Course Syllabus

SPANISH 2 

Prerequisite: Spanish I

This is a low intermediate, full year course in the Spanish language designed to increase fluency in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The course stresses the development of conversational skills in longer contexts, regarding practical themes that include the family, the house and furniture, sports, health, nutrition, cultural activities, among others. Students are often called upon to work in pairs or small groups so as to simulate a natural conversational setting.

Foundational grammar concepts are reinforced and build up by the study of at least three verbal tenses: the present (simple and progressive), the past (simple) and the future (immediate); the pronoun system (personal, object and reflexive); adjectives (possessive and demonstrative); two verbal moods (indicative and imperative (commands)), and prepositions. For the spring semester, the imperfect tense may be introduced. Writing is taught through a variety of short activities including personal essays about the topics studied, available in the primary textbook (Buen Viaje 1) and additional resources.

Each unit furthers cultural awareness of the Spanish speaking world by analyzing short narratives regarding social customs, biographies, and ads. These materials are used to promote reading comprehension in the target language. Spanish songs and films supplement the program.

Drawing, spelling and learning games are played frequently to reinforce vocabulary and grammar acquisition. Role-playing is used as a tool to incorporate the vocabulary and grammar presented within a specific context, and to encourage creativity to connect emotionally with the target language. Duolingo is used periodically as a platform for additional practice.

Assessment

Evaluation is on all four language skills. These language skills include: reasoning (grammar and reading comprehension), communication (oral and written communication) and content knowledge (vocabulary and cultural knowledge). Classroom conversations are used to build confidence in Spanish and to assess the progress of students. Research projects with a writing component and an oral presentation that encompass the units studied, further the goal of training for competence in the target language, and promote confidence for public speaking. Rubrics are used to assess the performance of students for their participation. Students are invited to assess themselves. A writing and oral presentation rubric is used to assess research projects.

The categories that comprise the total grade are: homework, participation, quizzes/projects and tests.

Goals

Students of intermediate Spanish will:
-Speak in longer utterances in Spanish about practical, everyday topics.
-Demonstrate comprehension of longer samples of the target language.
-Write questions and sentences in longer paragraphs about practical topics.
-Develop intermediate literacy of Spanish grammar and use its concepts in context.
-Have a deeper understanding of the Spanish syntax* system.
-Build awareness of the Spanish-speaking world by researching topics related to the course.

Essential skills

- Talk about the family.
- Talk about the house and chores.
- Discuss sports and physical activities.
- Express likes & dislikes.
- Identify parts of the body and describe symptoms of a minor illness.
- Discuss past actions and events.

*Syntax: the part of grammar that studies linguistic elements concatenated to form correct phrases or clauses.