SYLLABUS FOR SPA 102.02A
Spring 2008
Horario y Lunes/Monday 11:30 a.m. -1:50 p.m. AA344
lugar: Miércoles/Wednesday 11:30
a.m. - 1:50 p.m. AA160
Profesor: Dr.
Lawrence Rich
Oficina: AA252
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
Teléfono: (Oficina)
(703) 933-3986 (To speak with me
or leave voice mail)
(Oficina)
(703) 845-6241/2 (To speak with the
office assistant)
(Casa) (202)
332-3490 (My home, but only for
extreme emergencies)
Correo
electrónico: lrich@nvcc.edu
Página de
Internet: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/lrich
Blackboard: http://bb7.vccs.edu
Horas de
Oficina: MW
9:30 - 10:30 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.
TTh
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
I. COURSE MATERIALS
The following are required for SPA 102:
1. Destinos
(Second edition of the alternate edition).
Van Patten, Marks, & Teschner.
McGraw Hill, 2002 or 2003. The
book comes with 7 shrinkwrapped audio CDs for the textbook exercises. (“Listening
Comprehension CD program to accompany DESTINOS.”)
2. Destinos,
Workbook/Study Guide I, Lessons 1-26.
McGraw Hill, 2002 or later.
3. Audio
CD Program to accompany the Destinos workbook.
The “Audio CD Program
to accompany DESTINOS” is needed to complete the workbook exercises of Destinos. It is sold in two parts: Part
I (Lessons 1-26) and Part II (Lessons 27-52).
For this class, you need only
Part I. Do not confuse these
CDs with the CDs that accompany your textbook. I
recommend that you buy the Audio CD program for the workbook at the campus
bookstore, as you will need to use the CDs outside of class and at home. But if you do not want to purchase them, you
have two other options:
a) You may get free copies of the workbook CDs
made by bringing one or two sealed, blank, 90-minute audiotapes (normal, not
high-bias) to the Testing Center, Room 332, and filling out a request
form for duplication. (Please read the list of acceptable tape brands posted
outside room 332 and fill out the required slip). If you choose this option,
have
your copies made as soon as possible. Do not wait until it is too late! There is a limit of 2 tapes per
request. Make
sure you use the correct request form, the one marked “Second Edition of the
Alternate Edition”).
b) The cassettes (of the workbook CDs) may also
be borrowed and listened to in Room 332.
To borrow them for use in Room 332, you must present your NVCC ID card.
4. A bilingual
(English-Spanish/Spanish-English) dictionary. I strongly recommend the Larousse pocket
edition, but you are free to choose another one.
5. Videos
(Lessons 12-26) All students in
this class must
view the accompanying video for each chapter/episode of Destinos. Each video must be viewed at least three
times: once in class, and at least twice at home or in the library.
You should not buy the videos. They are very expensive,
and there are other ways of viewing them outside of class:
a) You may view the videos in the NVCC Alexandria
campus library. There are also a few
circulating copies which may be checked out for viewing at home, but due to the
large number of Spanish students, they are seldom available.
b) The Extended
Learning Institute (ELI) airs the Destinos videos on certain cable
networks that carry the NVCC ELI broadcasts.
Check the video schedule at http://eli.nvcc.edu/tvschedule.htm
and then click on “Broadcast Schedule Spring 2008.” Broadcasts are on Sunday mornings from 8:30 -
9:00 a.m.
c) Students may contact their local public
library, some of which have the Destinos videos.
d) If you have a DSL modem, you may view all
the episodes free of charge online (after registering with a password) at http://www.learner.org/progdesc/series75.html
RECOMMENDED
TEXT
I strongly recommend that you use the
following text:
This book is an invaluable aid for students
whose knowledge of English grammar may well be inadequate for this class. It is available in the bookstore, or can be
purchased from an online bookstore like http://www.amazon.com. There are also three copies in the
II. COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
This course is for students who have taken and
passed SPA101 at NOVA, or who have been allowed to enroll in SPA102 after
consultation with a Spanish professor at NOVA.
If you received a grade of lower than “B” in SPA 101 at NOVA, you
should not automatically assume that you will pass this course, unless you are
able to put in a
It is the exclusive responsibility of those who
have not taken SPA101 at NOVA to a) view the previous 11 video episodes of DESTINOS,
b) learn the story line and the names of all the characters, and c) be
proficient with all of the grammar and vocabulary from Lessons 1-11. I cannot stress how important this is, as 102
is a demanding course, which supposes that all students have a thorough
knowledge of the grammar of lessons 1-11, including the regular and irregular
forms of present-tense verbs. This will
require a lot of extra effort from those who have not taken SPA101 at NOVA, or
who received a grade of lower than B in SPA101.
Along with the many advantages of being able to
communicate in Spanish, successfully completing this course will give you a
solid foundation with which to continue third semester study of the language in
SPA201. For those of you who will continue
studying Spanish in order to fulfill the foreign language equivalency
requirement for the A.A. degree, it is essential that you master the content of
this course. The experience of the Spanish faculty over the years has
demonstrated that students who do poorly in SPA102 (and/or SPA 101) are
invariably at risk of not being able to complete SPA201 and 202.
In this course the four skills of listening
comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing will continue to be stressed,
with slightly more of an emphasis on reading and writing than in SPA101. By the end of the course, you will be able to
use present and past tenses in Spanish to:
a) speak and write about topics such as family,
friends, travel, food, shopping and the weather.
b) read and understand simple passages from
Spanish-language newspapers and other texts.
c) describe and compare people, places, and
things.
d) relate past, present and future events so as
to be understood by a native Spanish speaker.
In addition, you will also learn about various political
and culture aspects of both
Note: Try to make use of the many resources
available to you both at NVCC and in your local community. For example, the World Wide Web has many useful sites for beginning Spanish students
(e.g. www.studyspanish.com), some of
which are available on the class BLACKBOARD (see below). Remember that you can always make the class
more interesting by bringing in Spanish materials that you come across outside
the classroom (such as brochures, newspapers, words to a song, a website) to
share with the class.
III. CLASSROOM POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
1) ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION. You
must attend all classes and participate!
Remember that participation and completion of the DESTINOS workbook
together represent 20% of your final grade (see below). As is clearly stated on p. 36 of the 2007-8
NVCC catalogue:
“It is your responsibility to inform your
instructor prior to an absence from class... You are responsible for making up
all course work missed during an absence.
In the event of unexplained absences … your instructor will administratively withdraw you from the
course.”
In addition to missed course work, missing a
class will often mean missing a short quiz or missing important announcements
concerning homework, quizzes, tests, and Spanish-related events.
a) I
will accept only two unexcused absences (i.e. two class periods) during the semester.
For each unexcused absence after the second I will lower your final attendance
grade by 15%. I urge you to be punctual,
as coming late or leaving early will result in a lower participation grade.
b) More
than four unexcused absences will automatically result in a grade of F.
c) Seven
(7) or more absences, (whether excused or not), will automatically result in a
grade of F.
d) EXCUSED/UNEXCUSED? It is
ultimately my decision to record an absence as excused or unexcused. If the student's absence on a test date is
recorded as unexcused, s/he will receive a grade of 0 for the missed
quiz/test/exam, and will NOT have the right to a make-up.
I will only record an absence as excused if it is
due to an absolutely
unavoidable and urgent circumstance: eg. a serious illness or a court
date. ABSENCES DUE TO WORK-RELATED COMMITMENTS WILL NOT BE EXCUSED, AS STUDENTS WHO REGISTER IN THIS COURSE ARE
EXPECTED TO MAKE A PRIOR COMMITMENT TO ATTEND ALL CLASSES. As class is only given twice a week, please
try not to make medical appointments that conflict with your class schedule.
e) LATE
Any student who comes more than 20 minutes late to class or leaves more
than 20 minutes early will be recorded as having missed 1/2 (half) of a class
period. (Two times late would be the
equivalent of one complete absence.)
f) I will administratively withdraw (W) any
student who fails to attend class by Wedneday,
January 30, 2008.
If you will not be able to attend a class, it is
your responsibility to notify me as soon as possible (see
above). If
you have any doubts about being able to attend every class, I recommend that you
change to audit status by the deadline, or
withdraw from this course and plan to
reenroll at a later date.
g) Please remember to turn off
your cell phone in the classroom, or it will distract both the other
students and the instructor.
2) PREPARATION. In addition to attending class, I require
that you come to each class prepared with your assigned homework (whether it be
orally prepared or written), your DESTINOS textbook and workbook, a 3-ringed
binder with ample notepaper, your syllabus, and a bilingual
(English-Spanish/Spanish-English) dictionary. Remember to refer to this syllabus constantly
to confirm test and examination dates.
Do not forget to copy all homework (“la tarea”)
from the classroom blackboard before the class starts. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to get this information either from me
(if possible) or from a classmate.
“I wasn't in class” is NOT a valid excuse for missing homework or not
being prepared for a quiz/test/exam.
3) BLACKBOARD
BLACKBOARD is a web-based teaching & learning
resource to which each student in this class will have access throughout the
semester. After approximately 2-3 weeks, I will have all students enrolled in
BLACKBOARD and demonstrate how to use it.
Once you are enrolled, you must
enter BLACKBOARD at least twice a week.
(I will monitor this electronically). BLACKBOARD is an invaluable aid for you, as
it contains important resources for use at home and outside of class, in
addition to announcements concerning the class.
If you do not have a personal computer either at home or at work, you
must find the time to use the computers at NVCC.
4)
http://www.nvcc.edu/alexandria/hss/langcen You
are encouraged to make use of the Computer Laboratory/Language Center in
Bisdorf Room 160. It has a number of
language software programs to practice your Spanish, and is open to all
students enrolled in this class. Spring
2008 hours will be announced as soon as they are available.
5) POLICY ON SPEAKING ENGLISH IN CLASS
(“Spanish only”).
For effective learning, no English should be
spoken in a Spanish language class.
Therefore I require that all of you make a sincere attempt never to
speak in English unless otherwise instructed.
Only Spanish will be spoken during approximately 80% of
the class period.
There are three exceptions:
a) Before and after each class we may briefly
exchange announcements and questions about the homework or other class-related
matters in English.
b) When the explanation of a class activity or a
grammar topic requires it, we will switch to English for a few minutes.
c) When discussing the cultural aspects of a DESTINOS
video-lesson, I will reserve approximately 10-15 minutes for discussion and
questions in English.
6) WORKBOOK
Destinos is a Spanish course specifically designed for self-study and/or
distance learning. It is essential that ALL the required workbook
exercises (see Blackboard under “Assignments” for a list) be completed on
your own. I require the
following:
a) After completing all the required exercises in
a workbook lesson (including the required Worksheets* and ALL Self-Tests at the
back of the workbook pp. 282-303), you must self-correct your answers using the
answer key provided at the back of the book (pp. 335-337). Your corrections must be made in a
different color ink. If
and when a correction is needed, it must be written alongside or above the
incorrect answer. (Not all the
exercises are provided with an answer key).
*Certain exercises require a
“Worksheet.” These worksheets can be
found at the back of your workbook, and are not to be removed.
b) Please
do NOT remove any pages from the
Workbook.
c) Your
workbook must be handed in on the day of the final exam. I will review your workbooks while you are
taking the final exam and enter either a check mark (if it has been completed),
a check minus, (if it is incomplete or lacks self-corrections), or a zero,
(insufficient) and/or written comments. You
will only receive full credit (100%) for your workbook if it has been completed
and self-corrected. Your final workbook
grade will be recorded as a percentage of 100 after it is handed in on the day
of the final exam.
d) You must write clearly and distinctly in your
workbook, and NOT remove any pages.
I must be able to read what you have written, so
please avoid sloppy penmanship. If your handwriting is poor, I suggest that
you write in capital letters.
e) As time will generally not permit me to review
your progress with the workbook exercises during the semester, I will often ask
you for them on test days (see below).
From time to time, I will also go around the class and require you to
show me that you have completed the required workbook exercises for any lessons
which have been completed in class. If
any exercise is incomplete, it will lower your participation grade.
7) ORAL INTERVIEW
Beginning on Wednesday March 26, 2008, student
will have an oral interview in Spanish with me.
The interview will last approximately 8-10 minutes, and will consist of
a warm-up with a few simple questions (e.g. ¿Dónde vives? ¿Tienes más clases
hoy? ¿Cuándo vas a volver a casa hoy? etc.) and then continue with both
personal questions and/or questions about the story and vocabulary of
DESTINOS. There is no one way of
studying for this interview, other than making sure that you practice your
listening and speaking skills throughout the semester. See Blackboard (“Assignments”) for a
description and sample questions.
8) QUIZZES, TESTS and EXAMINATIONS
Major tests and examinations will be given on the
dates specified below, although the latter may occasionally have to be modified
to make up for snow days or other unpredictable/unavoidable circumstances (eg.
fire drills). In addition to the chapter
tests (pruebas) and the final exam (examen final), short quizzes (pruebas
cortas) will also be given. Please note
that I will NOT give a make-up quiz or chapter test unless the student's absence on the designated test day is recorded as
excused (see EXCUSED/UNEXCUSED? above).
a) QUIZZES (Pruebas cortas). Approximately 12 short quizzes, generally
lasting 8-10 minutes, will be given at the beginning of the class. If
you come late to class you will miss the quiz. These quizzes will be announced one class
period beforehand.
b) TESTS (Pruebas). Three chapter tests will be given:
PRUEBA #1 will cover Lessons 12 through 14.
PRUEBA #2 will cover Lessons 15 through 18.
PRUEBA #3 will cover Lessons 19 through 21.
c) EXAMEN FINAL. A final examination will be given, including
a take-home composition. It will cover
all material from Lessons 12 to 26.
9) PORTFOLIO
As part of the course requirements, each student will submit his/her 3-ring binder to the professor on the day of the final examination. The binder must include: a) all notes taken during the semester in class, including a record of all assigned daily homeworks (“tareas”) with their corresponding dates included; b) all quizzes and exams which have been corrected and returned to the student; c) all written assignments (other than those in the workbook) which have been corrected and returned to the student. This applies to class activities as well.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS
To do
well in this course, I offer the following advice:
* Relax and do
not be afraid to make mistakes.
Making mistakes is a normal and inevitable
when
learning a language. Nobody should feel embarrassed
about this.
*
Listen to your classmates and
the teacher. Good language learners know how to listen. The first
and most important step in learning a language
is being able to process aural/auditory input.
* Take
written notes. (They are for your portfolio).
*
Participate in every class. Remember that this is an important part of
your final grade. It is
essential that you work cooperatively with
your fellow students when doing a group exercise.
*
Complete all your workbook exercises. In addition to being a
required part of this course, I
also use the workbook for tests and exams! If you complete your workbook in a timely
manner,
you will
learn much more, be better prepared for class, and do better on tests and exams.
* Use
learning strategies that work for you. If time permits, I will discuss a few learning
strategies with you during the semester.
Remember that not all students learn in the same way.
* Make
good use of BLACKBOARD (see above).
* Record yourself when practicing speaking. You may
use the digital recording facilities in the
* Use your Spanish whenever possible. There are
many Spanish-speaking students at NOVA to
practice
with.
V. EVALUATION
I will assign numerical grades to each of the
following tasks, all of which will serve to calculate your final course grade:
Attendance, participation, preparation, and
homework 10% 90-100 = A
Workbook 10% 80-89 = B
Oral interview 10% 70-79 = C
Short quizzes (Pruebas cortas) 10% 60-69 = D
3 Chapter Tests (Pruebas, see dates below) 30% 0-59 =
F
Final examination (Examen final) 25%
Portfolio 5%
To calculate these percentages, I use a computer program. If you wish to know your current class grade
at any time during the semester, make an appointment to see me in my office and
I will be glad to provide you with it.
VI. WITHDRAWALS
A withdrawal without a grade penalty and/or a
change of academic status from credit to audit MUST be completed at the Office
of Admissions and Records. You are
responsible for this change---if you fail to officially withdraw, all
uncompleted work will be assigned a grade of F.
Remember that the last date for
withdrawal without a grade penalty or to change to audit status is Monday March
31, 2008.
VII. SPECIAL NEEDS AND ACCOMMODATIONS
Please come to me as soon as possible to address
any special learning problems (dyslexia, ADD, etc.) If you are seeking accommodations based on a
disability, your condition must be
previously documented. You are required to provide a disability data sheet,
which can be obtained from the counselor for special needs in Room 148 of the
Bisdorf building. Students with
learning disabilities should enroll in SPA 199, a one-credit course which
helps students acquire strategies for learning Spanish. Contact Dr. Margarita Hodge (Room 252, Tel:
703-845-6586), the instructor of this course who is a specialist in language
learning difficulties.
VIII. TUTORING
All language students are entitled to one hour of
free tutoring a week from a NVCC student who is also a native speaker of
Spanish. If you think you need extra
help, or are told by your instructor that you need tutoring, go to the Student
Services office in Room 148 and request a tutor as soon as possible.
IX. CLASS DATES
CAPITULO = Chapter
PRUEBA = (Chapter) Test
EXAMEN = Examination
REPASO = Review
LUNES 14 de enero Introducción, repaso, el pretérito
MIÉRCOLES 16 de enero Repaso,
el pretérito
LUNES 21 de enero DÍA DE MARTÍN LUTERO KING
MIÉRCOLES 23 de enero Lección
12
LUNES 28 de enero Lecciones 12 y 13
MIÉRCOLES 30 de enero Lección
13
LUNES
4 de febrero Lección
14
MIÉRCOLES 6 de
febrero Lección 14 y repaso
LUNES 11 de febrero PRUEBA #1
(Lecciones 12-14)
Lección
15
MIÉRCOLES 13 de febrero Lección
15
LUNES 18 de febrero Lección 16
MIÉRCOLES 20 de febrero Lecciones
16 y 17
LUNES 25 de febrero Lección 17
MIÉRCOLES 27 de febrero Lección
17
LUNES
3 de marzo Lección
18 (Repaso)
MIÉRCOLES 5 de
marzo PRUEBA #2 (Lecciones 15-18)
LUNES 10 de marzo NO HAY CLASE (Vacaciones de Primavera)
MIÉRCOLES 12 de marzo NO
HAY CLASE (Vacaciones de Primavera)
LUNES 17 de marzo Lección 19
MIÉRCOLES 19 de marzo Lección
19
LUNES 24 de marzo Lección 20
MIÉRCOLES 26 de marzo Lección
20
Empiezan las entrevistas orales
LUNES 31 de marzo Lección 21
Entrevistas orales
Last
date to withdraw without grade penalty
and/or change to audit
MIÉRCOLES 2 de
abril Lección 21 y
repaso
Entrevistas
orales
LUNES
7 de abril PRUEBA #3 (Lecciones 19-21)
MIÉRCOLES 9 de
abril Lección 22
Entrevistas
orales
LUNES 14 de abril Lecciones 22 y 23
Entrevistas
orales
MIÉRCOLES 16 de abril Lección
23
Entrevistas
orales
LUNES 21 de abril Lección 24
Entrevistas
orales
MIÉRCOLES 23 de abril Lecciones
24 y 25 (repaso)
Entrevistas
orales
LUNES 28 de abril Lección 25
(repaso)
Entrevistas
orales
MIÉRCOLES 30 de abril Lección
26 (repaso)
Entrevistas
orales
LUNES 5 de mayo Repaso
MIÉRCOLES
7 de mayo EXAMEN FINAL
11:00
a.m. – 1:45 p.m.