disability-related accommodations required and for arranging any accommodations with ample time to administer them.

COUNSELING AND WELLNESS A variety of counseling, mental health and psychiatric services are available through the University of Mississippi's Counseling Center, whose goal is to help students be maximally effective in their academic pursuits by reducing or eliminating emotional, psychological, and interpersonal problems that interfere with academic functioning. The Center can be found online at http://www.olemiss.edu/counseling/ or reached by phone at (662) 915-3784.

ACADEMIC HONESTY GUIDELINES Academic honesty and integrity are fundamental values of the University community. Students who enroll at the University of Mississippi commit to holding themselves and their peers to the high standard of honor outlined in the M Book, found at: http://studentaffairs.wp.olemiss.edu/wp- content/uploads/sites/14/2015/06/MBook14.pdf. Any individual who becomes aware of a violation of academic honesty is bound by honor to take corrective action. Violations include, but are not limited to: plagiarism, cheating, bribery, misrepresentation, fabrication and conspiracy. Such violations may result in the following: lowering grades, expulsion from the course, and/or referral to the Academic Discipline Committee, or department chair, college dean, etc., as is deemed appropriate. The full policy may be found at: https://secure4.olemiss.edu/umpolicyopen/ShowDetails.jsp?istatPara=1&policyObjidPara=10817696.

Calendar (Subject to change. Any changes will be announced ahead of time.) Fecha En clase Preparation and Homework Semana 1 enero 23 Introduction to course - Syllabus, MSL training, Register with MySpanishLab (MSL) syllabus quiz, course contract account before the first day of class!

Check MSL daily for assignments deadlines! Repaso: Capítulo 10 Review syllabus and familiarize yourself with textbook.

All Readiness Checks, tutorials and practice activities are 6 assigned on MSL and due by 11:59 p.m. Check MSL daily and remember that some activities are due on Sunday! 25 Capítulo 11: Gente e historias (II) See MSL Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 182-183 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 184-185 27 Gramática en contexto, págs. 186-187 See MSL Semana 2 30 Interacciones, págs. 188-189 See MSL febrero Tarea, págs. 190-191 See MSL 1 Gente que lee, págs. 192-193 See MSL 3 Gente que escribe, pág. 194 Comparaciones, pág. 195

Semana 3 Capítulo 12: Gente sana See MSL 6 Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 200-201 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 202-203 Gramática en contexto, págs. 204-205 See MSL 8 Interacciones, págs. 206-207 10 Tarea, págs. 208-209 See MSL Semana 4 13 Gente que lee, págs. 210-211 See MSL Gente que escribe, pág. 212 Comparaciones, pág. 213 15 Unit Exam 1: Capítulos 11 y 12 See MSL Capítulo 13: Gente y lenguas Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 218-219 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 220-221 17 Gramática en contexto, págs. 222-223 See MSL Interacciones, págs. 224 Semana 5 20 Tarea, págs. 226-227 See MSL Gente que lee, págs. 228-229 22 In-class composition 1 See MSL 24 Partner conversation 1 See MSL Semana 6 marzo 27 Capítulo 14: Gente con personalidad See MSL Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 236-237 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 238-239 Gramática en contexto, págs. 240-241 See MSL 1 Interacciones, págs. 242-243 Tarea, págs. 244-245 See MSL 3 Semana 7 Gente que lee, págs. 246-247 See MSL 6 In-class composition 1 - Rewrite / Gente que escribe (Estrategias y Más allá de la frase), pág. 248 Unit Exam 2: Capítulos 13 y 14 See MSL 8 Capítulo 15: Gente que se divierte Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 254-255 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 256-257 10 Gramática en contexto, págs. 258-259 See MSL Span 211 Syllabus 7 Interacciones, págs. 260 Semana 8 NO CLASSES - SPRING BREAK Semana 9 20 Tarea, págs. 262-263 See MSL 22 Gente que lee, págs. 264-265 See MSL Comparaciones, pág. 267 24 In-class composition 2 See MSL Semana 10 27 Partner conversation 2 See MSL 29 Capítulo 16: Gente innovadora See MSL Introducción y Acercamientos: págs. 272-273 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 274-275 31 Gramática en contexto, págs. 276-277 See MSL Semana 11 abril 3 Tarea, págs. 280-281 See MSL 5 Interacciones, págs. 278-279 See MSL Gente que lee, págs. 282-283 7 In-class composition 2 - Rewrite / Gente que See MSL escribe (Estrategias, Más allá de la...), pág. 284 Comparaciones, pág. 285 Semana 12 10 Unit Exam 3: Capítulos 15 y 16 See MSL Cápitlo 17: Gente que cuenta historias Introducción y Acercamientos, págs. 290-291 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 292-293 12 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 292-293 See MSL Gramática en contexto, págs. 294-295 14 NO CLASSES – GOOD FRIDAY See MSL Semana 13 17 Gramática en contexto, págs. 294-295 See MSL Interacciones, págs. 296-297 19 Tarea, págs. 298-299 See MSL 21 Gente que lee, págs. 300-301 See MSL Semana 14 24 Gente que escribe, pág. 302 See MSL Unit Exam 4: Capítulo 17 26 Cápitlo 18: Gente de negocios See MSL Introducción y Acercamientos, págs. 308-309 Vocabulario en contexto, págs. 310-311 28 Gramática en contexto, págs. 312-313 See MSL Interacciones, págs. 314-315 Semana 15 mayo 1 Tarea, págs. 316-317 See MSL 3 Gente que lee, págs. 318-319 See MSL 5 Gente que escribe, pág. 320 Repaso para el examen final

FINAL EXAM See Registrar’s webpage: http://registrar.olemiss.edu/final-exam-schedule-spring-2017/

We wish you success in the course!

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8 *Special thanks to Dr. Katherine Honea at Austin Peay State University for allowing us to adapt their syllabi and rubrics.

Span 211 Syllabus 9