Introduction to Spanish I Spring 2004
Prof. William Keeth E-mail: wkeeth@mnsfld.edu	Tel: 570-662-4605 or 570-662-4581 Office: Belknap 110-C Office Hours

Required material:

Texts:

Knore, et. al. Puntos de partida. 6th Ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Other Resources:

Online Puntos de partida Lab Manual and Workbook.

http://faculty.mnsfld.edu/wkeeth 

http://ace.explio.com/us/mgh/puntos 

http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/spanish/puntos/student_index.mhtml

http://www.mnsfld.edu/languagelab

Suggested Material:

Miscellaneous:

A spiral notebook (class journal)

Flashcards (verb and vocabulary drill)

Texts:

Castillo, Carlos, et. al.  The University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2002.

Lacasa, Jaime. The Complete Handbook of Spanish Verbs. Lincolnwood,Ill.: Passport Books, 1984.

Spinelli, Emily. English Grammar for Students of Spanish. Ann Arbor, Mich. : Olivia and Hill Press, 1998.

Butt, John. Spanish Grammar. New York : Oxford UP, 1996.

Overview of course:

This course is designed for students who have not previously studied Spanish. In this course we will develop fundamental communicative skills in Spanish: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. These skills will be practiced daily in both class and group activities. Students can expect to encounter a variety of activities that focus on cultural awareness. The format of tests will reflect both the course’s concentration and focus. Homework and laboratory work are required daily.

Specific Course Goals:	Textbook Timetable:
● Recognize and use basic vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and grammar.
● Build written or verbal messages in Spanish that reflect class activities and the fundamental skills of communication that are introduced in class (speaking, writing, listening, and reading).
● Use guessing/prediction strategies and grammatical forms in language production.
● Recognize culturally relevant information and demeanor.
● Return conversation in casual talks, classroom discussions, dialogues, group work and questions.

*Specific due dates will be listed on the Class Calendar (See class web page) and/or assigned periodically in class.

System of Evaluation:
Standards of Measurement	Criteria and Weight*
	Class Participation…….....….10% Lab……………….…..………5% Workbook……….……….…...5% 3 Quizzes …………………...25% Midterm…………………….20% Oral Presentation………...…10% Final Listening Exam………..5% Final Exam…………...…….20% Total: 100%

Important Dates:
Quiz 1-- Feb. 6th, 2004	Midterm -- March 3rd, 2004
Quiz 2 -- March 29th, 2004	Quiz 3 -- April 19th, 2004
Oral Pres -- April 26th-28th, 2004	Final Listen -- April 30th, 2004
Final Exam -- May 5th, 2004

Quizzes, Midterm, Final Exam:

Students MUST take each quiz, Midterm, and Final Exam on the day scheduled for examination. If a student is absent from any quiz, 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. Students with a 93% or higher cumulative course grade (following the Final Listening Exam), will excused from taking the Final Exam (written portion). The idea of “dropping of low exam or quiz scores” does NOT exist in this course.

Homework and Lab Activities:

It is the student’s responsibility to complete and turn in the score record for each workbook and lab exercise that is assigned in class.

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”.

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

Missing a class does not release a student from any class obligations. Students should keep in touch with classmates and be sure to contact their professor in advance of any absence. The professor is NOT obligated to assist students in making-up work missed due to an official field trip, due to an official university function, or due to an illness.

Students, however, MAY request permission to miss a class and arrange to make-up missed work prior to their absence. This type of arrangement can wave the 15% attendance reduction, but MUST be completed at least 24 hours prior to an absence or illness. Students MAY be required to provide documents supporting their request.

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.

Attendance:

All students are expected to attend every class. Missing a class does not release a student from any class obligations. Students should keep in touch with classmates and be sure to contact their professor in advance of any absence. Any absence will result in a 15% reduction in the student’s Participation grade. The professor is NOT obligated to assist students in making-up work missed due to an official field trip, due to an official university function, or due to an illness. Students, however, MAY request permission to miss a class and arrange to make-up missed work prior to their absence. This type of arrangement can wave the 15% attendance reduction, but MUST be completed at least 24 hours prior to an absence or illness. Students MAY be required to provide documents supporting their request.

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.

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 can be found in the Password.

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.

Other:

If a student has a disability requiring any accommodations, s/he needs to contact the professor at the beginning of the semester. 100 or 200 level courses may not be taken pass/fail to fulfill any GE requirements. Contact the Office of the Provost or Study Abroad advisor for information about studying abroad.