W 4:30PM-7:10AM Professor: Esperanza Román Mendoza & Cindy Soto Telephone: 993-1232 E-mail: eromanme & cnsoto@yahoo.com

Department of Modern and Classical Languages George Mason University Office: Thompson 235A Office hours: T10:30-11:15AM; W7:30-8:00PM and by appointment

• Course Description
• Objectives
• Materials
• Attendance
• Assessment
• Tentative program
• WebCT course site

Course description

SPAN 352 is an intermediate Spanish course designed for students who have completed two years of instruction in Spanish (or can demonstrate an equivalent level of proficiency) and plan to continue studying the language. It is designed to help students develop their written skills and to familiarize them with a variety of types of writing. This course fulfills the writing-intensive requirement for the Spanish major. WebCT will be used as online teaching and communication tool.

Objectives

• To make students able to express clearly their own ideas in Spanish and communicate with each other and with Spanish native speakers students from Hayfield High School;
• To develop written skills in Spanish so that students can elaborate different kinds of texts;
• To enhance the process of writing by both a peer review process and a draft/feedback/revision process;
• To learn how to use different types of reference materials, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, in both printed and digital format.

Materials

• Welch, J. K. Puntos de vista: Redacción. Boston: Heinle and Heinle, 1994.
• The Oxford Spanish Dictionary. New International Edition. Spanish-English/English-Spanish. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 (Please do not purchase any other dictionary).
• E-mail account and experience in using it. If you are not familiarized with e-mail and WebCT, STAR, UCIS, and the university libraries offer free workshops on how to use PINE and other Internet-related applications.

Attendance

You must be exposed to Spanish and use Spanish in order to learn it, so you really want to be in class and benefit from it. There is no substitution for attendance. Class compositions will be written during class time, so failure to attend will affect your grade for this assignment. You are expected to attend all classes and be on time. If you arrive late you are being disruptive and you may also miss some important information given at the beginning, which cannot be repeated every time a student is late. Make sure you get the phone number of at least two classmates.

You are responsible for all material covered in class. Keep in mind that irregular attendance will severely affect your learning process and, consequently, your final grade in this course. If you have to miss a class, you have to notify your instructor ahead of time (either by e-mail or a written notice left in the mail box). In case of an emergency, you are expected to let your instructor know about it as soon as possible.

Assessment

This course fulfills all the Writing-Intensive requirement in the Spanish major. It does so through six class 200-word compositions, three 400-word papers, ten 50-word Internet postings, and the 1,000-word research report. The papers and the research report will be completed through a draft/feedback/revision process. Chapter compositions will be completed in class through a peer review process, as well as a draft/feedback/revision process performed by the instructor.

 The progress made by students in this class will be evaluated by the following criteria:

1. Preparation and class compositions:	20%
2. Papers (average of three):	30%
3. Online discussions:	15%
4. Research report	20%
5. Portfolio:	15%

1. Class preparation and class compositions

Class preparation results in active involvement in the class. Students are encouraged to contribute in class discussions and are expected to speak only Spanish. This grade includes: 

1. attendance,
2. your contribution in Spanish in regular class sessions, in group activities and in electronic discussions with Hayfield students,
3. the grades of all collected assignments and class compositions,
4. your cooperation and leadership in peer review processes, and
5. your respect and attitude towards your peers and the class.

 In order for you to actively participate in class, you need to read the material assigned for each class and do the activities assigned by the instructor. Compositions will be collected regularly. Homework submitted for a grade has to be typed double-spaced. Bring your typed assignment printed and on a disk to each class. Late assignments will not be collected.

2. Papers (redacciones)

There will be three papers related to three book chapters (La entrevista; El cuento; La publicidad). Papers will be completed at home through a draft/feedback/revision process. Check class schedule for submission dates.

3. Online discussions

Every two weeks, students will be asked to comment on an assigned topic of general interest posted on the Web. Students will be required to post one original comment and one reaction to somebody else's comment.

4. Research report (trabajo de investigación)

The 1,000-word research report will be completed through a draft/feedback/revision process. The first draft of the research report will be due on Wednesday, March 1. The instructor will provide commentary on the draft, and the revised draft will be due on Wednesday, May 2. Topics for the research report will be discussed individually with each student.

5. Portfolio

Students will compile a portfolio in which they will include an essay on the writing process performed in this course, as well as all their homework and all versions of their compositions and papers. The portfolio will be turned in on Wednesday, April 27^th, 2001.

HONOR CODE: Exams, presentations and assignments must be done independently. Consult the GMU Honor Code for information.

Programa provisional SPAN 353 - Semestre de primavera de 2001
Fecha	En clase	Tarea
17 enero	Introducción al curso, materiales
24 enero	Cap. 1: El retrato Lectura. Composición I: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 1-3)
31 enero	Cap. 1: El retrato Composición I: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Discusión en Internet I
7 febrero	Cap. 3: Lugares y paisajes Lectura. Composición II: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 45-47) Redacción I (primera versión)
14 febrero	Cap. 3: Lugares y paisajes Composición II: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Discusión en Internet II
21 febrero	Cap. 5: Reportaje de noticias Lectura. Composición III: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 75-78) Redacción I (versión final)
28 febrero	Cap. 5: Reportaje de noticias Composición III: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Discusión en Internet III
14 marzo	Cap. 7: Comunicación íntima Lectura. Composición IV: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 111-113) Redacción II (primera versión)
21 marzo	Cap. 7: Comunicación íntima Composición IV: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Discusión en Internet IV
28 marzo	Cap. 9: El informe técnico Lectura. Composición V: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 141-143) Redacción II (versión final)
4 abril	Cap. 9: El informe técnico Composición V: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Trabajo de investigación (primera versión)
11 abril	Cap. 10: El ensayo Lectura. Composición VI: Bosquejo y borrador (impresos y en WebCT)	Ejercicios de preparción de la lectura (p. 171-172) Redacción III (primera versión)
18 abril	Cap. 10: El ensayo Composición VI: Correcciones, revisión en grupos; versión final (impresa y en WebCT)	Discusión en Internet V
25 abril	Informe sobre las discusiones en Internet Visita de Hayfield	Redacción III (versión final) Entregar portfolio
2 mayo	Trabajo de investigación (versión final)

  Back to E. Román-Mendoza's Website