In this course we assume that you know no Spanish. Please note that students with more than four years of high school Spanish will not receive credit for Spanish 101. Native and heritage speakers of Spanish will NOT receive credit for this course. Please see the Chair in order to enroll in Spanish 210.
Course materials: Connect Access Card for Tu mundo, 3rd edition. Choose either:
- The 720-day Connect access card, valid for future courses SPA 102 and SPA 103 as well.
ISBN is: ANDRADE CONNECT AC TU MUNDO 3 2023 9781264369287
-or-
- The 180-day Connect access card. ISBN is:
ANDRADE 1T CNCT AC TU MUNDO 3 2023 9781264369362
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 101, Spanish for Beginners I 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:
- Written Communication: Writing is a focus of instruction.
- Oral Communication: Public Speaking is a focus of instruction.
- 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.
- Interpret Language and Symbol: The interpretation of language or symbol is an important focus of instruction in the course.
- 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.
- Respect for Diversity: An understanding of multiculturalism in US society and/or the world is an important focus of instruction.
- Appreciation of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.
Upon completion of SPA 101, students will be able to:
a) understand sympathetic native speakers* when they discuss:
-themselves, their families and friends, their preferences, their immediate environment (the weather, the campus, classes, etc) and their daily and leisure time activities.
b) use words, lists of words, phrases and some sentences to speak in some detail about the aforementioned topics with sympathetic native listener.
c) write brief and simple compositions in complete sentences and paragraphs about the above topics which are comprehensible to a sympathetic native reader.
d) read simple texts prepared for foreign readers dealing with cultural products and some cultural practices involved with the topics cited above.
e) recognize and compare cultural similarities and differences between their own culture and hispanic culture.
f) recognize and compare some language similarities and differences between Spanish and English.
*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 101, 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 and most statements for Novice-Mid.
–Speaking-Presentational: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low and most statements for Novice-Mid.
–Writing: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low and most statements for Novice-Mid.
–Listening: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low and and most statements for Novice-Mid and Novice-High.
–Reading: Click on the link. You should be able to check all can-do statements for Novice-Low and Novice-Mid and most statements for Novice-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:
| 35% | Chapter Tests (Unidos) |
| 25% | Comprehensive Final Examination |
| 30% | Daily evaluations of oral performance (including the Oral Proficiency Class grade) |
| 10% | Tu Mundo/Connect (Oral and Written 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 |
Notes:
Tests: They test your mastery of the preceding lessons – vocabulary, grammar and culture. They have listening and writing components, and last approximately 50 minutes. Tests are given on the stated day. There are no make-ups.
Final Exam: The final exam is a comprehensive test which is administered 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 impossible to complete the interactive activities in the classroom if you have not completed the on-line activities beforehand. You are expected to come prepared to class, having completed the on-line activities and ready to use that information to communicate with others in Spanish.
Classroom participation is evaluated on a daily basis. Daily evaluations are based upon your ability to utilize what you learned on-line to communicate in the classroom. The assessment scale is as follows:
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 preparation at home. 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 at home. Speaks only Spanish in class.
3: Present in class but showing evidence of little or insufficient preparation at home 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 schedule
- Spanish 101 (SPA 101, SP24-T,F)