Section: 202 A - Welcome to the Instructional Web Site of Green ...

Syllabus
Spanish 202 (Intermediate Spanish)
Green River Community College
Winter 2009

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Course and Instructor Information





Section: 202 A






Course Schedule: 10:00-10:50 a.m. daily






Classroom: BI-13



Instructor: Marisela Fleites-Lear


Office Location: HS-49


Phone: 253-833-9111 ext. 4409


E-mail: mfleites@greenriver.edu


Office Hours: Mondays.-Fridays (12:00-12:50pm) plus
appointments.


Department website: www.instruction.greenriver.edu/spanish


Textbook website: www.mhhe.com/avance2 (access to the Online
Learning
center)



Required Materials

1. Bretz, Mary Lee, et al. ¡Avance!. 2nd Edition, McGraw Hill: 2008.
2. Bretz, Mary Lee, et al. ¡Avance! Cuaderno de práctica. 2nd Edition,
McGraw Hill: 2008.
3. Bretz, Mary Lee, et al. ¡Avance! Cuaderno audio program. 2nd Edition,
McGraw Hill: 2008.
4. Online Course Site at www.instruction.greenriver.edu/spanish
5. Textbook Online Learning Center: www.mhhe.com/avance2


Recommended:
- Larousse Pocket Dictionary Spanish-English
- Spinelli, Emily. English Grammar for Students of Spanish. The Olivia
and
Hill Press.



Make sure you bring your texts to class. Instructions are provided below.




Course Description and Objectives

?Bienvenidos! Congratulations! You have decided to work toward becoming
fluent in Spanish by continuing your studies at the intermediate level. As
you know, Spanish is spoken by over 40 million people in the USA as a first
language. They constitute around 12% of our entire population. In relation
to the world, we are tied with Spain and Colombia as the second largest
Spanish speaking country in the world, second only to Mexico. You are
investing wisely in your growth. Your skill will be valued greatly in any
career over your monolingual counterparts. Your skills will allow you also
to communicate with people in 20 countries in the world[1]: you will be
able to communicate with around 400 million people! I look forward to
helping you achieve a higher level of proficiency in Spanish. Together we
can do it!




SPAN 202 is designed for the student who has completed Spanish 202 with a
2.0 or higher or its equivalent. It provides a comprehensive study of the
Spanish language and aims to broaden students' understanding of the
cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. By expanding upon the language
skills and cultural knowledge students have acquired in earlier classes,
SPAN 202 prepares students for further studies in Spanish at the
intermediate and advanced levels. The course will be conducted entirely
in Spanish.


Because the class is designed to 1) build upon the language skills
acquired in introductory language courses and in 201, and 2) give
students a cultural overview of the Spanish-speaking world, it will not
function as a straight-forward drill session on vocabulary and grammar.
Rather, the class will provide students the opportunity to practice new
vocabulary and grammatical structures through in-class discussion of
assigned activities and readings. The instructor will assign selected
units of the textbooks as homework every day and will expect students to
study these materials prior to class. By so doing, students will enter
the classroom prepared to practice new vocabulary and grammatical
concepts through participation in communicative activities and
discussions of readings.


If students ever feel in need of additional advice or help with grammar
concepts, assignments, or readings they may visit their instructor during
office hours or make an appointment and/or work with the tutors available
in the Help Center (2nd floor of the Holman Library).

Course specific objectives:
. to enhance oral proficiency by engaging in communicative activities
such as providing information or expressing ideas and opinions in
Spanish
. improve listening comprehension through the exclusive use of
Spanish in class and through a variety of videos and listening
exercises
. improve reading comprehension through daily reading assignments and
related activities (readings are diverse in both form and content)
. improve writing proficiency through a variety of written
assignments, creating informal works as well as more formal output
(through the writing and revising process)
. increase knowledge of the histories and cultures of the Spanish-
speaking world, their social struggles and their complex
relationship with the USA as the dominant power in the region.
. awaken cultural empathy and awareness of cultural, social and
historical issues in the Spanish-speaking world
. increase awareness of the relationships between the peoples of the
Spanish-speaking world and their connection to and role in the
global community
. increase understanding of previously-studied grammatical structures


. enhance vocabulary
. acquire basic knowledge of literature and literary terms necessary
for advanced Spanish courses
. acquire the proficiency levels and knowledge necessary to continue
studying Spanish at the intermediate and advanced levels


. Campus Wide Learning Outcomes:

GRCC has identified four college-wide learning outcomes that form the
foundation of our educational emphasis. They are:
1) Written Communication (COM).
2) Critical Thinking (CRT).
3) Responsibility (RSP).
4) Quantitative and symbolic reasoning (QSR)

Our course will address most of these campus wide learning outcomes as
specified below in parenthesis in our course learning outcomes.

. Course Learning Outcomes:

1- Students will examine cultural perspectives and values in ways that
reinforce or challenge their own views within a multicultural world.
This will be done not only through readings about the different
Hispanic countries, customs, social problems, power structures and
relations with the US, but also through discussions of films and
special discussion topics in class. (CRT)
2- Students will demonstrate a sense of personal responsibility by
following the guidelines stated in this syllabus and being held
accountable for this (RSP).
3- Student will understand and apply the basic principles and conventions
of effective oral and written communication in Spanish according to
the requirements of this intermediate level. This will be demonstrated
through the different written and oral assignments in the quarter.
Instructor will explain in class rubrics for good oral and written
communications that students should follow in their activities. Please
find those rubrics at the end of this syllabus as well as a handout on
Spanish sentence structure (COM).
4- Students will enhance their critical thinking abilities by examining
the following elements of thought not only in the reading materials
but also in the answers provided by other classmates in class
conversations and discussions: points of view, purpose, question at
issue, implications and consequences, assumptions, concepts,
conclusion and solutions. In our class, we will understand critical
thinking as a mode of thinking about any subject, content or problem
in which the thinker improves the quality of her/his thinking by
skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and
imposing intellectual standards upon them (CRT).

Requirements and assessment:

Exams:


There will be four exams (one per chapter). Students must take these
exams when they are scheduled. Students must contact their instructor
prior to the exam if they are unable to take an exam on the scheduled
date. Make-ups will be given only in the case of properly documented,
excused absences and must be arranged with the instructor. All the
exams will be taken in the testing center (RLC building).


Essays:


Students will write two compositions during the quarter. Because
writing is a process, students will write two versions of each
composition (a "rough draft" and a final version). The final grade for
each composition will be an average of the first draft and the final
draft. Both versions of each composition are required in order to
receive credit for the work and must be turned in (along with all
other materials used in their preparation) on the announced due dates.
Late work will not be accepted. General instructions regarding
content, format, and evaluation of each composition is available in
the handouts that you will receive on the first day and through the
course website. Detailed information on topics will be provided by the
instructor before the essay is assigned.
The essays should have a minimum of 30 written full lines (one line
has to have more than 5 words), using as font "Times New Roman" #12,
with normal margins and double space. All essays need to have a
suggestive title. Please refer to the rubric for writing papers
included in this syllabus to help you organize your essay. The essays
are to be done individually and without extra help.




Participation and Daily Homework:


Because language classes are practice sessions, your lively presence
is required and you will receive a daily participation grade. In order