Spanish 315 - Fall 2008

Spanish 315: Spanish for Heritage Speakers Fall 2008 Thompson Hall 112 - TR 10:30-11:45 Office Hours: TR 9:30-10:15 and by appointment

Prof. Roman-Mendoza (703) 993-1232 [email protected] Skype: e.roman.mendoza

Description This course is designed for students who have some communicative ability in Spanish, normally acquired in the home, who want to improve their reading and writing abilities while developing a critical understanding of Latin American and Latino histories and cultures. Course components include: orthography and vocabulary activities, grammar review and practice, assigned readings in a variety of genres, critical cultural analysis, inclass, written essays, and the viewing of films. Before taking the course, most students will have had some experience studying Spanish in high school of college. If you have never taken a Spanish course, please contact your instructor to determine whether this is the best course for you. Similarly, if you have attended high school (or the equivalent) in a Spanish-speaking country, you should contact the instructor to discuss whether this is the best course for you. Objectives of this course The goal of this course is for students some communicative ability in Spanish to further develop their reading and writing abilities in Spanish while acquiring a critical understanding of Latin American and Latino histories and cultures. In particular, the course is designed to - familiarize students with the norms of Spanish orthography - promote students' accuracy in written Spanish - help students' improve their writing ability - build students' academic vocabulary - promote students' ability to carry out critical cultural analysis - help students develop a critical understanding of Latin American and Latino cultures - help students reflect on their Latino identity and their role in their community Required readings Roca, A. (2005). Nuevos Mundos. Wiley. ISBN:9780471269250 Batcherlor, R. E. (2005). Using Spanish. Cambridge University Press. ISBN:9780521004817 Grading The final grade will be computed as follows: Attendance and Participation Weekly Written Assignments Personal Project Group Project and Final Presentation Final Exam

10% 25% 20% 20% 25%

General Rules for Assignments All (required for submission) written assignments must be in Spanish, and typed in 12-point black New Times Roman font, double-spaced and margins of 1 inch. All written assignments need to include punctuation and spelling in Spanish. Both hard and electronic copies in MS Word must be submitted by the proposed deadline. Electronic copies will be submitted via Blackboard CE6 and written copies will be brought to class. Any assignment that does not follow these guidelines will be returned and counted as a late assignment. Late assignments will cause a reduction of 5% on the total grade of the assignment per day up to 3 days. No assignments will be accepted after the third day they are late.

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Technology: It is important to have and use an e-mail account, to access periodically Blackboard CE for updates and materials. According to guidelines established by the University, each student is to access and use her/his GMU e-mail account when corresponding with the professor and with other students in a given course. This class also requires the use of Pageflakes. More details in class. Attendance and Participation Attendance is essential for this class. Each absence will result in a zero grade for participation for that day, and 0.5% will be deducted from the total grade for the class. Participation includes on-time attendance to all sessions (except for officially justified or extraordinary circumstances), active engagement with class readings and discussions, and a positive, respectful attitude towards classmates, instructor and materials. Please, do not eat while the class is in session. Weekly Written Assignments For every textbook unit students will submit a written assignment as explained in the textbook. The first draft will be marked with codes, which will help students focus on their specific challenges with the written language. A second version of the draft will be due one day after drafts have been returned by the teacher. Assignments will follow the General Rules for Assignments (see above). Personal Project Students will work during the whole semester on an individual project about their Latino identity. To this purpose student will work with a web-based service called Pageflakes, which allow for easy creation of start pages that can be shared with a group or with the whole world. More details in class. Group Project and Final Presentation Students will work in groups of 4 or 5 students during the semester on a topic related to the Latino Community. This project will be also carried out with the help of Pageflakes so students can collectively prepare a pagecast of their work throughout the semester. A final oral presentation is also required. More details in class. Final Exam The final exam will be based on the topics covered during the course and the discussions about the group projects. The day of the final, students will also submit their individual projects. Cheating and Plagiarism Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated in this class. Sources and materials need to be properly cited and acknowledged. All written work, including exams and outside of class assignments, must be done independently. There is no exception to this policy in this class. Please note that you are expected to work on your assignments on your own, and you should not have them written, reviewed or corrected by anybody else. Assignments may be sent to a plagiarism identification service. Students are expected to be familiar with and abide by the GMU Honor Code. Please consult the Honor code online for definitions and policies: http://jiju.gmu.edu/catalog/apolicies/honor.html). Any students who are not sure of any of the policies regarding independent work are responsible for requesting clarification from their instructor. Disability Support Services Any student with documented learning disabilities or other conditions that may affect academic performance should make sure this documentation is on file with the Office of Disability Support (SUB I, second floor; 9932474) . You might need and should talk with the professor to discuss reasonable accommodations.

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DATES Aug. 26

Aug. 28 Sep. 2 Sep. 4 Sep. 9 Sep. 11 Sep. 16 Sep. 18 Sep. 23 Sep. 25 Sep. 30 Oct. 2 Oct. 7 Oct. 9 Oct. 14 Oct. 16 Oct. 21 Oct. 23 Oct. 28 Oct. 30 Nov. 4 Nov. 6 Nov. 11 Nov. 13 Nov. 18 Nov. 20 Nov. 25 Nov. 27 Dec. 2 Dec. 4 Dec. 11

CLASS CALENDAR (Subject to modification) CLASS WORK HOMEWORK Class presentation Introductions Background Technological skills La presencia hispana en Estados Conversación y cultura, p. 1 Unidos La presencia hispana en Estados Lectura Unidos La presencia hispana en Estados Mundos hispanos Unidos La presencia hispana en Estados Written Assignment 1: El arte de ser bilingüe Unidos In class movie (TBA) Conversación y cultura, p. 41 Los mexicanoamericanos Lectura Los mexicanoamericanos Mundos hispanos Los mexicanoamericanos Written Assignment 2: El arte de ser bilingüe Los puertorriqueños Lectura Los puertorriqueños Mundos hispanos Los puertorriqueños Written Assignment 3: El arte de ser bilingüe Los cubanos y los Lectura cubanoamericanos Los cubanos y los Mundos hispanos cubanoamericanos NO HAY CLASE Los cubanos y los Written Assignment 4: El arte de ser bilingüe cubanoamericanos La herencia multicultural de España Mundos hispanos La herencia multicultural de España Primera revisión proyectos individual y final Los derechos humanos Lectura Los derechos humanos Mundos hispanos Los derechos humanos Written Assignment 5: El arte de ser bilingüe La mujer y la cultura Lectura La mujer y la cultura Mundos hispanos La mujer y la cultura Written Assignment 6: El arte de ser bilingüe El poder de la palabra, la imagen y Lectura la música El poder de la palabra, la imagen y Mundos hispanos la música El poder de la palabra, la imagen y Written Assignment 7: El arte de ser bilingüe la música THANKSGIVING Group presentations Group presentations Final Exam – Final version of 10:30AM to 1:15PM individual semester project

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