Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

High Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of five semesters (or seven quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

OBJECTIVES

Nowadays more than ninety-five per cent of Spanish speakers use a variety of the language, the development of which is centred on the American continent. The aim of this Course is to explore the characteristics of this variety of Spanish, while considering the reasons why it has such a high degree of vitality and why its future projection is so promising. Its differences with regard to standard Spanish, the ways in which it is influenced by the indigenous cultures of America, and its interaction with the English language, will also be subjects of study.

SYLLABUS

1. A Brief History of Spanish in America.
o 1.1. Andalusians Reach America.
o 1.2. Contact with Indigenous Languages.
o 1.3 Why America Speaks Spanish. Linguistic Politics.

2. The Manner of Speaking Spanish in America.
o 2.1 Characteristics of the Most Widespread Forms of Pronunciation.
o 2.2 Specific Features in Certain Countries.
o 2.3. Oral Text Practice Sessions (Audiovisuals).

3. Morphosyntactic Usage.
o 3.1. Verb and Pronoun Peculiarities. Explaining ‘vos’.
o 3.2. Further Differences in Usage. The Intriguing Meaning of Certain Prepositions.
o 3.3. Practice Sessions regarding Surveys Made in Major American Cities.

4. Words in America.
o 4.1. Specific American Lexis (Americanisms) and the Vitality of Indigenous Lexis (Borrowings from Indigenous Languages).
o 4.2. Differences in Word Meanings in Spain and America. Taboo Terms and Euphemisms.
o 4.3. Practical Sessions: Literary and Journalistic Texts.

5. Spanish and English in the United States.
o 5.1. Two Friendly Languages: Sociolinguistics and Issues and Attitudes regarding the Language Question.
o 5.2. Interference and Overlapping between Spanish and English. The Question of ‘Spanglish’.
o 5.3. Practical Sessions: Publicity and Web-pages.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

a) General Manuals Surveying the Spanish Language in America
• Lipski, J. El Español en América, Madrid: Cátedra 1996.
• López Morales, H. La aventura del español en América, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1998.
• Ramírez. El español en los Estados Unidos, Madrid: Mapfre, 1992.
• Vaquero, M. El español de América (2 vols.), Madrid: Arcos / Libros, 1995.

b) Study Back-up for Students from Abroad
• Quesada, S. Imágenes de América Latina. Manual de historia y cultura latinoamericanas, Madrid: Edelsa, 2001.
• Romero Dueñas, C. De viaje por América Latina, Madrid: Edelsa, 2002.
• Saralegui, C. El español en América, Navarra: Universidad, 1996.

This list of titles will be updated with articles and other kinds of specific texts in keeping with the needs of students as the Course develops.

ASSESSMENT

Students will be asked to hand in two short practical assignments during the semester. Although the subject-matter can be freely chosen, the following suggestions may serve as a guide:
- Internet Content: the comparison between the influence of Spanish and English upon one another.
- Literary Texts: the exploration of how words allow the reality of America to emerge.
- The analysis of pronunciation in films and TV programs.
- This material will be used in class sessions as a key element in the development of the Course.

End-of-Course Exam

It will consist of a series of short questions, followed by an essay-type question involving what has be learnt by each student about Spanish in America during the sessions, and from personal assignments.