SPAN 3126: ORAL PROFICIENCY
SYLLABUS

Spring 2011 / Dra. Folkart

CLASS TIMES: 1) MWF 10:10-11:00 a.m., Major Williams 327, CRN 15695. 2) MWF 11:15-12:05, Major Williams 327, CRN 15696

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This is the second semester of the sequence, 3125-3126. This course provides opportunities for students to improve their oral proficiency in Spanish through participation in a variety of oral exercises and exchanges: performances, debates, controlled discussions, narrations, and interviews. While conversing on a variety of topics, around structured exercises and contexts, students will explore and evaluate cultural differences between Hispanic and U.S. cultures.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The ultimate course objective is to achieve a proficiency rating of "Advanced Low" on the ACTFL scale. This means that by the end of the semester the student should be able to:

• "converse in a clearly participatory fashion;
  
• initiate, sustain, and bring to closure a wide variety of communicative tasks, including those that require an increased ability to convey meaning
• with diverse language strategies due to a complication or an unforeseen turn of events;
  
• satisfy the requirements of school and work situations;
  
• and narrate and describe with paragraph-length discourse in all major time frames."

Students will further learn to overcome linguistic shortcomings with communicative strategies such as pause fillers, stalling devices, and circumlocution. Reading, listening, and writing skills will be practiced along with oral proficiency, since language building requires the integration of all these four major skills.

PREREQUISITE:

Students will be admitted only after an oral interview administered by the professor during the first week of class. Only those who have already obtained an Intermediate-High level of proficiency will be admitted. Native and Advanced-level speakers should sign up for an interview in order to try to test out of the course. Since class size is limited to ten students, priority will be given, in descending order, to Spanish majors (especially graduating seniors), Spanish double majors, and Spanish minors, with seniors in each category given priority over juniors, sophomores, and first-year students, in that order.

TEXTBOOK AND WEBSITE:

¡A que sí! M. Victoria García-Serrano, Cristina de la Torre, and Annete Grant Cash. Third Edition.
Class website: http://www.fll.vt.edu/Folkart/newdatabase/wholething.htm . PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A SCHOLAR SITE.

• Username: hosting.spanish
  
• Password: spanish
  
• Click on the links for 3126: Sílabo and 3126: Tarea for specific information pertinent to the class.
  

CLASS FORMAT:

The class will consist of hands-on oral practice so as to improve the students' oral proficiency skills. In class students will be guided through a variety of communicative contexts that will engage them to speak appropriately within them, using adequate vocabulary and grammatical structures. Homework, to be completed in advance, is assigned in order to maximize class time. It is essential that written homework and class activities be conscientiously prepared.

TESTING AND EVALUATION:

Preparation, attendance, and active participation:	50%
Class Presentations:	20%
Midterm Exam:	10%
Final Exam:	20%

Attendance:

Since attendance is crucial to your success in this course, more than THREE absences will result in failure of the course. Timely arrival to class is important, so as not to be rude and interrupt the flow, not to mention missing class time. Each three tardies will count as an absence. This policy will be strictly enforced. Do not squander your three absences! I recommend that you save them for the very end of the semester, since things usually go wrong when you least expect it and you do not want to fail the course because you got the flu or your car broke down one day during the last week of class. Only serious and extended, documented illness (with doctor's note) or personal situation (with Dean's note) will be considered as a justification for absence beyond the third absence. The decision to allow additional excused absences is rarely made, and is always at the professor's discretion.

Class Preparation and Participation:

Language building is not a fragmented endeavor. It stands to reason, then, that oral proficiency cannot be separated entirely from other language skills. Instead, language learning is a spiralling process: what you learn in one area strengthens your skills in other areas. Indeed, studies show that oral proficiency is improved with practice and development of the other skill areas (reading, writing, listening). To help you attain the Advanced Low level, you will be assigned homework that will help you speak orally, without notes, in class. In particular, since one of the key goals of the Advanced Low level is to be able to narrate using all major time frames (present, past, and future), students will be required to study and practice the grammar and vocabulary carefully outside of class and to use it conscientiously in class. Your thorough preparation before class and active participation (this means volunteering, not waiting to be called on) in class are key components of your grade in this course. Homework will be posted in the "Tarea" folder of the class website.

Class Presentations:

Throughout the semester each student will be assigned a number of topics which he or she will prepare in advance and present orally in class without notes. Detailed requirements will be announced in class.

Midterm and Final Exams:

The midterm and final exams will be individual oral interviews administered in the middle of the semester (to evaluate how much more you need to achieve in order to rate "Advanced Low") and during the last week of class. Students are expected to attain a proficiency level of Advanced Low (see description above) in order to pass the class.

Class Rules:

Be courteous. Maximize class time by participating a lot. No cell phones or laptops in use during class; any seen out will be confiscated during the class period. Have fun!

DISABILITIES AND SPECIAL NEEDS:

Any student who has a condition that may prevent full demonstration of his or her abilities should contact the professor personally to discuss learning needs and accommodations. Also, please contact the Office of the Dean of Students who will provide the instructor with a written description of the necessary specified accommodations.

HONOR CODE:

All Virginia Tech students are responsible for knowing and abiding by the university's honor code. Please consult the Virginia Tech Honor Code (http://www.honorsystem.vt.edu/) . Your professor subscribes to the Honor System as stated in the University Policies for Student Life Handbook.

HORARIO:

semana 1	19 enero	Entrevistas
	21	Entrevistas
semana 2	24	Sílabo; Las reglas de la clase; Capítulo 1
	26	Preliminares y Capítulo 1
	28	Preliminares y Capítulo 1
semana 3	31	Preliminares y Capítulo1
	2 febrero	Capítulo 2
	4	Capítulo 2
semana 4	7	Capítulo 2 y Primera presentación
	9	Capítulo 2 y Primera presentación
	11	Capítulo 2 y Primera presentación
semana 5	14	Capítulo 2
	16	Capítulo 2
	18	Capítulo 2
semana 6	21	Capítulo 2
	23	Capítulo 2
	25	Capítulo 2
semana 7	28	Segunda presentación
	2 marzo	Segunda presentación
	4	Segunda presentación y Día de psicoterapia :)
7-11		Vacaciones de primavera
		Vacaciones de primavera
		Vacaciones de primavera
semana 8	14	Examen parcial
	16	Examen parcial
	18	Examen parcial
semana 9	21	Capítulos 5 y 7
	23	Capítulos 5 y 7
	25	Capítulos 5 y 7
semana 10	28	Capítulos 5 y 7
	30	Capítulos 5 y 7
	1 abril	Capítulos 5 y 7
semana 11	4	Capítulos 5 y 7
	6	Capítulos 5 y 7
	8	Capítulos 5 y 7
semana 12	11	Capítulos 5 y 7 y "Cláusulas con si"
	13	Capítulos 5 y 7 y "Cláusulas con si"
	15	Capítulos 5 y 7 y "Cláusulas con si"
semana 13	18	Preparación para la Tercera presentación
	20	Preparación para la Tercera presentación
	22	Preparación para la Tercera presentación
semana 14	25	Tercera presentación
	27	Tercera presentación
	29	Tercera presentación
semana 15	2 mayo	Examen final
	4	Examen final