Spanish for Beginners III
This is the final level in the three course sequence of Beginner Spanish. Prerequisites for this course are successful completion of SPA 102 or sufficient score on the TCNJ Language Placement Test.
Unidos, Classroom Manual with access to My Spanish Lab. Guzman, Lapuerta and Liskin-Gasparro, Third Edition, 2020 (Pearson, ISBN 9780135214565).
Reading assignments provided by instructors: El león y el grillito, El príncipe rana, El ratón del campo y el ratón de la ciudad, El conejo es el juez (leyenda maya), La sabiduría de la llama (leyenda incaica), La Llorona (leyenda mexicana), Los árboles de flores blancas (leyenda azteca), La recompensa (leyenda guaraní).
Additional reading assignments will vary depending on the instructor.
VERY IMPORTANT:
This packet of the Classroom Manual and the on-line activities will be used in Spanish 101, 102 and 103. Every student will use the access card to create an on-line account. Activities will be assigned on a daily basis in PREPARATION for THE NEXT CLASS. Students who complete their homework prior to the next class will enjoy the opportunity of using their knowledge to complete numerous, interactive activities in the following class. Students who do not complete the activities PRIOR to the following class will feel frustrated and unable to communicate. They will also find it difficult to perform well on the chapter exams and final exam.
Learning Goals:
SPA 103, Spanish for Beginners III seeks to fulfill the following curricular goals (learning outcomes), set by TCNJ’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of World Languages and Cultures:
1. Written Communication: Writing is a focus of instruction.
2. Oral Communication: Public Speaking is a focus of instruction.
5. Critical Analysis and Reasoning: Ability to critique the arguments of others in the discipline and the construction of one’s own arguments in the discipline; using data/evidence are a focus of instruction and/or ability to analyze linguistic and cultural patterns.
7. Interpret Language and Symbol: The interpretation of language or symbol is an important focus of instruction in the course.
8. Intercultural Competence: The development of understanding of other cultures and/or subcultures (practices, perspectives, behavior patterns, etc.) is an important focus of instruction in the course.
9. Respect for Diversity: An understanding of multiculturalism in US society and/or the world is an important focus of instruction.
12. Appreciation of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.
Students will begin SPA 103 by demonstrating the ability to successfully fulfill the goals established during SPA 101 and 102. During the first week of SPA 103, classroom activities and homework assignments will recycle that material through student-based activities. Upon completion of SPA 103, students will be able to:
a) understand sympathetic native speakers* and at times non-sympathetic speakers when they: narrate and describe in the past, present and future.
b) successfully narrate and describe in the present and future and begin to do so in the past while conversing with sympathetic native speakers* and at times non-sympathetic speakers.
c) write compositions in complete paragraphs in the above mentioned time frames which are comprehensible to a sympathetic native reader.
d) read authentic texts dealing with cultural products, practices and perspectives.
e) recognize and compare cultural similarities and differences between their own culture and Hispanic culture.
f) recognize and compare language similarities and differences between Spanish and English.
g) recognize the geography of Spain and Latin America (countries, capitals, rivers, mountain ranges etc).
*ACTFL defines a sympathetic native speaker as one who is accustomed dealing with foreign speakers of the language and who is able to see through those grammatical errors which would normally impede communication.
Learning Benchmarks:
By the end of Spanish 103, successful students will be able to do the following things:
–Speaking-Interpersonal: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low through Novice-High and most if not all statements for Intermediate-Low.
–Speaking-Presentational: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low through Novice-High and most if not all statements for Intermediate-Low.
–Writing: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low through Intermediate-Low.
–Listening: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low through Intermediate-Low, most statements for Intermediate-Mid and even some statements for Intermediate-High.
–Reading: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low through Intermediate-Low, most statements for Intermediate-Mid and even some statements for Intermediate-High.
Note: the Can-Do Statements linked above belong to the NCSSFL-ACTFL GLOBAL CAN-DO BENCHMARKS (NCSSFL: National Council of State Supervisors for Languages; ACTFL: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).
Grading Policy:
| 30% | Daily evaluations of oral performance (including the Oral Proficiency Class grade) |
| 30% | Chapter Tests (Unidos) |
| 20% | Comprehensive Final Examination |
| 10% | MySpanishLab assignments |
| 5% | Oral Test |
| 5% | In-class writing Assignments |
Grading Scale:
| A | 95 | B+ | 87 | C+ | 77 | D+ | 67 |
| A- | 90 | B | 83 | C | 73 | D | 65 |
| B- | 80 | C- | 70 | F | <65 |
Tests: They test your mastery of the preceding lessons – vocabulary, grammar and reading assignments. They have listening and writing components, and last approximately 50 minutes. Tests are given on the stated day. There are no make-ups.
Oral test: This oral proficiency exam will be administered remotely and will be given on the day indicated on the class schedule. There are no make-ups.
Final Exam: The final exam is a departmental, comprehensive test which is administered in two parts: the listening component is given on the last day of class and the remainder of the test is given during the final exam period.
Class Participation: Study of a foreign language necessitates frequent exposure to the language and regular practice. For that reason, participation in the classroom meetings as well as the weekly conversation hours is mandatory. It will be difficult (or impossible) to complete the exercises and activities in class if you have not reviewed the grammatical explanations and completed the exercises beforehand. You are expected to come prepared to class, having reviewed the material to be covered and ready to submit homework assignments on time.
Classroom participation is evaluated on a daily basis. Daily evaluations are based upon the following scale:
6: Well prepared for class, excellent participation (in terms of quality AND quantity), solid control of grammar. Speaks only Spanish in class. In other words, excellent.
5: Prepared for class, a good deal of participation (in terms of quality AND quantity), some control of grammar. Speaks only Spanish in class. In other words, good.
4: Participates in class but showing evidence of insufficient grammatical preparation (quality). Speaks only Spanish in class.
4: Present in class but holding a rather passive, not pro-active attitude (i.e. answering only when addressed), even if showing evidence of sufficient, good or excellent preparation when asked. Speaks only Spanish in class.
3: Present in class but showing evidence of little or insufficient preparation overall and/or an unusually passive, apathetic attitude. Speaks only Spanish in class.
0: Resorts to English (without explicit permission from the instructor) to communicate with the instructor and/or their classmates. Preparation and language ability may be poor, adequate, good or excellent.
0: ABSENT (You cannot participate if you are not in class!)
Students who arrive LATE to class will lose one of their earned points for that class period.
Please TURN OFF your cell phones or set them in silent mode before entering the classroom. Receiving phone calls, texting or any other activity related to a cell-phone or hand-held electronic device will be considered the same as “resorting to English without explicit permission from the instructor.”
The workload in this course is demanding and cumulative in nature, as a considerable amount of material is covered in a relatively short period of time. You are STRONGLY encouraged to seek help at the first sign of difficulty, and to keep up with the work on a daily basis. Tutoring is available free of charge at the Reading/Writing Lab in Roscoe L. West Hall Suite 101.
Class Schedules
- Spanish 103 (SPA 103, SP24, M-Th)
- Spanish 103 (SPA 103, SP24, T-F)
- Spanish 103 (SPA 103, SP24, T-Th)