SPAN30290 Producción y comprensión oral en español

Academic Year 2023/2024

This module offers an elective opportunity for students aiming to achieve a C1 (Advanced) level according to the Common European Framework of Reference. It is assumed that the student possesses a strong proficiency in spoken Spanish and seeks to further develop and polish their speaking and listening abilities. The primary emphasis will be on honing your speaking abilities, ensuring that your articulation is precise, fluency is polished, and pronunciation remains natural. To accomplish this, we will draw upon current topics that resonate with all of us (such as mental health, fitness, relationships, AI, etc.) to stimulate discussions, primarily within informal and semi formal registers.
The classroom environment will exude a sense of warmth, tranquillity, and informality, fostering a welcoming space. Every form of contribution will be valued as an avenue to ignite engaging dialogues, both between the instructor and fellow students. This module is designed to provide a supportive platform where you can confidently enhance your conversational skills and actively participate in meaningful exchanges.
Each week, we will delve into a distinct subject or issue. To actively participate, students will be tasked with listening to a brief podcast, video, audio piece, or reading an article, press release, or social media post before coming to class. Consider this a brief preparatory assignment a crucial initial step that, although ungraded, is indispensable for fostering informed engagement during the subsequent lesson.
It's important to note that class participation constitutes 10% of the overall module grade. This underscores the significance of these preparatory tasks, which serve as an essential groundwork, equipping students with initial thoughts and viewpoints to effectively contribute to class discussions. Keep in mind that this module utilizes debates as a vehicle to enhance both your speaking and comprehension skills. Hence, mere language use won't suffice. You must possess a clear stance on a particular debate topic and adeptly articulate and defend it against the viewpoints of fellow classmates and the teacher.
Throughout the course, the instructor will communicate solely in Spanish, thus requiring students to engage in Spanish throughout all interactions. Mistakes while conversing in Spanish are expected and will be treated as a natural part of the learning process. Our primary objective is successful communication and the collaborative construction of debates. While lessons won't involve any Spanish writing activities, students are welcome to take notes during class. Both pair and small group discussions will be frequent, complemented by regular whole class debates.

Show/hide contentOpenClose All

Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of this course, you will have developed the ability to:
1. Communicate with clarity and precision in spoken Spanish, encompassing both productive (speaking) and receptive (listening) skills.
2. Comprehend spoken Spanish in its diverse accents, including those from peninsular and Latin American origins, as well as varying registers that span from formal to semi formal and informal.
3. Actively participate by expressing your own opinions and engaging in challenges to others' perspectives Actively participate by expressing your own opinions and engaging in challenges to others' perspectives during class debates, which will encompass during class debates, which will encompass a spectrum of contentious topics related to current events. a spectrum of contentious topics related to current events. These topics may include mental health, social media, and AI. These topics may include mental health, social media, and AI.
4. Employ communicative tactics commonly found in Spanish conversations, such as interruption, turn--taking taking strategies, and overlapping, to effectively structure, summarize, and defend your line of reasoning or point overlapping, to effectively structure, summarize, and defend your line of reasoning or point of view of view.
5. Demonstrate an advanced command of spoken Spanish, which includes mastery of grammar structures, Demonstrate an advanced command of spoken Spanish, which includes mastery of grammar structures, vocabulary usage, fluency, engagement with fellow interlocutors and pragmatic competence within semi--formal registers.

This course is designed to equip you with a comprehensive and sophisticated proficiency in spoken Spanish, enabling you to fluently navigate various conversational contexts and skilfully enabling you to fluently navigate various conversational contexts and skilfully contribute to debates and discussions.

Indicative Module Content:

The weekly learning materials in this module cover a variety of current sociocultural matters, such as:
1. Everyday challenges that resonate with all of us, such as mental health, the FOMO phenomenon, and the experience of living abroad.
2. Discussions on recent social issues, including the impact of AI on our educational journey, privacy, and censorship within the realm of social media and the internet, matters of immigration, and feminism.
3. Exploring difficulties encountered in interpersonal relationships, such as toxic relationships and the complexities of long-distance relationships.
4. Engaging in current dialogues about Spanish as an evolving and global language, delving into subjects like Spanglish as a form of bilingualism, the incorporation of anglicisms in Spanish, and the pursuit of inclusive language.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

34
Autonomous Student Learning

52
Total

110
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module has a specific emphasis on honing our reception and production skills. In essence, we will be refining our capacity to effectively convey ideas in Spanish, ensuring that they are logically organized and relevant to the context of the debate. In order to maintain the vibrancy of our class debates, student engagement will account for 20% of the final grade. Consequently, it will be meticulously overseen by the instructor. While the primary function of the teacher is to facilitate and observe class discussions, they will also regularly engage as a fellow student, offering their insights to enrich the discourse. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: Weekly Oral Presentations/Debates
 Unspecified n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

45
Continuous Assessment: Student participation over the trimester. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10
Assignment: Group Oral Examination
 End of trimester MCQ n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

45

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Weekly Oral Presentations/Debates: The presenting group will receive informal and constructive feedback from both their peers and the instructor. Group Oral Examination: The teacher will provide personalized feedback during the individual oral examination, which will be conducted in the teacher's office (to be confirmed). Student Participation: Informal feedback will be provided in real-time as students contribute during class debates. Additionally, the teacher will record these contributions after the lesson, as this element contributes to the 10% grading for the module.

Name Role
Dr Lourdes Barquin Sanmartin Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Monica Galindo Gonzalez Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Autumn
      
Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 13:00 - 13:50
Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Wed 13:00 - 13:50
Autumn