El rincón de Margarita

Spanish 101 Syllabus

Profesora:	Dr. Margarita Esparza Hodge
Oficina:	Room 252 Bisdorf
Teléfono:	703 - 845-6586
Hodge's Website:	http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvhodgm
Blackboard:	http://www.bb.vccs.edu
E-Mail:	nvhodgm@nvcc.edu
Libro de Texto:	*Destinos* , VanPatten, Marks, Teschner (Alternate Edition 2 nd Ed McGraw-Hill McGraw-Hill (cds included for listening in Shrinkwrapped with)
Cuaderno:	*Destinos, Workbook I* - Lessons 1- 11 (Alternate Edition 2 nd Ed) * CDs Destinos' audio CDs to accompany the workbook.
Classroom/Lab:	clean/good quality audiotapes for Destinos workbook (90 minutes) if you chose to duplicate audiotapes from the AV Dept. and not to buy the CDs for listening to workbook assignments.
Recommended:	*University of Chicago Spanish/English Dictionary, or equivalent Oxford Picture Dictionary*
Materials:	3 x 5 cards floppy disk (Maxell brand with plastic case) Highlighters and Red pen Loose leaf notebook Plastic Inserts for 8 ½ x 11 handouts (optional)

Course Description

Foreign Language Teaching Method

Special Needs Accommodation

Evaluation

Lab Requirements

Attendance

Withdrawal

Good language Learners

Extra Credit

Classroom Policies

Course Description : SPA 101

Beginning Spanish I is an introduction to Spanish for the student who has had no previous instruction in Spanish. Stress is placed on the development of listening, speaking, reading, writing and culture.

Lecture is five hrs. per week (16 week session) or a comparable time from during the summer program (eight week summer session). The course centers around video-based materials for the purpose of developing skills for understanding spoken and written authentic texts. Classroom time is devoted primarily to developing speaking.

At this level, a student begins to narrate and describe in present and future time, ask and answer questions, and handle simple survival situations. Since the focus is on developing the conversational skills, much listening and reading is needed to help develop speaking. The writing skill includes teaching/learning spelling and accent rules. The paragraph will be developed to narrate and describe personal information. It is assumed that the Elementary I student will be able to understand authentic aural and written texts as used by native speakers to narrate and describe personal and factual information.

Foreign Language Teaching Method: The Natural Approach is an inductive method of language teaching, developed by Stephen Krashen and Tracy Terrell, that has among its hypotheses that language is acquired in stages, that comprehension precedes production, and that language is best learned in a low anxiety atmosphere.

Special Needs and Accommodations:

Please address any special problems or needs at the beginning of the semester by meeting with the instructor. If you are seeking accommodations based on a disability, you should provide a disability data sheet, which can be obtained from the counselor for special needs, who is located in Room 148 of the Bisdorf Building, telephone number 845-6301. When a student provides the appropriate documentation, the ADA Law, Section 504, is upheld. Students are encouraged to enroll in SPA 199-80A Language Learning Strategies , a workshop class to provide intervention strategies to succeed in learning a foreign language. The professor may provide a learning styles instrument to help students identify their particular learning style.

Evaluation:

Attendance/participation/homework preparation	20%
Grammar quizzes & Tests	20%
Language Lab Workbook/Listening Tests	10%
Mid-term and Final Oral Proficiency Interviews	30%
Notebook and Writing Portfolio	20%

Laboratory Requirements:

Auditory Practice:
Students are required to listen to audiotapes, either in the laboratory or on their own home players. In order to complete the audio portions in the Destinos workbook, several methods can be of help:

CD's are included with the 2 nd edition of the textbook and workbook. There is a shrinkwrapped package that includes the textbook and cd's for the textbook component. In addition to purchasing the Destinos, Workbook I, you need to purchase the cds for the workbook or have audiotapes made of Episodes 1-11. Make sure that your tapes match your workbook series (2 nd ed. alternative edition). You need to purchase Book I Set for CDs (Lessons 1-26).

Bring a quality, sealed, blank audiotape to the Learning Resource Center, Rm. 332 and request that the appropriate lesson be copied. Students can find request forms right outside of Rm. 332, drop off their request with their audiotapes, then pick up their duplicated audiotapes inside of Rm. 332. forty-eight hours later.

There are audiocasette tapes that can also be borrowed to play on a tape player in Rm. 332. To borrow audiotapes, show a NVCC ID card and request the audiotapes that you wish to listen to in the designated booths.

Video Viewing:
Students need to view the accompanying video for each episode/chapter (Episodios 1-11). Ideally each video should be viewed three times. There are several ways of completing this video viewing:

The videos will often, but not always be viewed during class time. Students can make arrangements with the instructor to view video before or after class in the classroom.
The Extended Learning Institute (ELI) airs Destinos videos on different cable networks that carry the NVCC ELI broadcasts. Check for video schedules on your cable network in the Schedule of Classes. Some of the programming uses closed captioning.
ELI also provides a blockfeed for downloading the Destinos videos for each semester, e.g., Spa 101 can download videos 1-11. The schedule is listed below.

Students may check videos out from the library for an hour (for use within the library only). There are VCR viewing stations on the first floor. Students will need their NVCC Student I.D. Card in order to check the videos out. Videos can be also be checked out for a week or more, but there are very few copies. (Also check your local public library, e.g., Arlington County, Prince William County, and Fairfax County libraries.

Software:
Students may get help with computer-assisted language instruction in the computer lab located in Rm. 160. The lessons are designed to help tutor the students in vocabulary and grammar. Students are required to receive training with the instructor or assistant and may access software. Students must sign in and access materials with a personal ID card, e.g., VA driver's license.

Spanish Materials

Hodge's Webpage - Classroom notes, grammar and vocabulary practice, PowerPoint classroom presentations, Internet links

Blackboard
Destinos Software
Spanish Word Ace - Verb Practice
Spanish Now - Reading and Listening Practice
MS Word 2000-- (Spanish Spell check & Thesaurus
Hola Español - Vocabulary & Verb Practice
The Rosetta Stone I & II - Practice using the four skills, Vocabulary & Grammar
Carmen - Grammar Practice
Encarta - Situations

Attendance:

It is not possible to succeed in this course without regular class attendance. Only one (summer six wk. program) / two classes (16 wk. regular semester) of unexcused absences are permitted.

If you find it necessary to miss a class session due to circumstances beyond your control, it is your responsibility to complete all assignments you miss by the time you return to class.
Please e-mail your instructor or another fellow students for assignments. Late arrival may be counted as a partial absence, at the discretion of the professor. Make-up work can be arranged after the student and the professor have mutually agreed on an assignment.

Withdrawal and Audit:

Withdrawal without grade penalty, or change from credit to audit must be completed at the Office of Admissions and Records. The student is held responsible for this change in academic status. A student who does not complete the course, but who fails to withdraw officially, will have all uncompleted work averaged as F.

Good Language Learners

Good language learners are willing and accurate guessers. They use all the clues which the setting offers and are thus able to narrows down what the meaning and intent of the communication might be.
Successful language learners have strong motivation to communicate. They will do many things to communicate: paraphrase, use gestures, circumlocute, etc.
Good language students are often not inhibited. They are willing to take a chance and make mistakes in order to learn to communicate.
Good language learners are prepared to attend to from and pattern. They are constantly looking for patterns in the language they constantly analyze and categorize the linguistic material.
Good language learners monitor.

Extra Credit:

Field Trips to Wolf Trap, National Gallery of Art
Video and Spanish written summary of Spanish/L.A. movies
Spanish Theatre Plays held in the area
Spanish Language Exchange Partners
Native Speaker Interview Project and/or Video Project

Classroom Policies

The professor assumes that students:
take responsibility for their learning.
are serious about and want to learn.
will not miss more than one week of unexcused absences.
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 tests.
will keep notes in a notebook on class lectures.
will manage time according to personal needs to provide for 5 - 6 study hours per week (2 hrs. per credit hour).
will make up tardies or absences with extra credit work.
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 become aware of his/her learning style and make necessary adaptations to accommodate and enhance foreign language learning skills.
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.

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10/11/04