Prerequisite: SPA 201 or equivalent. Students who have not taken SPA 201 should have Spanish proficiency at or above the Intermediate-mid level as defined by the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines.

A. Listening

The student will be able to understand sentence-length utterances on a variety of topics including personal interests, leisure activities and cultural events in Spanish-speaking countries. Students will be able to understand a native speaker speaking slowly on the telephone, and short radio and television announcements.

B. Speaking

The student will be able to initiate, sustain, and close a general conversation with a number of strategies appropriate to a range of circumstances and topics. The student will generally be understood even by native speakers who are not accustomed to conversing with non-native speakers, although some repetition may still be required.

C. Reading

The student will be able to read consistently with full understanding simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs about which the reader has personal interest and/or knowledge. The student will be able to read brochures, articles from Spanish-language newspapers and magazines, and short examples of literary prose and poetry by Hispanic authors.

D. Writing

The student will be able to meet most practical writing needs. S/he will be able to take notes in some detail on familiar topics and respond in writing to personal questions. S/he will be able to write simple letters, brief synopses and paraphrases, summaries of biographical data, work and school experience. The student’s writing, though faulty, will be generally comprehensible to natives used to the writing of non-natives.

E. Culture

The ACTFL standards include Culture, Connections, Comparisons and Communities as part of foreign language instruction and assessment. Within these areas, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied
• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied
• Acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures
• Demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own
• Use the language both within and beyond the school setting
• Read, discuss and write about topics concerning the Spanish-speaking cultures featured in textbooks and in target language media at the intermediate level

Portales Website Access Code by Blanco (code is valid for 24 months) This website provides all the lessons, tutorials, practice, videos, quizzes, exams, etc. that you'll need to complete this course. You can print all the Portales web pages.

Headset with microphone or microphone and speakers connected to your computer. You will need this in order to be able to hear the audio on the videos and to record and submit your partnered and individual oral assignments on the Portales web site. You can purchase headsets at the Alexandria Campus Bookstore.

Note: You can use the same Portales website access code for SPA 101, 102, 201, and 202 if you decide to take these courses. Your code is valid for 24 months, after which time you can buy a six-month extension code. (Speak with your instructor or visit the Vista Higher Learning (VHL) website for more information).

Possible Assignments Include: (Subject to change each semester. The actual assignments are available in the Syllabus in the Blackboard course site on the first day of classes.)

Your final grade will be based on the following scale. To pass this course, you must pass all the exams. In addition, you must complete at least 50% of the En Linea assignments to pass the course.

There are 2 exams in this course: Exam 1 and Exam 2. There are two (2) parts to each exam: online, which you will complete at one of the campus Testing Centers, and oral, which you will complete online at home.