96582 - LINGUA E CULTURA DEI PAESI DI LINGUA SPAGNOLA

Learning outcomes

The Language and Culture of Spanish-speaking Countries programme consists of a 30-hour course and a 30-hour lab. At the end of the course, students should be able to read, report and discuss essays or academic texts in Spanish dealing with cultural issues, social sciences, and political sciences. To this purpose they should reach a minimum level of B2, while the ideal level is C1 (Council of Europe framework). They should also be able to write and organise a text, using vocabulary and a syntax relevant to the topics covered in the course. Finally, they should know some basic elements and aspects of the culture of Spanish-speaking countries.

Course contents

COURSE (second semester)

30 hours

The course is reserved for students with a previous minimum level of Spanish of B1. Students who have not attended the exams of Spanish Language I and II of the first cycle degree programme in International relations and diplomatic affairs (University of Bologna, Forlì Campus) are required to certify their level, before the beginning of the course; language certifications or other means (e.g., a declaration of level by lecturer(s) of the Spanish language course(s) attended during the first cycle degree programme) are accepted. Students who are not able to certify their level and wish to attend the course have to sit and pass a placement test (if the minimum B1 level is not reached, students cannot attend the course).

The Language and Culture of Spanish-speaking Countries program includes the study of the following topics:
- Environmental policies in Spain, Argentina, Perú, Costa Rica and Mexico.
What are the main environmental problems in Spain? Water shortages, fires, massive construction, extinction of native species, nuclear risk, desertification

• Green Spain: Environmental proposals of the main current Spanish political parties.
• What are the main environmental problems in Spain, Argentina, Perú, Costa Rica and Mexico?
• Indiscriminate deforestation, illegal sale of exotic animals, coca planting, indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources ... in Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico.
• Green America: Political relevance of some Hispanic American countries to combat environmental problems.

- Gender issues in Spain, Argentina, Perú, Costa Rica and Mexico

• The Observatorio de Igualdad de Género de América Latina y el Caribe
• Feminicide and violence against women
• Public policies of gender equality in some countries in Latin America: (Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico)
• The debate on inclusive language and gender equality in Spain and America

Grammar content for students attending classes and For students not attending classes*.

* Specific needs of the students, detected both in the lectures and in the written texts collected by the teacher to introduce content outside the curriculum, will be taken into consideration.

LANGUAGE LABORATORY (second semester)
30 hours
Topics covered in the language laboratory will include:

MODULE I: Construct articulate descriptions about places, things, and people in the present and past. Talk about habitual actions and describe places, things, and people in the past (I)

1. Language Content:
- Deepening and reinforcement of ser and estar: specific uses, peculiarities and contrasts with adjectives that change meaning.
Systematization and reinforcement of the uses of the Indicative: Pretérito imperfecto, Pretérito ndefinido, Pretérito perfecto, Pretérito pluscuamperfecto, Futuro y Condicional.

2. Communicative Practice:
- Composition where you describe situations in the present and past from a simple topic regarding current political and social events in Spain and Hispanic-America primarily.
- Describe situations and narrate events in the past to refer to biographical facts.

MODULE II: Construct articulate descriptions about places, things, and people in the present and past. Talk about habitual actions and describe places, things, and people in the past (Part II)

1. Language content:
- Reduplication of OD and OI. The leismo phenomenon of person. Uses of se to express impersonality. Verbs with/without -if.
- Impersonal constructions: "la gente; se/uno + 3rd pers. Singl.; Usos de los pron. tú y ellos con valor generalizador..."
- Expressions for general speech: use with pronominal verbs and with verbs of the gustar type: "Me gusta/me encanta/me sorprende/me llama la atención que..."

2. Communicative practice:
- Composition where you describe situations in present and past tense from a simple topic regarding current political and social events in Spain and Hispanic-America primarily.
- Describe situations and recount events in the past to refer to biographical facts.

FIRST PRACTICE FOR CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT

MODULE III: Expression of opinion, value judgments, advice, suggestions, feelings, certainties and doubts in present and past.

1. Language content:
- Basic forms of the indicative (present past, future) and subjunctive (present and past tense).
- The "v1 + que + v2" structure for expressing value judgments, advice, suggestions, feelings, certainties, and doubts in the present and past tense.

2. Communicative practice:
- Composition where value judgments are expressed in present and past tense from a simple topic concerning current political and social events in Spain and Hispanic-America primarily.

MODULE VI: Expression of temporal circumstance, cause and end in present and past tense.

1. Language content:
- Uses of the indicative/conjunctive with temporal expressions antes de (que), cuando, mientras, después de, en cuanto, tan pronto como, al, siempre que, desde que, hasta que etc.
- The conjunctions antes de (que), cuando, después de (que), siempre que, desde que, hasta que etc.
-The adverbs quizás, tal vez, seguramente, etc. + indicative/conjunctive, a lo mejor + indicative.

2. Communicative practice:
- Composition where opinions and value judgments are expressed in present and past tense from a starting point of a historical or socioeconomic topic.

MODULE V: Expressing objections or a difficulty in performing an action in the present and past. Establishing conditions on the performance of an action, in the past, present, and future.

1. Language content:
- The conjunctions aunque/a pesar de que + indicative/conjunctive in present and past tense.
- The condition yes. Other conditional conjunctions and locutions.
- Hypotheses of the first, second and third types.
- Discourse connectors: pero; sin embargo; además; entonces

2. Communicative practice:
- Composition where opinions and value judgments are expressed in present and past tense from a starting point of a historical or socioeconomic topic.
- Composition about hypothetical situations in the past, present and future. Talk about hypothetical situations in the past, present, and future.

MODULE VI: Convey what others have said.

1. Language content:
- Reported speech. Verbo decir and other verbs of transmission.
- Perífrasis de gerundio: "seguir/continuar + gerund".
- Dejar de+ infinitive

2. Communicative practice:
Composition where opinions and value judgments are expressed in present and past tense from what has been said or written by others.

SECOND PRACTICE FOR CONTINUOUS EVALUATION

MODULE VII: Expressing a prohibition, giving an order and repeating it, asking and giving permission, giving advice and instructions

1. Language content:
- The affirmative and negative imperative mode
- The "v1 + que + v2" structure for expressing prohibitions, suggestions, permission, advice, and instructions.

2. Communicative practice:
Composition where prohibitions, suggestions, permissions, advice and instructions are expressed in front of a hypothetical or real situation.

MODULE VIII: Articulation of Expression. Presenting socioeconomic content.

1. Linguistic content:
- Textual coherence and discursive signals.
- Argumentation.
- The conclusion.

Readings/Bibliography

 

- Félix San Vicente, J.C. Barbero, Felisa Bermejo, Gramma. Grammatica della lingua spagnola. Clueb. ISBN: 978-88-491-5705-5

- Quaderni di esercizi di lingua spagnola, Bologna, Clueb, 2017. (testo per esercitazioni in autoapprendimento).

Teaching methods

The 30-hour course will be taught in Spanish during the second semester and along with the lab will provide the student with the B2+/C1 level knowledge necessary to interact on sociopolitical and cultural issues in line with the course.

Working Students

Working students are kindly requested to contact the teacher by e-mail ([mailto:natalia.penin2@unibo.it]) in order to arrange an appointment in which a personal strategy will be decided for the passing of Language and Culture of Spanish Speaking Countries.

Assessment methods

Students attending classes

Attendance of at least 60% of the lessons (both of the course and of the laboratory) is strongly recommended in order to guarantee the exact scope of the contents developed during the course.
The verification will be done through two written partials and a final oral test (for the attending students); one written test and one oral test (for the non-attending students).
The final grade for Language and Culture of Spanish-speaking countries will be based on the average of the course/lab + a grade (from 0 to 3) for the oral test.
During the first partial, the contents of the Course/Laboratory explained during the first part of the course will be checked.
During the second partial the contents of the Course and Laboratory explained during the second part of the course will be checked.
The recovery of the partial (first or second) or of the complete test is scheduled during the first call of the exams session and exclusively during this call. Those who did not show up for this make-up or did not pass it will be considered non-attending students.
Attending students will have the opportunity to keep the grade obtained in the partials until the following September's appeal.
The written test will consist of a first part to verify the learning of the cultural contents of the course, with multiple-choice and open-ended questions on the topics covered.
The oral test will be carried out through a conversation on the topics concerning the content and the socio-political vocabulary of the course.
To access the oral test, students must register through ALMAESAMI.
Please note that each student has the possibility to attend ONLY once per exam session.

Students not attending classes

Depending on the health situation of the moment, the exam for non-attending students will take place in presential or remote mode.
For non-attending students there will be a written test and an oral test to be held during the same call.
In order to access the oral test, non-attending students must register through ALMAESAMI.
For everything concerning the written tests of the exam, special reference is made to article 25.2 of the [https://normateneo.unibo.it/codice_etico.html] adopted by our University.
We remind you that each student has the possibility to appear ONLY once per exam session (this indication is valid only for students of the triennial course).

Teaching tools

PC,video, virtual platform, online language resources, newspaper articles, printed materials

Office hours

See the website of Natalia Penin Fernandez