Spanish 104 Syllabus
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
Cuernavaca, México
2007
Text and Materials
- Long, Donna Reseigh y Janice L. Macián. De paseo, 3/e. Boston: Heinle & Heinle,2005.
- Long, Donna Reseigh y Janice L. Macián. Diario de actividades, 3/e. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 2005.
- Spanish-English dictionary (pocket dictionaries are not recommended.)
Placement Test: All students who studied Spanish for two years or more in high school and have used Spanish to fulfill the admissions requirement, but have not received any previous Spanish credit at The Ohio State University or another university should have taken the placement test. If you have not done so, inform the Resident Director.
Course Objectives: Spanish 104.01 is the fourth course of a four course sequence (101.01, 102.01, 103.01, 104) which leads to the fulfillment of the foreign language requirement. Spanish is the primary language of instruction. The general goal of the course is to develop basic language skills. During this course students will...
- Expand vocabulary usage
- Practice listening skills
- Practice conversation skills
- Read authentic texts (articles, short stories, essays, and poems, etc.)
- Practice writing in Spanish
- Review grammar concepts and incorporate new structures
- Learn cultural concepts of Spanish-speaking countries
- The material in the chapters will be adapted to the unique experience of being immersed in Mexican culture. Specific topics dealing with other countries may be modified so that students may take optimal advantage of learning Spanish while in Mexico.
Attendance and Participation: All students are required to attend all classes and are expected to arrive on time. If an illness or an emergency prevents you from attending class, you are expected to notify the RD as soon as possible. Upon your return to school, you must submit a note from a physician explaining your absence. The Resident Director will notify you if the absence is excused.
- Makeup work will be permitted ONLY when the RD is presented with acceptable documentation and the absence is excused. Students with an unexcused absence will not be allowed to submit makeup work. Class participation points cannot be made up for any reason.
- After two hours of unexcused absences in a course, each additional unexcused hour will result in a one-percentage point reduction of your final grade per absence. This means that if you miss one school day and your absence is unexcused, your final grade will be reduced by 2 percentage points. For example, an 80% becomes a 78%.
- Lateness to class counts toward unexcused hours and will be rounded to the next quarter hour. (If you arrive 9 minutes late, you now have 15 minutes unexcused; arrive 17 minutes late, you now have 30 minutes unexcused, etc.). Repeated lateness and absences will require a meeting with the RD, will be reported to The Ohio State University, and may result in your removal from the class.
- Missing or arriving late to required meetings and required school activities will be counted as an absence and will be treated as outlined above.
Academic Misconduct: Academic misconduct is defined as any activity which tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution, or subvert the educational process. All suspected cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the Committee on Academic Misconduct as required by University rules. Such instances include, but are not limited to: plagiarism (representing as one's own work anything done by another), cheating on assignments or examinations, collusion, falsification of excuses, submitting work from a previous quarter without explicit permission of the current instructor, violation of course rules contained in the syllabus or provided in class.
For example for a written or oral report you should use the vocabulary, grammar structures, and strategies you've learned. Paraphrase your information and DO NOT "cut and paste" whole paragraphs from the web. Work submitted must be in your own words. "Borrowing" materials without citing sources is plagiarism.
All cases of copying, cheating, plagiarism, fraud, deceit, and other unacceptable academic conduct will be reported to the Resident Director and subsequently to the Office of Academic Misconduct at the Ohio State University in Columbus without exception.
Code of Conduct: Disrespectful or disruptive behavior in this program will not be tolerated and may result in non-completion of the program. Please refer to the OSU Student Affairs "Code of Student Conduct" Web site for rules and procedure.
Grading
|
Exam 1 (Chapter 1&2): 10% |
Journal (4 entries per week): 10% |
|
Exam 2 (Chapters 3&4): 10% |
Current Events Project (3 entries): 10% |
|
Exam 3 (Chapter 5 and Final): 20% |
Oral Exam: 15% |
| Composition: 10% | Participation and homework: 15% |
Grading Scale |
|
| Letter Grade | Numerical Equivalent |
|---|---|
| A | 93 - 100 |
| A- | 90 - 92 |
| B+ | 88 - 89 |
| B | 83 - 87 |
| B- | 80 - 82 |
| C+ | 78 - 79 |
| C | 73 - 77 |
| C- | 70 - 72 |
| D+ | 68 - 69 |
| D | 65 - 67 |
| E | 0 - 64.9 |
Note: Students are not permitted to take this course as an audit or pass/fail, or receive a grade of incomplete.
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CALENDARIO
- Capítulo 1: Nuestra música
Primera etapa: Vocabulario (DP 2-5), Repaso de gramática (DP 20-30), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 1-7)
Segunda etapa: Conversación (DP 6-9)
Tercera etapa: Lectura cultural: "Gloria Estefan" (DP 10-13) Comprensión auditiva (DA 5-19)
- Capítulo 2: Yucatán: Un lugar inolvidable
Primera etapa: Vocabulario, "En Yucatán" (DP 31-34), Repaso de gramática (DP 50-62), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 8-11)
Segunda etapa: Conversación (DP 36-39) Repaso de gramática (DP 50-62), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 12-15)
Tercera Etapa: Lectura cultural: Antes de leer (DP 40-41) Lectura cultural: "El guerrero..." (DP 40-42), Comprensión auditiva (DA 32-39)
Exam I: Grammar in Chapters; "Nuestra Gloria", 10-13; "En Yucatán", 33; " El guerrero y Sak-Nicté", 40-42
- Capítulo 3: El mundo del trabajo
Primera etapa : Vocabulario, "Idiomas y negocios" (DP 64-67) Repaso de gramática (DP 81-86), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 16-18)
Segunda etapa : Conversación (DP 68-71), Repaso de gramática (DP 81-86), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 19-20)
Tercera etapa: Lectura literaria: "Presagios" (DP 75-77) , Preparación para la composición (DA 85-88): corregir ejercicios, preparar bosquejo , Comprensión auditiva (DA 51-57)
Composición
- Capítulo 4: La diversión y el tiempo libre
Primera etapa : Vocabulario, "Los deportes y el ocio" (DP 88-92), Repaso de gramática (DP 106-114), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 21-23)
Segunda etapa: Conversación (DP 93-95) Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 24-26)
Tercera Etapa: Lectura literaria: "Sala de espera" (DP 100-102), Comprensión auditiva (DA 78-84)
Exam II: Grammar in chapters;" Idiomas y negocios", 64-65; " Presagios", 76; " Los deportes y el ocio", 89; " Sala de espera", 101
- Capítulo 5: El medio ambiente: Enfoque en
nuestro planeta
Primera etapa : Vocabulario, "El medio ambiente" (DP 116-118), Repaso de gramática (DP 136-144), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 27-28)
Segunda etapa : Conversación (DP 120-123) Repaso de gramática (DP 136-144), Práctica de estructuras (DA PE 29-30)
Tercera Etapa : Lectura literaria: "Noble campaña" (DP 129-131), Comprensión auditiva (DA 99-106)
Exam III (Chapter 5 and Cumulative Grammar Final): Grammar in chapters 1-5; "El medio ambiente", 117; " Noble campaña", 129-131
Exams (40%): All exams will be created by the OSU Dept. of Spanish and
Portuguese and proctored and graded by the RD. You may not use notes or dictionaries
during the exams. You will find a review for each chapter and the final on the
SPPO web site.
Composition (10%): In Spanish 104.01 you will be required to write one composition that uses the vocabulary and verb tenses that you have practiced in class. The outline ( bosquejo) will count toward the composition grade (the bosquejo is worth 10 points, the composition is worth 90 points, for a total 100 points). The composition must be at least 250 words in length and will be proctored and graded by the RD.
Journal (10%): 4 journal entries per week of 125+ words each and will be turned in to the RD at the end of each week.
Current Events Newspaper Project (10%): Taking into consideration the current chapter topic, find 3 newspaper articles from a current Mexican newspaper pertinent to Mexican or Latin America to:
- Summarize each article in English (good practice for the SLRPE exam!). This should not be a word for word translation, but a summary of the most important issues highlighted in the article (who?, what?, where?, when?, how?, why? and organized to form a cohesive paragraph).
- Include a vocabulary sheet with 5-7 words that you had to look up in the dictionary. Use each one in a unique Spanish sentence to demonstrate your understanding of the word.
Due to the RD the day before your speaking test. Be sure to copy the articles and vocabulary sheets so that you may study them for your oral exam! Inappropriate themes in oral or written work will not be accepted.
Oral Exam (15%): Your pre-scheduled oral exam has two components: a conversation with your instructor; and a discussion of your current events newspaper project. You may NOT use any notes or scripts during the exam.
- Part 1: Conversation with your instructor. Be prepared to role-play one of two situations on your study sheet by asking and answering questions related to the topic selected by your instructor on the day of your exam.
- Part 2: Current Events Newspaper Project. For the second part of the oral evaluation, you will present the information you have learned while researching your topic on the Current Events Newspaper Project. You should be able to present a summary and discuss with your instructor in Spanish the information you have found. Your instructor will ask you simple questions in Spanish about your report. Using the structures and vocabulary you have learned, you should also be able to answer several other additional questions that are related to your topic.
Participation and Homework (15%): Teachers will hand in weekly reports to the RD summarizing each student’s attendance, participation, and academic progress. It is expected that all students will arrive to class on time and will participate fully in all class activities. In addition to regular classroom hours, students are required to fulfill six activity hours per week in order to receive the maximum participation component of their grade. At least two participation hours should be spent with your intercambio conversation partner, 1 hour in the Mexican History class, and the remaining 3 hours should be spent attending scheduled activities at the school. Students participating in the Vamos program will volunteer a minimum of four hours per week, which will count for your six-hour requirement. You will sign up for weekly activities on Monday mornings.
All your work should be included in your Cuernavaca program portfolio.

