SPAN 240 introduces students to a variety of short stories and songs from Latin America. The course emphasizes the four communicative skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Basic grammar skills are reviewed. This course is entirely in Spanish. This class may include students from multiple sections. (Humanities, Elective)
Prerequisites
SPAN& 123, two years of high school Spanish, or instructor permission
Course Outcomes
- Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the complexity of knowledge by discussing current issues, identifying patterns and points of view, sharing opinions, making predictions, and analyzing similarities and differences between the cultures of Latin American and their own.
- Students will gain cultural knowledge by researching the life and work of various Latin American writers and musicians, reading linguistically authentic and culturally rich texts, and studying the geographical, historical and cultural contexts of Latin American short stories and songs. Students will develop language proficiency by completing a variety of written and oral assignments, studying new vocabulary, and reviewing grammatical structures.
- Students will develop insights into their own self-identity by selecting an author and asong to present to the class, writing an original short story, and using analytical skills and creative expression to interpret the meaning of a story.
- Students will develop respect and acceptance of cultural perspectives different from their own and increase their level of confidence in processing encounters with other cultures through course content and discussions involving themes of diversity and cultural identity.
- Students will engage in social interactions and increase their level of cultural sensitivity towards others who are different from themselves by participating in pair and group activities, games, debates, role-plays, and a final group project, and by interacting with guest speakers from Spanish-speaking countries.
- Students will show evidence of social responsibility by conducting peer reviews of the assigned composition, selecting and voting on the final two stories to be read by the class, and attending a cultural event related to Spanish outside of class.