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Spanish 112 –Spring 2005

	Profesora:		Dr. Margarita Esparza Hodge
	Oficina:		Room 252
	Teléfono:		703 - 845-586
	MEHodge’s Website:		http://www.nvcc.edu/home/nvhodgm
	Blackboard:		http://bb.nvcc.edu
	E-Mail:		mhodge@nvcc.edu
	Schedule of Assignments		Chapters 6-13
	Libro de Texto:		Libro de Texto: Situaciones , Valette & Valette (2nd. Edition) McGraw-Hill
	Cuaderno:		Cuaderno: Situaciones  Language Lab Workbook,  (2nd. Edition) - Lessons 6 - 13/14
	Recommended:		University of Chicago Spanish/English Dictionary, or equivalent Oxford Picture Dictionary
	Classroom/Lab:	Listening and Tape Duplication clean/good quality audiotapes for Lab workbook (90 minutes) Audiotape Drop-off and Pickup Location is in 332
	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

Course Description: SPA 112 is the second semester component of the Elementary Conversational Spanish I & II sequence. The purpose of this course is to enable the student to acquire greater proficiency in speaking and listening in a greater variety of situations. At this level, students should be able to narrate and describe in present, past, and future time and handle many survival situations. While the focus is on developing the conversational skills, much listening and reading is needed to help develop speaking. It is assumed that the student is able to understand authentic aural and written texts as used by native speakers to narrate and describe personal and factual information. The student is able to pronounce Spanish clearly, handle many survival situations, ask and answer questions, and create with the language on familiar topics. The learner has a grammatical basis to be able to express ideas in speaking and writing using correct sentence structure at the paragraph level.

Lecture is three hrs. per week (16 week session) or seven and one-half hrs. (six week session). Class activities center around aural and oral Spanish practice. The class will be conducted mostly in Spanish.  The course makes use of Blackboard (http://bb.vccs.edu/ ) to aid in developing written discussions for use in oral expression, to provide for a variety of course documents helpful in learning or reviewing, and Spanish language links to the internet.  The instructor will provide each student access to the site, and then students can access Blackboard using their own user and password codes. 

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.

The ideal student is an independent learner possessing self-motivation and discipline.

Evaluation:

Attendance:

It is advised not to miss any classes when enrolled in the 14 week component.  One unexcused absence is permitted. Any absence will require for a student to complete all assignments and include an extra credit assignment unless the student is enrolled as an audit student. .

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, may result with having all uncompleted work averaged as F.

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
Language Lab Software Practice
Spanish Language Exchange Partners
Native Speaker Interview Project
Video Project

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 Situaciones workbook, several methods can be of help:

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.

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.
Learning Resources - Listening and Tape Duplication

Foreign Language Computer Area --Rm 160 --Students may get help with computer-assisted language instruction. The lessons are designed to help tutor the students in vocabulary and grammar. Students are required to receive training with the instructor and may access computers in the Foreign Language Computer Area with an NVCC  ID Card:

Internet

Atajo Writing Software (Spanish Spellcheck & Thesaurus )

Spanish Ace – Verb Practice

Spanish Now – Reading and Listening Practice

MS Word -- (Spanish Spellcheck & Thesaurus)

Hola Español

Rosetta Stone Level I & II –

Carmen - Grammar Review

General Format &  Expectations

This may be your first experience in which you attend class in a 14 wk period (Dynamic Semester), also interact with your instructor and classmates via electronic mail and the Blackboard Discussion Board. This course provides a different way to study and also makes different demands on students.

1. The Situaciones Chapters 6- 13 will be covered this semester.  If there is time, we will also cover Chapter 14.

2. We will use the Blackboard Course Management System in this class. All students will have user names and passwords. We will use the Announcements, Assignments, and Discussion forums and testing features of Blackboard.

3. We will do periodic oral presentations done with language partners, alone or in groups. 

4. We will do periodic writing assignments to develop writing at the paragraph level using correct sentence structure.

5. Spanish will be used as much as possible in the classroom.

6. All exams must be taken on or by final day of class. Missing work averaged in at zero.

7.  Attendance: Mandatory for all classes.

Technical Requirements

Due to the online component of Blackboard, it is helpful if students have internet access, a current browser, E-mail skills and their VCCS e-mail account enabled.

Help with Blackboard and your VCCS e-mail can be found on the NVCC web page . Click on IT Help Desk.

1. You should be familiar with your computer's operating system whether it is Windows (95, 98, NT or XP), a Mac operating system, or some other system.

2. You should be familiar with using a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.

3. You should be able to use a variety of search engines and be comfortable navigating on the World Wide Web.

4. You should know how to use an e-mail program. You will be communicating with your Instructor and your classmates via email, outside your face-to-face class sessions.

© 2005 Margarita Esparza Hodge
1/16/05