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SPA 2225

Spanish Grammar Review

Fall 2007

Prof. William Keeth

E-mail: [email-masked]

Tel: 570-662-4605

or 570-662-4581

Office: Belknap 110-C

Office
Hours

Classroom: Belknap Hall G-2

Class Hours: MWF 1:00
PM - 1:50PM

Required material:

Texts:

1)  Alonso Raya, Rosario et al.  Gramática
básica del
estudiante de español.  Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
S.L. Difusión and Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005.

2)
Andújar, Julio I. and Robert J. Dixson.  Workbook
in Everyday Spanish: A Comprehensive Grammar Review.  Upper
Saddle River, N.J.:
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

Suggested Material:

Miscellaneous:

A spiral notebook
(class journal)

Flashcards (verb
and vocabulary drill)

Overview of course:

SPA 2225 is a transition course between the intermediate and
advanced level Spanish courses. It provides intensive Spanish grammar review
and practice by returning to topics covered in lower level Spanish courses and
approaching them in a more detailed manner.  It will also introduce other
major aspects of Spanish grammar not previously covered.  The course will
emphasize the foundations of grammar and their expression in conversation,
writing, and reading.

In this course students are expected to increase their
grammatical competency and command, as well as, work towards developing a more
complex grammatical expression. During the semester students will learn to recognize
and review their own personal grammatical obstacles. As students study the
formal aspects of the Spanish language, they are expected to learn and use
grammatical terminology.  It is assumed that students in this course have
already learned basic concepts in previous Spanish classes and are prepared to
study grammar at a more advanced and detailed level.   The format of
the class will be a flexible combination of explanations, exercises, and
review/reinforcement activities.

Specific Course
Goals

Increase your awareness of
differences between English and Spanish in grammar.

Review the most problematic grammatical
structures learned in lower level courses.

Learn why certain problematic grammatical
aspects function as they do.

Supply a grammatical form when requested.

Explain a grammatical concept by relating
meaning to form and by analyzing contextual clues.

Find examples of particular grammatical
structures.

Write narrative prose in Spanish with
grammatical accuracy; spell accurately, including accent marks.

Utilize the grammatical structures
you are studying correctly in verbal discourse.

System of
Evaluation

Standards of Measurement

Criteria and Weight*

Class Participation

10 %

Homework

10 %

Exams (2)

20 %

Midterm

25%

Writing Assignments (4)

10 %

Final Exam

25 %

Total

100%

Important Dates

September 21st,
2007 – Letter to a friend 1

September 28th,
2007– Exam 1

October 12th,
2007 -- Letter to a friend 2

October 17th,
2007– Midterm

November 2nd,
2007 -- Letter to a friend 3

November 19th,
2007– Exam 2

December 7th,
2007 -- Letter to a friend 4

December 10th,
2007 at 10:15 AM– Final Exam

General
Education Requirements and the General Education Portfolio:

Every Spanish course fulfills the General Education
Distribution requirements for Group II “Languages and Literature”.
In order to maintain this GE qualification, students in 100 or 200 language
level courses may not take the course as “pass/fail”.

Effective September 2006,
students are no longer required to submit General Education Portfolios.

Although portfolios collected from individual students are no
longer the focus of the assessment process, the General Education goals have
not changed and artifacts for General Education assessment may be gathered by
your professor in this course.  For instance, the most conspicuous
artifacts that can be drawn from this language course fulfill the
“communication” category of GE competencies; for instance, your
professor may video taping the Final Oral Presentation.  A composition that
shows how a student is able to identify and cite reasons for his/her opinions
may also be held as a Critical Thinking Artifact.  Likewise, a homework
assignment that shows how a student is able to correct his/her answers, methods
or procedures may also be gathered. A “web-based” or “realia” assignment that includes a "real
world" task or an assignment that is based on a role-playing scenario may
be used as a Problem Solving artifact.

Exams, Midterm, Final Exam:

Students MUST take each exam,
Midterm, and Final Exam on the day scheduled for examination. If a student is
absent from any Exam, Midterm, or Final Exam, then s/he will receive a zero
(unless the student has made a prior arrangement with the professor). The
Midterm Exam and Final Exam will be comprehensive and accumulative in content.
The idea of “dropping of low exam score” does NOT exist in this
course.

Homework Activities:

It is the student’s responsibility to keep track of
homework assignments. Homework assignments will be collected or checked during
the first minutes of class. No late homework or lab assignments will be
accepted, unless a student has arranged to miss class with the professor.
Students will conform to the “Visto Bueno” method of completion and
correction.

Class Participation:

Each student can expect his/her
class participation to be evaluated in accordance with the general guideline
for “Class
Participation” and in accordance with the system of “Scoring
Class Participation”.  Students will receive participation
scores from their peers as well as the professor (60% professor, 40%  peers).

All students are expected to attend
every class. Any unexcused absence will result in a 15% reduction in the
student’s final Participation grade at the end of the semester.  Any partial absence (over 15 minutes)
will result in a maximum score of 2.5 for the day.

Writing Assignments:

Throughout the semester, students
will write a series of short compositions modeled in the likes of a
“Letter to a friend”.  The theme for each one page typed
composition (Times Roman 12, 1 ½ spaced) will be announced one week prior
to the due date of each composition.

In these short compositions,
students are expected to demonstrate a mastery of the grammatical structures
they have been learning and will be graded according to these
expectations.  Any limitations or specifications regarding grammatical
content will be discussed prior to the composition due date.

Attendance:

All students are expected to attend class on a regular and
punctual basis. Missing a class does not release a student from class
obligations. Students should keep in touch with classmates and be sure to
contact their professor in advance of any absence.  If this is not
possible, they must contact the professor no later than the first class
period after the excused absence.

If a student has to miss a class due to documented illness or
other excusable reason, the

student must:

1.
inform the professor as soon as possible and no later than the
first class period after the excused absence;

2.
provide the professor with a copy of the signed excuse from a physician,
coach or other authority no later than the first class period after the
excused absence (The original must be available for faculty review.);

3.
arrange with the professor to make up missed graded assignments or exams
as soon as possible.

In order to avoid prolonged delay of make-up of the work, the
professor may, at his discretion, give the make-up work and hold it for grading
until after the written excuse is received.

As stated above, any unexcused absence will result in a 15%
reduction in the student’s Participation grade.

Electronic submission of written work is an effective way of
handing in required written work by a specified deadline, especially when a
student expects to be absent.

Suggested Method of Study:

1) Class Journal and Daily
Review—Apart from completing homework assignments and attending class,
students should keep a class journal (notes, diagrams, etc. related to Spanish,
made both in and out of class).  This journal should be reviewed (at
length) following each class and briefly looked at prior to each class session.
This activity allows one to pay closer attention to the material, raise
questions in class sessions, and keep continually “fresh”—one
of the most essential parts of learning a foreign language.

2) Establishing Priorities—Students
should try to study the most difficult Spanish topics first and dedicate more
time studying these areas later, especially prior to exams.

3) Avoiding Burnout—Students
should always study in multiple, staggered, short blocks of time.  Each
block should be no more than an hour and should include 5 to 10 minute
breaks.  Integrating numerous small blocks of study time into the weekly
schedule is empowering.

4) Consistency—Creating and
sticking to a study schedule is very important. For many students, weekends
represent more valuable moments of study.  Reserve these moments for
studying ahead and resolving any problematic areas of study.

5) Positively Influencing One's
Horizon—Each student needs to periodically assess this course’s
requirements, his/her degree of success and failure, his/her expectations, and
the direction of energies applied to this course.  This helps to
opportunely adjust study strategies or seek outside help, either with the
professor or a tutor.

Conduct:

Academic honesty, the submission of original work, and
student interaction is expected in this class. Any form of cheating may result
in failure of the course. Additional information concerning academic honesty
and the procedures your professor

will use to initiate disciplinary action
in cases of academic dishonesty can be found in The Password
(for upperclassmen) or in The Student Planner (for freshmen).

The Syllabus:

This syllabus serves as a contractual
agreement. Presence in this class means that you agree to the items stipulated
in the syllabus and are aware of any modifications made throughout the
semester. One should periodically check the course web site for any updates to
the syllabus and/or class calendar.

Class records and Grades:

Oversee your grade by monitoring
your progress and maintaining contact with your instructor. Any student
material or record that has been returned to the student becomes the student's
responsibility to maintain as a permanent record for the course. Students are
responsible for picking up any materials that are made available to them or are
returned in class. If a student loses these records and the professor does not
have a copy of the material available, the student will receive a failing grade
for the particular activity.

Students
with “exceptionalities”:

Any
students with documented psychological or learning disorders or other
significant medical conditions that may affect their learning should contact
Mr. William Chabala in our Counseling Center
(101 Hemlock Manor, Phone: 662-4695; [email-masked]).
Mr. Chabala will provide the professor with the
appropriate letter and materials that will enable him to serve the
student’s particular needs more effectively. If a student has an
exceptionality that requires class or testing accommodations, Mr. Chabala will work with the student and the professor to
identify and implement appropriate interventions.

Other:

If you are interested in studying
abroad, please contact the Office
of the Provost or Study
Abroad advisor for information about studying abroad and make an office
visit with your professor so that he may address your questions or concerns
more straightforwardly.