I. COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is directed toward students of the Spanish language who are at the advanced level and have an interest in improving their acquired communicative skills. As such, we will focus on the processes of expression, both oral and written. This will facilitate students’ use of lexical and discursive tools, so that they will be able to perfect their communicative competency and broaden the fields in which they can interact. For this reason, we will pay particular attention to the development of social and practical skills that will permit effective communication in different areas.
It is important to point out that the student will be immersed in a community that uses this language, and, therefore, will be obligated to use it in everyday situations. In this case, the course plans to take advantage of this access to knowledge about and experience with Argentine cultural rules, and to stimulate contact with the language through different settings and local means.
II. GENERAL PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
1. The general purpose of this course is to encourage intercultural consciousness and to stimulate the students’ communicative competency through the perfecting of oral and written expression.
2. Course objectives
- To expand the range of communicative contexts in which the students participate, building up fluency and correct usage incrementally.
- To contextualize discursive elements from the viewpoint of real communication.
- To emphasize the relationship between language and culture, so that the student may perceive that when learning a language, he or she is also gaining access to a culture.
III. METHODOLOGY
The students’ work will begin with direct exposure to an authentic usage of the language through the combination of the following activities:
- Spontaneous conversations
- Conversations that are motivated by different topics of interest
- Group debates
- Role-playing
- Listening to songs and audiovisual material
- Reading specially-chosen, authentic written texts
- Individual and group presentations
- Scheduled visits to sites of significance in Buenos Aires.
IV. CONTENTS
Unit 1: PORTRAITS
Members of the group: personal characteristics, likes, ideas about their own country, ideas about Argentina
- Describing people and places
- Expressing optimism " pessimism, joy " sadness, sympathy " antipathy for something or for someone
- Organizing discourse
Unit 2: BUENOS AIRES: DAILY LIFE
The Spanish of the Río Plata region " Argentine customs of yesterday and today: traditional parties, typical foods, the cafés of Buenos Aires- The neighborhoods of Buenos Aires
- Speaking about the past
- Telling stories, anecdotes
Unit 3: MODERN TIMES
New ways of living together: family, friends, relationship through the Internet- Health and the body: sports, diets. Anorexia and bulimia. Addictions
- Presenting and explaining: introducing a topic, enumerating arguments, concluding
- Expressing causes and consequences
- Debating: showing agreement/disagreement
Unit 4: RECREATION
Free time- the Tango: traditional music. “Lunfardo”- avant-guard rock vs. neighborhood rock: updating Florida and Boedo- The new Argentine cinema- Soccer in Argentina
- Asking about opinions
- Analyzing and producing critiques
- Making comparisons
- Justifying arguments with examples
Unit 5: VOICES OF THE FUTURE
Awareness and the future: Violence in the big cities- Poverty: the situation with children- Ecology and the environment
- Expressing hypothesis and probability
- Expressing conditions
- Presenting alternatives
- Formulating predictions
V. GRADING
Student evaluation will be based on the table below:
(a) Daily work 25%
(b) Class participation 50%
(c) Final evaluation 25%
The first category (daily work) includes preparatory reading of the texts.
VI. GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alcina Franch, J. y J. Blecua (1975): Gramática española, Barcelona: Ariel.
Austin, J. L. (1982) [1962]: Cómo hacer cosas con palabras, Barcelona - Buenos Aires: Paidós.
Bello, A.(1941) [1847]: Gramática de la lengua castellana (con notas de R. Cuervo), Buenos Aires: Anaconda.
Bosque, I. (ed.) (1990): Indicativo y subjuntivo, Madrid: Taurus.
Cassany, Daniel (1999): Construir la escritura, Barcelona: Paidós.
Escandell Vidal, Ma. V. (2002): Introducción a la pragmática, Barcelona: Ariel.
García Negroni, María Marta (2001): El arte de escribir bien en español, Buenos Aires: Edicial
Iglesias Casal, I. y Ma. Prieto Grande (1998): Hagan juego. Actividades y recursos lúdicos para la enseñanza del español, Madrid: Edinumen.
Porroche Ballesteros, M. (1988): Ser, estar y verbos de cambio, Madrid: Arco.
Seco, M. (1995): Gramática esencial del español. Introducción al estudio de la lengua, Madrid: Espasa Calpe.
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