1
SPA 108
DEPARTMENT OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
Course description
Intended for intermediate-to
advanced-level students, SPA 108
is a course which develops fluency
and precision in speaking and
writing by focusing on functional
language and its appropriate use in
context. This course aims to
strengthen and consolidate
comprehension and production of
oral and written Spanish by paying
attention to cultural awareness
and issues of cross-cultural
communication.
Through a series of current and
thought-provoking texts, images,
films, paintings, and related
activities, SPA108 enhances
linguistic proficiency and language
performance while exploring and
reflecting on important aspects of
the history, art, society, language
and cultural identity of two of the
largest Spanish-speaking urban
communities: Mexico City and Los
Angeles.
Engaging course materials include
a variety of short texts (press
articles, short stories, essays,
etc.), as well as visual and
audiovisual sources (paintings,
graffiti, mural paintings,
interviews, video animations,
documentaries and films). All these
materials serve as a springboard
for discussion and analysis,
fostering independent learning and
providing numerous opportunities
for students to actively engage
with social and cultural issues on
Mexico City and Los Angeles.
Meaningful in-class activities
facilitate verbal interaction and
promote personal production by
adapting communication strategies
to students own purposes.
Autonomous and spontaneous
speech production is further
enhanced through debates,
improvisations and group
discussions. And, public speaking in
a controlled environment is
FALL 2017
Head of Course
Monserrat Bores
(mbores@princeton.edu)
Professor: ________________
E-mail: ___________________
Office Hours: ___________________
Office: __________________________
developed through a role-play and
an oral presentation.
Finally, the students ability to
express more complex ideas with
connected language and cohesive
devices is improved by means of
written assignments: four blog
entries, a critical response to a
work of art, and a review of a
piece of fiction or non-fiction.
Upon completion of this course,
students are qualified to take 200-
level courses.
COURSE MATERIALS
Students Basic Grammar of Spanish.
Revised & Expanded Edition (English
Edition). Alonso Raya, Rosario,
Castaeda Castro, Alejandro, et. al.
Barcelona: Difusin, 2013.
Additional materials in Blackboard, as
specified in the syllabus.
Students are responsible for printing
and bringing to class all of these
materials.
SPA 108 FALL 2017|
Course requirements
Attendance
Since exposure to the target language
is essential for successful language
learning, class attendance is
mandatory. Three unexcused absences
will lower your grade by 5%; with each
additional absence, your grade will be
further lowered by 1%. Arriving late to
class or leaving early three times will
count as one absence.
As a general rule, no absence will be
excused without proper
documentation. In case of medical
reasons, bring a note from the McCosh
Health Center or a doctor. If you are a
member of an athletic team and you
are required to travel for a scheduled
game or meeting, bring a letter or
send an e-mail signed by the Dean of
the College and addressed to the
Instructor stating the reason for your
absence. Please refer to the Dean of the
College policy for handling academic-athletic
conflicts
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml
?ATCLID=205821799&DB_OEM_ID=10600&DB_OE
M_ID=10600).
Likewise, late work will not be
accepted, and there are no make-up
exams, except in the cases stated
above and upon production of the
required documentation.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Rescheduling or extension of class tests
and assignments will only be granted for
reasons that are beyond a students
control, not for reasons of personal
convenience, such as to accommodate
travel plans. In other words,
examinations will not be rescheduled
unless there is a compelling reason, such
as observing religious holidays, personal
or family emergencies (with a doctors
note, or a note from the Director of
Studies), official PU activities (including
athletic events, with a note from the
Dean of the College or professor), or an
unusually crowded examination schedule
(two exams in one day, providing
documentation to that effect).
Class participation and
preparation
Classes will be conducted in Spanish,
and a significant part of your grade
will depend on your oral
participation and active involvement
in class. The dynamics of this course
requires students to come to class
having completed the grammar
assignments and/or having carefully
read and reviewed all assigned texts
and audiovisual materials.
Assignments and class work
a. Grammar: The grammar
exercises from Students Basic
Grammar of Spanish that are listed
on the calendar as homework should
be completed and self-corrected
before each class. All corrections
must be done using a different color
ink so that the instructor can easily
identify the students errors. You
can find the Answer Key inside the
textbook (pp.284-304).
Be aware that the lectures will not
necessarily cover the same grammar
explanations that you have already
studied at home. Your professor will
concentrate on anticipated
difficulties, highlighting key
differences between English and
Spanish.
Classroom activities are always
designed to foster active
communication in order to maximize
the opportunities for students to use
recently acquired syntactic
structures and for professors to
monitor their performance and
provide them with oral input and
feedback.
b. Homework: Your professor will
be monitoring and assessing your
performance in every class.
Students are expected to be familiar
with the vocabulary associated with
each assigned text, film or topic.
Students are strongly encouraged to
use a dictionary to look up any
lexical item they encounter that is
essential to their understanding of
COURSE DESCRIPTION 2
the readings or exercises in
question.
Actividades de TAREA will provide
opportunities for students a) to be
prepared to discuss different topics
in the classroom, and b) to use and
recycle newly acquired grammatical
structures and vocabulary.
Actividades de TAREA are essential
to the dynamics of this course, and
they are mandatory. Students are
expected to come to class having
carefully read, answered and
reviewed all the assigned texts and
audiovisual materials.
c. Written assignments: All
written assignments must be typed
on a computer, followed by the
honor code (see University Pledge
below), and signed by the student.
Your professor will specify whether
he or she prefers to receive your
assignment in a hardcopy format or
as an email attachment (as a
Microsoft Word file). (Topics,
requirements, and grading criteria
will be posted on Blackboard).
UNIVERSITY PLEDGE
All written work and exercises must
include the University pledge.
No written work or test will be accepted
without the pledge.
a) For exams: I pledge my honor that I
have not violated the honor code
during this examination.
b) For written assignments: This paper
represents my own work in
accordance with University
regulations.
There will be four graded written
assignments:
SPA 108 FALL 2017|
Three blog entries
Over the course of three weeks,
students will submit three brief
blog entries on an assigned
topic (250-275 words each
entry). Through these creative
assignments, students will
incorporate newly acquired
structures while working with
different textual genres
(composing a letter, writing a
description, telling a story,
etc.). Students will submit two
versions of each entry; the first
draft will count as 70%, and the
published version as the other
30% of the final grade. The first
draft will be returned by
professors with underlined
errors in order for students to
publish a corrected version on
Blackboard. Since, all blog
entries will be discussed on the
next class, is mandatory to read
at least five blog entries and
bring specific comments and
questions about other
classmates blogs.
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING
ALL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
Your instructor must always be the
first person to read your written
work.
Please note that, pursuant to
university regulations, all of the
following are unacceptable: (1)
asking others to proofread your
work, (2) carelessly or inadequately
citing ideas and words borrowed
from another source, (3) submitting
someone elses text as your own, (4)
attempting to blur the line between
your own ideas or words, and those
borrowed from another source. If
you have any questions or concerns
regarding these regulations, please
consult your instructor and/or the
university regulations.
(2.4.6 General Requirements for the
Acknowledgment of Sources in
Academic Work):
http://www.princeton.edu/pub/rrr/
part2/index.xml#comp24
It is equally important to remember
that, although instructors are always
available and willing to be consulted
prior to submission of an assignment,
they cannot, under any
circumstances, be presented with a
draft and asked to read and/or
correct the entire draft or parts of it
as this would give the student in
question an unfair advantage over his
or her classmates.
Two short compositions
Students will write a short
essay, and a critical response on
assigned topics. Each
composition will have two
versions. The first draft will be
returned with errors underlined;
students must correct those
errors and then submit a final
version by the date indicated on
the calendar. The first draft will
count as the 70% towards the
final grade, and the final
version as the other 30%.
One final composition
For the final composition,
students will prepare only one
version that will be submitted
by the Deans Date, January 16.
d. Oral assignments: Your
instructor will be monitoring and
assessing your oral performance in
class on a daily basis. Formal
presentation skills will be practiced
and assessed by means of an
individual oral interview, an oral
presentation in pairs on topics
related to assigned texts and
audiovisual materials; and a role-
play activity. (Instructions,
requirements, and grading criteria
will be published on Blackboard).
Individual oral interview
Informal conversational skills will
be evaluated in a 7-10 minute
individual interview to take place
from October 16 to October 27.
Oral presentation in pairs
A week before the oral
presentation, students will be
paired and assigned short stories,
films, fragments of literary texts
or pieces of graphic art. Students
will work together organizing and
presenting their own
interpretation and reflection on
COURSE DESCRIPTION 3
the material (7-10 minutes each
student). After the presentation,
students will have the opportunity
to have a constructive and critical
dialogue with the presenters. A
fraction of the grade will be
based on the oral presentation as
a group activity (creativity,
organization, research, audio and
visual resources, etc.); but, each
student will be graded
individually based on his/her
ability to reflect, expand and
express his/her own ideas on the
assigned topic using the target
language. Oral presentations will
take place from November 15 to
December 1.
Role-Play in groups (Talk-Show)
Students will prepare and perform
a role-play in groups of three or
four people (15 minutes). Each
group will be assigned a
communicative situation based on
one of the topics, short stories,
literary fragments and films
discussed throughout the
semester. They will also be given
a specific purpose for each role,
and a short structure to start the
conversation. Students are
expected to continue the
conversation incorporating
cultural features, behaviors and
expressions reviewed in class. A
brief class discussion will follow,
in which the rest of the group will
participate as members of the
audience. Role-plays will take
place on December 13 and 15.
SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS
Students must register with the
Office of Disability Services (ODS)
(ods@princeton.edu; 258-8840) for
disability verification and
determination of eligibility for
reasonable academic
accommodations. Requests for
academic accommodations for this
course need to be made at the
beginning of the semester, or as
soon as possible for newly approved
students, and again at least two
weeks in advance of any needed
accommodations in order to make
arrangements to implement the
accommodations. Please make an
appointment to meet with ODS in
order to maintain confidentiality in
addressing your needs. No
accommodations will be given
without authorization from ODS, or
without advance notice.
SPA 108 FALL 2017| COURSE DESCRIPTION 4

Assessment Percentage Total

Attendance, attention, preparation, quality

Participation of comments, etc. 5%
and 10%
Actividades de TAREA (Blackboard) and
Homework grammar exercises (Students Basic Grammar 5%
of Spanish)

3 blog entries (3% each one) 9% Numerical correspondences to

Written Composition 1 (2 drafts) 8% 35 % letter grades
Assignments Composition 2 (2 drafts) 8%
Composition 3 (1 draft) 10 %

95-100 A Outstanding; meets

Individual oral interview 10 % the highest
Oral standards
Assignments
Oral presentation in pairs 12.5 % 35%
Role-Play in groups (Talk-Show) 12.5 %
90-94 A- Excellent; meets
very high standards

Tests Midterm Exercise (October 23) 10 % 20% 87-89 B+ Very good; meets
Comprehensive Final Exercise (December 11) 10 % high standards

84-86 B Good; meets most

of the standards

80-83 B- More than

adequate; shows
some reasonable
SPA108 ENCOURAGES command of the
INCLUSIVE-LANGUAGE material
CLASSROOMS
77-79 C+ Acceptable meets
basic standards
Unlike English, Spanish has
grammatical gender, as do 74-76 C Acceptable meets
about one quarter of the some of the basic
worlds languages. In Spanish, standards
this means that nouns belong
to one of two classes called 70-73 C- Acceptable, while
masculine and feminine. falling short of
These noun classes are the meeting basic
basis of an agreement system, standards in several
in which determiners, ways
pronouns, and adjectives have
to be marked for gender. 60-69 D Minimally
acceptable; lowest
passing grade
As instructors, we wish to do
everything in our power to 59 or less F Failing; very poor
make Princeton University as performance
inclusive as possible. Following
the guidelines prepared by the
LGBT Center, we encourage
you to contact your instructor
for any matter, including but
not limited to feeling more
comfortable using a certain
pronoun to address you in
class. For more information on
these guidelines, visit the
LGBT Centers website:
http://lgbt.princeton.edu/

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

All images are protected by Copyright.