SYLLABUS

SPANISH 201 Fall 2006

INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I

_________________________________________________

 

Instructor:                 Cristina P. Sparks-Early

Office:                        237 Colgan

Telephone:               Office--257-6504 ext. 6504; 257-6685         

E-mail:                       csparks@nvcc.edu  or csparks@comcast.net

Office Hours:            by appointment

                       __________________________________________________

 

REQUIRED TEXTS

Conversación y repsaso.  Copeland et al.  Harcourt Brace Publishers.

Destinos:  Workbook/Study Guide I.  Van Patten et al.  McGraw Hill.

 

OPTIONAL

501 SPANISH VERBS

A good Spanish/English dictionary

 

Required

Students must have an email address by the end of the 1st week of class. They are available free to students in the library.  This will be the only email address through which we will correspond.  In addition, students should consult the NOVA home page regularly for information.  Students must also consult my webpage for information and links to the important sites we will use in class.

 

http://www.nvcc.edu    and

http://www.nvcc.edu/manassas/

 

http://www.nvcc.edu/home/csparks

 

Students need to be familiar with Blackboard, as I will post announcements, handouts and information on the site.  It will not be used as a medium to teach the course.

 

In case of an emergency, please follow the emergency procedures as discussed on the first day of class and as posted in the classroom.

 

Course Description

Spanish 201 is an intermediate Spanish course for students with one semester of college Spanish or two to three years of high school Spanish.   The students will learn listening, speaking, reading and writing, with particular emphasis on the oral skills.  Beginning with the third class, students should make all possible efforts to speak only in Spanish during class time.

 

Entry Level Competency

Students should have a command of the sound system of Spanish and be able to function in the language within a limited context of vocabulary and structure.  They should have a passive knowledge of most of the structures of the language.  Their active command of Spanish should include the ability to get and give basic information, narrate present, past and future events and carry on a simple conversation. 

 

Accommodations

Any student who may require special accommodations must first see a counselor for the appropriate paper work.

 

Classroom Management

Students will be respectful of the instructor and one another.  Students that hinder the learning of others through disruptive behavior or disrespect to others and/or the instructor will be asked to leave the class.  Students who are asked to leave the class must come see me for permission to return to class (please see pp. 58-60, Section II: Student Conduct of the 2005-2007 Student Handbook). 

 

 In addition, although we are in an electronic age, all pagers and cell phones must be turned off during class—OFF, not on vibrate.   Should you need to leave it on for an emergency (valid emergency), please let me know.   You must place your cell phone in your bag, away, hidden, don’t check for messages or text messages, don’t check the time…  Our society has become too dependent on these devices, and the result is disruption to the class and general rudeness.  If you cannot sit in class for an extended period of time without making or receiving calls and/or text messages, then this isn’t the best time for you to be enrolled in a college course. 

 

The first time your phone rings, makes noise, vibrates, beeps…you will sing for us.  The following time your phone rings or you receive a “silent” call/text message during class time, you will lose 5 points on a test (unless it is an emergency and I know you are expecting a call).  Should it happen a third time, you will be regarded as disrupting the learning process of others.  You will need to see the Dean for permission to return to class.    Additionally, students may not take bathroom breaks to make or receive phone calls. 

 

**NOTE—trying to organize your friends as to what to do after class does NOT constitute an emergency, whereas a sick family member does. 

 

Course Objectives

Students will increase vocabulary, improve comprehension and fluency, and learn to use more complex structures.     

 

Methodology and Procedure

The course will use a series of video tapes called Destinos.  One or two episodes will be shown in each class or assigned to be watched at home.  Each episode will be interrupted frequently for comprehension check and discussion.  If a student misses a class, s/he will have to go to the Learning Lab to see the episode(s) or watch them on line.   There is a workbook/study guide that parallels Destinos.  Students are assigned to complete certain exercises in each lesson.  The student should do the workbook lesson AS SOON AS WE HAVE SEEN THE EPISODE IN CLASS.  Conversación y repaso, an intermediate grammar review text, will be used to supplement the Destinos series. 

 

This is the Destinos website:

 

 

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072497084/student_view0/

 

 

Students should bookmark this page and consult it regularly.  It contains grammar practices, episode reviews and other pertinent information. 

 

Students must also log on to

 

www. learner.org

 

and set up their email and password.  You will have to watch episodes at home on the web.  This works better with a DSL or a cable modem 

 

 

Reactions

Students will write a reaction each class period based on the Destinos series. These are to be your personal thoughts of the episodes we watched.  They are not plot summaries.  They are to be turned in at the beginning of class, typed in size 12 fonts and doubled spaced.  Atajo, a Spanish writing program is available in the language lab (211 Howsmon) for your use.  Accents must be typed in, not written.  It should be a minimum of half a page long.

 

 If you are tardy, a reaction will not be accepted.  History has taught me that students come to campus early to do their reactions right before class and remain in the lab until they finish them, thus coming to class late.  Do you homework at home, and come to class prepared.  I also WILL NOT accept disks or the excuse that the computers in the lab wouldn’t or couldn’t read your disk, and I WILL NOT put your disk into my computer to print something out.   

 

Additionally, Carmen, a grammar program is loaded on the computers in the Language Lab for your use.  Students should practice those grammar exercises to ensure they are understanding and/or practicing and reviewing the material.

 

Evaluation

In order to successfully pass the course, students must complete all components and assignments.

 

Grades will be assigned as follows:

 

Tests…………………………………………...40%

Participation………………………………….20%

Homework/reactions……………………….10%

Orals……………………………………………20%

Lab……………………………………………...10%

 

Academic Dishonesty

Assignments and/or tests, which are not completely your work, shall be regarded as cheating and will receive an F.  See p. 65-66 of the 2005-2007 Student Handbook.

 

Participation

 Attached you will find a rubric for class participation.  I urge you read it and understand it.  Every person in class is fair game and you should expect to be called upon.  This particularly applies to anyone sleeping, yawning loudly, eating heartily, talking to friend, doing other work, doing homework before class begins …

 

Having homework completed for in class review along with the assignments to be collected will comprise the class participation grade.  I will periodically check for completed homework, and those students that haven’t done the assignments will lose a letter grade in class participation for the week. 

 

 

Attendance

Attendance is extremely important in a foreign language class, since the aural-oral skills can only be practiced with the professor and with other students.  Absence from class will affect the class participation grade (see above).  A student who has missed more than 3 classes for any reason will receive an F for the class.  If a student comes to class after roll has been taken, it is her/his responsibility to check with the professor to be counted present.  A student arriving more than 25 minutes tardy will marked absent.

 

Tardies, Early Departures

Punctuality is important in any class.  Situations arise which may cause a student to be a few minutes late.  Habitual tardiness will not be tolerated.  A student arriving more than five minutes tardy more than three times will be counted absent for that fourth late arrival.  Any tardy thereafter will also be counted as an absence.    Leaving early will not be allowed.  Again, situations may arise that might require a student to leave early.  Any student leaving early will be counted the equivalent of a tardy, and three or more early departures will count as an absence.   Leaving with more than 25 minutes remaining in class will count as an absence. 

 

*All this being said, I am aware of traffic issues and will be lenient if it is true.  WTOP and other news agencies will let me know.  

 

 Homework

Homework is due the following class period it is assigned unless otherwise specified by your instructor.  If you are absent the day it is due, it is your responsibility to get it to your instructor that day.  You can turn it in at 234 Colgan, slip it under my office door, or attach it to an email message.  Late work will not be accepted, and homework that is not received will count as a zero.  In addition, all work must be legible.  Students should use legible handwriting or type their work.   If you use pen, PLEASE use whiteout.  If work is not legible, the student will receive a zero.  

 

Language Lab

Students will spend one hour per week in the language lab (211 Howsman).  A program called Carmen is loaded on the computers for student use.  You should practice the grammatical points that we have been covering in class and those you feel you need more practice with.  See my webpage for more sites for grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation practice.  Additionally, you may use the hour to write your reactions using Atajo, a Spanish writing program.  You MUST sign in and sign out (which is just signing in again) when you attend the lab, as I will receive a print out from the lab verifying who attendance.   Grades will be assigned weekly, and failure to go to the lab will result in a zero for the week.  The week is defined as Monday through Saturday.   We will start the lab attendance next week. 

 

 

Withdrawal

Students will be allowed to withdrawal without penalty or to change to audit until October 27th.    Students who chose to withdrawal must remember to do so themselves.  The instructor will not withdrawal students who stop attending class. 

 

Make-up exams

Make up exams will only be administered under the following conditions:

 

  1. I receive notification from you PRIOR to the exam date and time and the reason is valid.  This may include an illness or an emergency, and in such case I need verification.
  2. You are aware of a conflict with the syllabus and, again, you notify me BEFORE the day of the exam.

 

To be perfectly clear, let me give some examples.

 

    1. You wake up the day of an exam and you are sick.

 *In order to make up the test you must call, email, or write me a note, which I must receive before the time of the exam.  When you are able to return to class, you must bring a doctor’s note.

B.     You are driving to class and you get a flat tire/shattered windshield…

*You must call me.  Most everyone has a cell phone.  If you don’t, I highly recommend you get one especially for this type of emergency.  Not knowing my number is NOT an excuse--you can call 411 and get the campus switchboard, which can get you to my voicemail.

C.     You have tickets to Tahiti and will be gone on Oct. 22nd, the day of an exam.

*You must bring me a copy of the tickets and let me know before 10/22.

D.    You must appear in court on the day of an exam.

*You must let me know PRIOR to the court day and bring me a copy of the citation/subpoena/court order.

 

Good Language Learners

1. Good language learners are willing and accurate guessers. They use all the clues which the setting offers and are thus able to narrow down what the meaning and intent of the communication might be.

2. Successful language learners have strong motivation to communicate. They will do many things to communicate: paraphrase, use gestures, circumlocute, etc.

3. Good language students are often not inhibited. They are willing to take a chance and make mistakes in order to learn to communicate.

4.  Good language learners are prepared to attend to form and pattern. They are constantly looking for patterns in the language they constantly analyze and categorize the linguistic material.

5.  Good language learners monitor.

Classroom Policies

The professor assumes that students:

·        take responsibility for their own learning

·        are serious about and want to learn

·        will not miss more than one week of class

·        will come prepared to class with appropriate materials needed, e.g., pencil, books

·        will come prepared for the lesson’s assignment

·        will make-up any missed work

·        will manage time according to personal needs to provide for 5 - 6 study hours per week (2 hrs. per credit hour)

·        will make use of all learning resources, e.g., library, tutorial services, Learning Resources Center, computer lab to receive help with study aids

·        will attempt to join a study group to learn and review concepts

·        will confer often with the professor to gauge on-going progress

·        will focus at all times on developing foreign language skills for
communication regardless of foreign language aptitude/ability.

·        will focus on developing multi-cultural sensitivity in a multi-cultural society and world.

 

 

SERVICE LEARNING

Because we are a Community College, and because one of your individual goals should be to become an active and productive member of society, Service Learning is an integral part of gaining your education at NVCC-Manassas.  Service Learning is just what it says—you learn while you provide a service.   It is also a way to build a bridge between our course content and the real world.  In Spanish courses, you may provide your services through many different avenues that we will explore together.  

 

Students may elect to donate 15 hours of their time towards Service Learning to gain 20 extra-credit points towards any. grade.    Students should contact Sonia Jacob of B.E.A.C.O.N. at 368-7491 or 703-331-5513; Michelle at Transitional Housing Barn, Inc.  at 703-994-2191; or Jan Hawkins at SERVE at 703.368.2979 for information and help getting started.  Of course, there are other places and ways to volunteer your 15 hours. 

 

After you have completed your 15 hours, you will turn in a one page self-reflecting evaluation of the time and efforts you gave, and of the program.

 

HORARIO DE CLASE TENTATIVO

 

 

el  21 de agosto                     Introducción al curso,  la familia Destinos 1  

el 28 de agosto                      Destinos 2, presente de los verbos, los irregulares

el 4 de septiembre               no hay clase

 

el 11 de septiembre             Destinos  3 y 4,    ser y estar, saber y conocer  

 

el 18 de septiembre             Destinos  5 y 7; reflexivos, personal a

 

el 25 de septiembre             Examen I,  possesives

                                                 

 

el 2 de octubre                      Destinos  8, 9, 10, demonstrativos,

el  9 de octubre                     no hay clase

                       

el 16 de octubre                    Destinos  12 y 13;   el pretérito    

                                                                       

el  23 de octubre                   Destinos 14 y 15    complemento directo, indirecto    

                                                 

el 30 de octubre                    Destinos 16, 17 dos complementos

 

el 6 de noviembre                Examen II, Destinos 19, presente progresivo

 

el 13 de noviembre              Destinos 20 y 21   el imperfecto

                                               

el 20 de noviembre              Destinos   22, 23 presente progresivo 

 

el 27 de noviembre               Examen III,    hace…que

 

el 4 de diciembre                 Destinos  25  affirm and negative, comparisons

el 11 de diciembre               Destinos  26 imperfecto y pretérito juntos

 

el 18 de diciembre               Examen IV