Class meeting time:
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Phone:

Objectives: SPI 201 is designed to provide students with an intermediate knowledge of the Spanish language with an emphasis on these four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The textbook emphasizes the use of the functional-notional approach and content-based information approach which stress oral and written communication.

TEXTS:
De Paseo Donna Reseigh Long, Janice Lynn Macian.

De paseo Diario de Actividades Donna Resiegh Long, Janice Lynn Macian,
(packaged with student tape)

ATTENDANCE: Successful progress in a language course requires that students keep up with assigned material. Class discussions and exercises are also essential. For this reason, attendance is carefully noted; more than one unexcused absence will result in a significant lowering of the student's grade. For each absence after the first, THREE points will be deducted from the student's FINAL GRADE. Be on time. Three late arrivals equal one absence. Please, read the attached explanation on attendance.

GRADE: The course grade will be determined as follows:

Quizzes		30%		A 100-90
Compositions		10%		B 89-80
Oral Pres/Participation		15%		C 79-70
Homework		15%		D 69-60
Oral Interview		10%		E < 60
Listening Exam		05%
Final Exam		15%

All assignments must be prepared before the next class day. Students will find that if they do not keep up with daily assignments they will fall behind and their participation grade will be greatly affected. A significant portion of the homework consists of working with tapes. Students can purchase tapes at the language lab. Test dates are listed on the syllabus and make-up exams are only given for excused absences.
**Note that ORAL PRESENTATIONS AND ACTIVE participation in class represents 15% of the final grade. Participation may be measured via pop quizzes.

Students are permitted 1 unexcused absense in MTWRF classes and no absences in lab classes. Beyond that number, cases must be considered individually, according to the following guidelines:

An excused absence is, as a general rule, one that is accompanied by university letter - death in the family, university athletic event, hospitalization, etc.

A student with the allowed number of absences, whether excused or unexcused, is not permitted any additional unexcused absences.

EXAMPLE: An athlete misses three consecutive Fridays for travel to away games. These, of course, are all excused absences, and he will not be penalized. HOWEVER, he does not still "have one absence left". This means that he cannot go home early for Thanksgiving, stay home to write a paper, etc., without a penalty to his grade. The rationale is that a student who missed the equivalent of a week of classes cannot afford to miss additional classes, except for the most serious reasons.

EXAMPLE: A student who misses 1 day of a MTWRF class, but offers no explanation, then misses 1 day due to a death in the family, will think he still has one unexcused absence left. He would not be penalized for the 2nd absence, since it was excused, but he does not have one "free day" remaining to him.

Remember that one permitted absence is intended to provide for such eventualities as illness, a flat tire, etc. Keep in mind that this does not mean "a vacation day", and is only ot be used as such if the student intends not to become ill during the entire semester. In addition, stamped excuses from the Student Health do NOT constitute and excused absence. A faculty member MUST verify any illness with a Health Service physician. In simplified form, the rule means that every absence after the 1st on a MTWRF class must be an excused absence. These strict guidelines will be implemented from the very first day of class.

TO: Students enrolled in SPI 101, 102, 201, and 202
FROM: Dr. Torres, Basic Language Director
SUBJECT: Basic Language Program
DATE: Summer 1996

The goal of the first and second year langueage program is to develop the ability of the student to communicate in Spanish (orally and in writing) at a basic and intermediiate level with an appropriate level of linguistic accuracy. The emphasis will be on negotiating meaningful communication, rather than on learning isolated grammatical structures. Research in second language acquisition suggests that two of the most important factors in second language acquisition are 1) input and 2) student motivation

1) As comprehensible input is one of the crucial factors in second language acquisition, classes will be conducted entirely in the target language, Spanish. Comprehension will be facilitated through the use of simple contextualized language and with the help of visual cues. Although it may be frustrating at first, the more you are exposed to the target language, the more you will understand. Remember, it is assumed that you will not understand and be able to respond to everything that the instructor says. You must be patient with yourself and try to capture as much as possible. This leads to the second important factor involved in the process of language acquisition-MOTIVATION.

2) Motivation implies various things. The students who excel in first and second year Spanish are those who make a serious effort to understand and use the language; they are open to new learning experiences and put in the time required to be able to participate actively in class activities. The four hours of class time will be dedicated to using the language and not to talking about the language. This means that it is imperative that the student come to class prepared. The instructor will organize communicative activities for the class hour; s/he will not spend the time explaining grammar. Very clear grammar explanations are provided in the text and workbook; it is the student's responsibility to study and learn the grammar, do the appropriate exercises at home, and come prepared to use this material in class. Your instructor will be more than happy to explain difficult grammar points during his/her office hours, if the need arises. Try to think of the class hour as the place to come to put in use the Spanish you have learned.

1) Attend all classes. Frequent absences and tardiness reduce your opportunity to receive Spanish input and practice the language (in addition, they substantially affect your grade).
2) Prepare grammar and other exercises at home. For each class hour you should put in at least two hours of home study.
3) Actively participate in class activities (remember participation constitutues 10-20% of your grade).
4) See your instructor if problems arise.
5) See the Academic Coordinator, Dr. Luisa Perez.
6) See the Basic Language Director, Dr. Torres, if all else fails.