NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLLEGE

COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE AND INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

Course title: Beginning Spanish I

Course prefix, number, and section number: Span 1411.0311

Semester/Year of course: Spring 2023

Semester start and end dates: January 17, 2023 – May 13, 2023

Modality (Face to face/Synchronous or Asynchronous online/Hybrid): Online

Semester credit hours: 4

Course description: Basic Spanish language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing within a cultural framework. Students will acquire the vocabulary and grammatical structures necessary to communicate and comprehend at the beginner level.

Course prerequisites: None

Required course materials: None. All the instructional materials are available for free in our Canvas site.

Name of instructor: Katie Ralph, M.A. Teaching Languages

Office location: online—no physical on campus location

Telephone number: 325-721-9629

E-mail address: kralph@nctc.edu

Office hours for students:  Mondays and Wednesdays 3:15 pm – 4:00 pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30 am-12:00 pm, and by appointment.

SYLLABUS CHANGE DISCLAIMER

The faculty member reserves the right to make changes to this published syllabus if it is in the best interest of the educational development of this class. Any such changes will be announced as soon as possible in writing.

SUMMARY OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

List of graded assignments:

Tarea y Asistencia 10%

Exámenes orales  (2) 18%

Proyecto cultural (4^th credit hour) 17%

Exámenes escritos (3) 55%

Final grade scale: 

At the end of the semester, I apply standard rounding to everyone. An 89.44 will remain a B, but an 89.45 will round up to an A.

90-100%          A

80-89%            B

70-79%            C

60-69%            D

0-59%              F

Late work policy:

Keeping up with the work and even working ahead is strongly encouraged, but it is understandable that things will come up. Late work is accepted, but there is a 3% penalty for each day it is late. Consistently turning in late work can have a major negative impact on your grade, so it is recommended that you only turn in late work when an emergency necessitates it.

SEE CANVAS FOR THE COMPLETE COURSE CALENDAR, OUTLINE, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF GRADED WORK, AND OTHER RELATED MATERIAL.

COURSE POLICIES

Academic Integrity Policy:

Scholastic dishonesty shall include, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, academic falsification, intellectual property dishonesty, academic dishonesty facilitation and collusion.  Consequences for academic dishonesty may include:

1) The student will receive a grade of "O" on the assignment.

2) A "Scholastic Dishonesty Report Form" will be submitted regarding the incident

3) Student may be dropped from the course with a failing grade (letter grade of “F”)

Misrepresenting your language abilities falls under scholastic dishonesty.

Attendance Policy:  Even though this is an online class, it is not self-paced. You should plan to log into Canvas two times a week and do the corresponding tarea/homework work. Language cannot be learned in big chunks. It must be learned in small bits with frequent review of the previously covered material in order to be acquired.

Attendance is taken via the asistencia activities. If you miss 4 of them, you are at risk for being withdrawn from the course.

Withdrawal Policy

A student may withdraw from a course on or after the official date of record. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate and complete a Withdrawal Request Form. Students who do not attend class prior to the date of record will be dropped.

Last day to withdraw from the course with a “W” is: April 3, 2023

Student Learning Outcomes:  Upon successful completion of this course, students will:

1. Engage in conversations using level-appropriate grammatical structures including narrating events that take place in the present and producing questions and responses on a variety of topics dealing with everyday life.
2. Demonstrate understanding of level-appropriate spoken Spanish.
3. Write simple sentences and organize them into short paragraphs.
4. Read and comprehend level-appropriate texts.
5. Identify and discuss traditions, customs and values of the Hispanic world.
6. Compare and contrast the traditions, customs and values of the Hispanic world with characteristics of their own culture.

Core Objectives:

Critical Thinking Skills (CT)- to include creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and analysis, evaluation and synthesis of information

Communication Skills (COM)- to include effective development, interpretation and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication

Social Responsibility (SR)- to include intercultural competency, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities

Personal Responsibility (PR)- to include the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making

COLLEGE POLICIES

STUDENT HANDBOOK

Students are expected to follow all rules and regulations found in the Student Handbook.

ADA STATEMENT

NCTC will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations to afford equal educational opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Office for Students with Disabilities to arrange appropriate accommodations.  See the OSD Syllabus Addendum.

STUDENT SERVICES

NCTC provides a multitude of services and resources to support students.  See the Student Services Syllabus Addendum for a listing of those departments and links to their sites.

QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, or COMPLAINTS