Presentación

Los objetivos que nos proponemos en esta asignatura pueden resumirse así:

• Ampliar y consolidar tus conocimientos literarios y culturales del mundo hispanófono y sensibilizarnos a la diversidad que hay en cuanto a puntos de vista culturales y sociales o modos de expresión;
• Identificar estrategias y métodos básicos de interpretación y análisis;
• Repasar los aspectos fundamentales de la gramática, con énfasis en los giros lingüísticos y recursos retóricos usados por los escritores analizados;
• Motivarnos a ser más conscientes de los diferentes instrumentos de expresión y análisis que debemos podemos movilizar en nuestro día a día como hablantes, lectores o intérpretes.

• A course reader [Antología on the syllabus] that includes the readings assigned in the various sections of Spanish 221
  
  How to order: You may purchase your own printed copy of the Antología through the Course Pack application in your WesPortal. Once you have logged in to WesPortal, select “Course Packs” under “Courses.” You will see a list of materials available for each course you are officially enrolled in. To order a copy of the SPAN 221 Antología, select Order Print. Course packs will be delivered through Wes Station’s package delivery system. Course pack purchases will be charged directly to your student account. If you experience difficulties placing your order, please email printing@wesleyan.edu.

• Eleanor Dozier and Zulma Iguina, Manual de gramática: Grammar Reference for Students of Spanish (Heinle & Heinle, Sixth edition)
  
  A digital version of the 6^th edition of the Manual de gramática will be made available to students via the Inclusive Access program. In Inclusive Access all enrolled students have immediate access to the ebook through their Moodle account at no cost until the end of add/drop. Students may opt-out at any time during this period. After add/drop the book store will charge their student account for the materials.  The price announced in the spring for 365 days of use of the ebook was $39.75, but students should confirm this with the bookstore.
  
• Students are strongly urged to consult regularly a Spanish (only) dictionary and a good Spanish-English dictionary.  Please bookmark the following online options (or other similar options) in your browser and use them intelligently:
  • Spanish only: Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española (the DRAE) – https://dle.rae.es/?w=diccionario
  • Bilingual: WordReference.com – https://www.wordreference.com/

• Moodle
  
  All supplemental materials (reading guides, instructions) and all assignments (daily/weekly exercises, essays) will be distributed and submitted through the course Moodle.  Please consult Moodle on a daily basis, to make sure you keep up with your assignments.

Final assessment in Spanish 221 will be based on the following categories accordingly:

Grades will be assigned on a 100-point scale and will be converted according guidelines established by Wesleyan’s Office of Academic Affairs:

In assigning grades, we adhere to the following guidelines:

• A / A- : Work is outstanding. It is original and imaginative. It is grammatically correct and show a good command of different stylistic and rhetorical registers.
• B+, B, B- : Work is (very) good. The ideas are correct and the organization of the ideas is clear and easy to follow.  The grammar and style are easy to follow, despite the various areas for improvement indicated in the professor’s feedback.
• C+, C : The work, in terms of content and execution, is competent but in considerable need for improvement.  The grammar and style are flawed.  The ideas are hard to follow.
• C-,D, F : The work does not meet the basic standards for students at this level.
• Nota Bene: As is the case in all colleges and universities, the courses in our department are scaled to reflect and support the cumulative dimension of language learning. A grade of B- or better is our way of signaling our faith in the students’ ability to proceed in our program by taking any course numbered higher than 221.  Students who receive a C+ or lower may need to pursue further study at the advanced-intermediate level before continuing.

The Spanish faculty’s statement regarding the fall 2020 Cr/U option:

• Rationale: The Department of Romance Languages & Literatures normally does not recognize CR/U except for COL students. The reason is that learning effectively in another language calls for regular completion of multiple activities over the course of the term, including faithful attendance and informed participation. In our experience students have counted on grades to determine where to focus their efforts. Because of the pandemic we have made the CR/U option available, but it should be chosen only as a measure of last resort.
• Specific conditions: Since a full university credit is involved no matter what the grading option, bear in mind that CR/U assumes students will complete all graded activities including attendance and participation satisfactorily. Remember, too, that the Hispanic Literatures & Cultures major and study abroad continue to require that courses be completed with a minimum grade. If you take your course CR/U, your professor will record the letter grade and the Spanish section will decide accordingly whether the grade is sufficient for you to continue to the next level, to study abroad, to meet the requirement for acceptance into the major, or for the course to count for the major. If you are having difficulties of any kind, we urge you to contact your professor immediately to see what can be done to address them. 

Redacciones

• Students will be evaluated on their improvement in Spanish and in critical analysis through the submission of 4 written interpretative analyses throughout the semester. The initial exercise will be relatively short (300 words). The second and third will be a bit longer (300 – 500 words).  Students will submit their final, 750-word paper during finals week. Guidelines for these papers will be posted in Moodle. All papers will be submitted through Moodle, in pdf format.
• Rubric for grading expository writing

Presentaciones orales

• Students will work in teams of 2-3 students each twice during the semester to prepare a 15-minute oral presentation. All members of the group will be evaluated for their active participation (5 minutes each) in both the preparation and the execution of this exercise. They will be expected to present their ideas spontaneously, using bullet point to guide their thoughts. (The presentation should not be considered a public reading of a previously drafted text.) They will be judged for their ability to explain and evaluate a specific aspect of the assignment. Students may use supplemental materials in support of their presentation.
• Each student will submit a personal one-page written reflection within 3 days following the oral presentation, commenting on how they went about preparing for the experience, what they intended to teach and what they learned from it.
• Guidelines for the oral presentations
• Rubric for assessing the presentations

Ejercicios diarios y semanales

• Moodle
  
  • Mastery of the material will depend on your formulating your own personal reactions to the assignments, both verbally (as mentioned above) and in writing.  For this reason, prior to each class students will be expected to submit a short, written response to the assignment via Moodle.  These exercises may take the form of notas de lectura, a short summary of the main theme of the reading, with questions that need addressing in class and important vocabulary or grammar items listed.  They may also include discussion forums, where students will post their interpretation of an aspect of the assignment and comment on an interpretation posted by one of their classmates. Alternatively, students may be asked to respond creatively to the assignment. They may be asked to offer a written, visual or audio creative posting inspired by the assignment. They may choose to write a letter to the author, compose an alternative ending, create a new character or compose a collage with images that capture their sense of the work studied.
  • The Moodle exercises will be short and succinct (250 words maximum). They are intended to foster your active and sustained personal engagement with the material, spark your critical and creative imagination, and support the development of your proficiency in Spanish. As with the ejercicios de gramática, assessment is based on the effort and commitment that is apparent in the postings.
  • The Moodle exercises in particular are designed to facilitate a more dynamic classroom experience.  For this reason, all written exercises must be completed prior to class by the cut-off deadline stipulated in Moodle.  Late submissions will not be accepted.
  • Principles of tolerance, respect and decorum will be applied in evaluating the appropriateness of all written work posted for others to read.
  • Rubric for assessing Moodle assignments
    
• Actividades culturales
  
  • Students will be expected to attend cultural events organized by the Wesleyan Spanish faculty and they will be asked to share their reactions to these events, through written or recorded oral posts in Moodle or via short informal exchanges in class.  Our aim is to foster engagement with Spanish outside of the classroom and to broaden our students’ knowledge of Latin American and Spanish culture through exposure to diverse modes of cultural expression.  The activities will be announced in Moodle.  They may include a recorded pod-cast format exchange of opinions, among 2 or 3 students, regarding a movie featured in the Hispanic Film Series (fall) or any other activity sponsored by department.
    
• Ejercicios de gramática
  
  • Exercises from the Manual de gramática are carefully selected so as to provide students with the opportunity to review crucial grammar points on their own.  An answer key, provided through Moodle, will allow students to submit the corrected version of these exercises through Moodle.  Assessment of this aspect of the course is not based on your submitting a clean and perfect set of answers.  On the contrary, it is based on your punctuality in submitting your answers in a Word document that shows through highlights and corrections, that you have attempted to complete the exercise before marking and correcting your errors. Please use this exercise to identify grammar points that you need help with from the professor. Such a conscientious approach will benefit you immensely in terms of your Spanish language acquisition.
  • Students are to submit their corrected exercises as indicated in Moodle, in pdf format, ensuring that the corrections are visible. Click here to see a sample model.
  • Rubric for assessing grammar assignments
    
• Final assessment in the category of “Ejercicios diarios y semanales”
  As indicated above, 15% of the student’s final grade will correspond to assignments described in this section.  Assessment in this category will be distributed accordingly:
  • One-half (50% of 15%) will correspond to “Ejercicios diarios y semanales”
  • One-fourth (25% of 15%) will correspond to “Actividades culturales”
  • One-fourth (25% of 15%) will correspond to “Ejercicios de gramática”·

Asistencia, puntualidad, preparación y participación

• Success in achieving your educational goals in this course depends on your regular and punctual attendance and your active participation in all classroom sessions and in weekly tertulias (conversation sections; see below). You will be graded daily in this category and will receive a summary of your progress periodically throughout the semester.  Regarding “asistencia” (attendance) and “puntualidad,” you are expected to attend all classes and tertulia sessions, arrive on time and bring the essential materials (your Antología) with you to class.  Students may be excused for up to three absences (classes and the tertulias combined) over the course of the semester. The final grade will be lowered by one letter grade for each subsequent absence. Punctuality applies to the classroom and tertulias and to the submission of all written work. Arriving 15 minutes late to class will constitute an absence. In terms of your “preparación,” your active “participación” in class will demonstrate that you have read and studied the material diligently prior to class and that you have formulated your own personal ideas. Your willingness to share your ideas and ask questions voluntarily is essential for the type of interactive learning that we promote in Spanish 221, in class and in the tertulias.
• Rubric for assessing students in this category

• Tertulias
  
  Beginning the third week of the semester, students are required to participate in a small group once-a-week conversation session, led by one of the three Foreign Language Teaching Assistants, auxiliares de lengua from Colombia and Spain. The auxiliar determines topics for discussion, in collaboration with students. The topics are wide-ranging.  They may focus on contemporary cultural, political, sociological, or economic issues or simply on personal experiences and student life. You may be asked to discuss an article, movie or television program. Policies described above regarding attendance, punctuality, preparation and participation apply to the tertulias. Students will be graded accordingly.
  
  If health or an emergency force you to miss a tertulia, contact your FLTA directly by email (see tertulias roster in Moodle) to arrange for you attending a different session during the same week. Students may not attend two tertulias during any single week during the semester. One deficiency only may be made up during the last week of the semester, when the FLTAs will offer sesiones de recuperación no obligatorias.

Toma nota…

• Entrega tus trabajos en Moodle en formato PDF

Wesleyan’s honor code is designed to foster a culture based on trust and faith. The Spanish faculty expects its students to honor and help promote that culture by abiding by the Wesleyan Honor Code with respect to all work prepared for this class. The pledge is an affirmation of your agreement to adhere to the standards of academic integrity set by the university. Your signature and pledge will appear on work submitted for evaluation as your guarantee that:

• you have received no help of any kind from anyone unless explicitly authorized by the professor;
• you have only used a Spanish-Spanish or English-Spanish dictionary; and
• you have not used any type of translator such as those available on the Internet (by the way, their “work” is almost instantly recognizable to a native eye).

The pledge reads as follows (1) for papers and similar written work and (2) for exams and similar work:

1. “In accordance with the Honor Code, I affirm that this work is my own and all content taken from other sources has been properly acknowledged.”
2. “In accordance with the Honor Code, I affirm that this work has been completed without improper assistance.”

All students are strongly advised to read carefully the section concerning the Wesleyan honor system that appears in the Student Handbook

Wesleyan University is committed to ensuring that all qualified students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from its programs and services. To receive accommodations, a student must have a documented disability as defined by the ADA. Since accommodations may require early planning and generally are not provided retroactively, please contact Accessibility Services as soon as possible.

If you have a disability, or think that you might have a disability, please contact Accessibility Services (https://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/disabilities/contactus.html) in order to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Accessibility Services is located in North College, rooms 021/022, or can be reached by email (accessibility@wesleyan.edu) or phone (860-685-5581).

Email communication: Email is the preferred mode of communication between the professor and students.  The professor will ordinarily reply to student emails within 24 hours, except on weekends and holidays. Therefore, plan ahead! If you have important questions that need answering, communicate them in advance or simply visit your professor during our office hours.

Religious Holidays: Students needing to miss class owing to a religious holiday must notify the professor in advance and in writing. If the holiday coincides with an exam or a scheduled assignment, students will be allowed to complete the assignment within a reasonable time on an alternative date.

Note on Gender and Language: Like all Romance languages, Spanish relies heavily on a binary gender system. It is thus a grammatically gendered language, which means that nouns, adjectives, and past participles are either feminine or masculine. This may challenge some Anglophone speakers who are unaccustomed to viewing a chair or a desk as feminine or masculine objects. For this reason, in teaching grammar Spanish instructors emphasize the importance of gender and number agreement –concordancia de género y número—between nouns and their modifiers. However, this binary grammar system may prove challenging for some when it applies to personal identity.  People throughout the Spanish speaking world have explored and continue to explore creative strategies that suggest inclusion or neutrality. We are eager to work with anyone who is interested in exploring these formulas and adopting such creative approaches. Regardless of the strategy chosen, your consistency is fundamental and will be evaluated as proof of your command of this crucial aspect of Spanish grammar (concordancia).  Whatever gender form you choose, be sure to use it throughout. We are committed to ensuring a comfortable space for all, so please contact us during office hours if you would like to discuss this matter further and explore your options.