98821 - SPANISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

The course will develop the four skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking through practice and a communicative and action-oriented approach. The student will understand a wide range of written texts and complex oral discourses in Spanish, expressing themselves in Spanish; Students will communicate fluently and correctly in different registers (colloquial, neutral, formal, academic); they will be able to use idiomatic and colloquial expressions and distinguishes connotative levels of meaning.

Contenuti

This course is reserved exclusively for students in the Bachelor of European Studies programme. Students of other programmes are not allowed to take this course in their programme.

The course consists of a 35 hours language lab devoted to practicing spoken and written Spanish (1st semester) and 35 hours of lectures and discussion dedicated to the culture and society of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries (2nd semester).

Labs are conducted in groups according to the level of language proficiency assessed at the beginning of the course through a placement test. The language laboratory is aimed at improving fluency and accuracy in writing and speaking skills with a special focus on Spanish grammar from a communicative approach. The students will be exposed to a wide range of authentic oral and written text types on topics related to the disciplines of the degree course and specific to Spanish culture.

At the end of the course students should reach a minimum level of B1 (Council of Europe framework). This communicative course develops the learners’ oral and written communication and comprehension skills through the use of high-frequency language that enables them to become independent users. Thus, they will be able to:

• conduct longer exchanges related to limited specific topics and give short presentations or information on topics that are familiar or of personal interest.
• read and write longer and more complex texts.
• consolidate the grammar at B1 level.
• extend the students’ knowledge of the culture and society of Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.
• develop the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to engage fully with political, historical and cultural issues in Spanish.
• build strong analytical skills and understanding of the key areas that characterize today’s Spain.

Students will also acquire an important group of general (GC), transversal (TC) and specific competences (SC), and be able to (depending on the CEFR level for the target languages of their choice):

GC1. Recognize and analyze the mechanisms and structures of modern foreign languages.

GC2. Develop the ability to communicate orally and in writing in at least two modern foreign languages with a sufficient level of dexterity in the various situations of professional life for which their degree qualifies.

GC3. Describe and rigorously express the knowledge acquired in the learning of foreign languages for professional purposes, to allow its application in the professional fields.

GC4. Value and deepen the linguistic, literary, and cultural diversity relating it to other areas of knowledge.

GC5. Develop the capacity for linguistic and cultural mediation in various social, political, and anthropological contexts and in foundations, institutions, and international organizations.

GC6. Prepare and write texts and reports of an academic, institutional and administrative nature.

GC7. Develop the ability to translate professional and literary texts and documents.

GC8. Carry out consulting and translation tasks in written and audio-visual communication.

GC9. Acquire the training to continue research in the fields of linguistics, literature, and the culture of the respective languages, and in other areas of Humanities and Social Sciences.

GC10. Promote respect for different cultural manifestations, and the understanding and promotion of intercultural processes.

TC1. Develop the capacity for analysis and synthesis.

TC2. Develop the ability to apply knowledge to practice.

TC3. Evaluate, interpret and synthesize data and information.

TC4. Develop critical and self-critical reasoning.

TC5. Work autonomously.

TC6. Work in groups and in international contexts.

TC7. Plan and manage information and times.

TC8. Develop creativity.

TC10. Appreciate cultural diversity.

TC12. Develop a social conscience regarding the concept of equal opportunities.

SC1. Develop the ability to orally understand and speak in different social and professional contexts in the target languages.

SC2. Develop the capacity for written expression and comprehension in the target languages. The student produces well-articulated and structured texts on a wide variety of current topics and has a good command of discursive structures, connectors, and cohesion mechanisms. S/he understands the fundamental ideas of complex and long texts, including technical discussions about her/his field of specialization, and grasps the meanings which are implicit in texts, both written and oral.

SC3. Carry out linguistic analysis in one or two modern foreign languages.

SC4. Acquire the foundations for theoretical reflection on phonological, morpho-syntactic, lexical, and discursive aspects of the target languages.

SC12. Be familiar with and use information and communication technologies (ICT) in the field of application of the target languages and their culture.

SC13. Manage quality information, specialized databases, and resources accessible on the Internet.

 

Spanish Language (1st semester)

The linguistic content information will be selected according to the CEFR levels for Spanish. The four skills will be developed (reading comprehension, writing, speaking and listening). In this first part of the course, the focus will be on the linguistic aspect, which will give the possibility to deepen the required cultural, historical and social issues in the second half of the year.

FUNCTIONAL CONTENT

· Talking about the past

· Expressing the duration of an action started in the past and continuing in the present

· Expressing aptitude

· Defining personality

· Expressing the cause of an event

· Expressing probability

· Expressing moods: joy, sorrow and surprise

· Giving information about a place

· Expressing wishes and plans

· Asking and giving cultural information

· Asking for the veracity of a piece of information

· Talking about personal relationships

GRAMMATICAL CONTENT

· Verb tenses

Uses of past tenses: pretérito perfecto, imperfecto, indefinido y pluscuamperfecto de indicativo.

Periphrasis of probability: deber (de) / tener que + infinitive

Verbs with prepositions (alegrarse de, estar harto de, estar harto de...)

Verbs expressing change of mood (ponerse nervioso, dar miedo, se enfadarse...)

Present subjunctive for expressing wishes.

· Uses of ser

Ser + adjectives of personality (qualities and defects)

· Time markers

Beginning and duration of an action (hace, hace hace, desde, desde que)

Actions that happened only once (un día, una vez, aquel día...)

Actions that happened with a certain frequency (normalmente, muchos días, a veces...)

Expressing a project in the future (dentro de...)

· Discourse connectors

Cuando, luego, después, entonces

Porque y como

· Prepositions

· Quantifiers

Demasiado, muy, bastante, más bien, algo, (un) poco, nada

· Exclamatory phrases

Qué + sustantivo

Cuánto/Cómo+ verbo

Ojalá (que)

· Sentence constructions

Comparaciones: superlativo relativo

Testi/Bibliografia

Castro, Francisca. Uso de la gramática elemental, Ed. Edelsa, 2010.

Gramática de uso del español, Ed. SM, Madrid, 2009.

Tarricone y Giol, ¡Aprueba! Gramática y léxico con ejercicios. Loescher Editore, 2018.

Encinar, A, Uso interactivo del vocabulario, Edelsa, 2010.

Todas las voces. Curso de cultura y civilización - A1, A2, Difusión, Barcelona, 2018.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Overall assessment will be based on one written mid-term test (1st semester – Grammar and Linguistic content), a group presentation and a final oral exam (both in the 2nd semester). The mid-term test includes a reading comprehension with multiple choice and open questions. 

20% of total: compulsory and active participation in classes

40% of total: final oral exam

40% of total: written mid-term tests (1st semester - Grammar and Linguistics)

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Pablo Fernández Domínguez