SPA 103

Beginning Spanish III
Professor: Carol Lacy-Salazar

Objetivos del curso: Spanish 101-102-103 is a three-term sequence that presents the essential structure of the Spanish language and basic vocabulary in a four-skill approach: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. the same texts are used in all three courses; approximately one-third of the material will be covered this term. Your goal is correct self expression in Spanish as well as understanding of both written and spoken Spanish and a nascent understanding of the Hispanic culture.

There will be daily quizzes plus two written exams and one oral final exam. There will be no make-up quizzes unless you have an official medical excuse; however, the lowest quiz grade will be dropped. The accelerated pace of an intensive course presupposes no absences. Only faculty-approved absences and official medical excuses are valid. In general, if you miss more than two full days of class, you should discuss dropping the course with the professor.

You should plan to spend approximately three hours daily on your homework assignments, which will include reading over the chapter--paying particular attention to the grammatical explanations and exercises covered in class--, going over class note, and doing the Workbook or CAN-8 exercises (available in the College Hall Humanities Lab and accessible from your residence hall) that correspond to the chapter we have covered in class that day. (Links to additional on-line exercises can be found on the SPA 103 webpage.) There will also be daily reading assignments taken from the intermediate reading section of the on-line tutorial, found at: http://www.cornellcollege.edu/spanish/tutorial/glossreadings/readings/intermediate/. Class discussion will begin with students' own questions about the content of the reading for that day; thus, you should come to class each day with a list of approximately 10 original questions related to the reading.

There will be three short compositions (approximately 250 words each) written on themes that reinforce the grammar points being studied in class. These should be typewritten or handwritten in blue or black ink and written on every other line. Students should try to organize and write these exclusively in Spanish, using and practicing structures already learned in class and not write them in English and then translate them into Spanish. Students are responsible for correcting these compositions after they have been reviewed by the professor, and the grade on the draft of the composition will be revised in accordance with the quality of the corrections. Everyone is expected to present one of the compositions orally for the rest of the class and to read an article related to one of the countries described in the Enfoque Cultural and to orally summarize it for the class.

Languages classes, in particular, go very rapidly on the Block Plan and absences should be avoided at all cost. Students having difficulty with the material should inquire about getting additional help as soon as possible.

Cornell College is committed to providing equal educational opportunities for all students. If you have a documented learning disability and will need any special accommodations in this course, you must request the accommodations as early as possible and no later than the third day of the block

Textos:

¿Qué Tal?, 7th edition, Dorwick, Pérez-Gironés, Knorre, Glass & Villarreal
Workbook/Laboratory Manual to accompany ¿Qué Tal?, Arana & Arana, Sabló-Yates and/or CAN8 exercises
Glossed readings from the Tutorial on the Spanish Web Site: "Autobiografía," "Costa Rica," and "Leyendas de Costa Rica."

Evaluación: Su nota final se basará en lo siguiente:

20%-- Pruebas diarias
40%-- Exámenes (2 escritos y uno oral)
20%-- Trabajo Oral (Participación en clase + Presentaciones)
20%-- Trabajo Escrito