End of page

Level I - Novice Course Description This course description for the five Program Goals of Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. It incorporates the study of Hispanic language and culture and assists students in the understanding and appreciation of Hispanic culture. The main objective is to enrich the students' total language experience by building on the language proficiency they already possess. Their skills are enhanced according to the level of the student. The focus is on increasing students' ability in use of Spanish flexibly for both formal and informal situations and on developing their literacy skills. I. COMMUNICATION Sample Function Students develop the ability to: greet and respond to greetings in a variety of social settings introduce and respond to introductions, formally and informally engage in conversations express likes and dislikes make requests make requests obtain information understand some details begin to provide information identify main idea of a text and provide the literary elements Context Students use the language: when speaking, in face-to-face interaction when listening, in social interaction and using audio video texts when reading, using authentic materials, e.g., menus, photos, tickets, posters, charts, schedules, signs, short narratives, advertisements, and brochures when writing notes, lists, poems, postcards, and short letters Text Type Students can: use short sentences, learned words and phrases and simple questions and commands when speaking and writing understand some ideas and familiar details presented in clear, uncomplicated speech when listening understand short texts enhanced by visual clues when reading use idiomatic expressions to describe familiar aspects of daily life and culture Content Levels I and II often include some combination of the following topics: the self: family, friends, home, health, school, schedules, leisure activities, campus life, likes and dislikes, shopping, clothes, prices, size and quantity, and pets and animals. beyond self: geography, topography, directions, buildings and monuments, weather and seasons, symbols, cultural and historical figures, places and events, colors, numbers, days, dates, months, time, food and customs, transportation, travel, professions, work, and literature. Accuracy - The degree of difficulty of the activities will vary according to the students' level of proficiency. Students: communicate effectively with some hesitation and errors which do not hinder comprehension; demonstrate culturally acceptable behavior for level I functions and beyond; understand most important information when performing novice-level tasks. II. CULTURES Practices describe the extended and immediate family, friends, parent / child relationship describe leisure activities identify cultural and behavioral implications related to courtesy explain historical and mythological literature, oral and written legends that impact one's behavior describe herbs and rituals in relation to health Products describe cultural symbols used for historical or religious celebrations explain cultural rituals affecting the behavior and responsibilities of an individual describe cultural behaviors observed with friends, family, co-workers, community show understanding of cultural artifacts, art, music, dances identify practices of curanderismo, superstition, religious festivities read sample literature, newspapers, and / or magazines describe exports from Spanish-speaking countries III. CONNECTIONS Health describe dietary practices, medicinal herbs, native practices Social Studies learn basic geography history, sociology, and politics of Spanish-sepaking countries identify and study various aspects of Spanish-speaking areas of the U.S. English improve skill in writing compositions and letters improve skill in reading literature, prose, and poetry improve skill in accessing information through newspapers and magazines Business Education investigate the need for and use of Spanish for marketing, advertisement of products, brochures, imports / exports Fine Arts use Spanish to explore aspects of music, art, dance, and theater IV. COMPARISONS compare dietary practices in Spanish-speaking countries with Hispanic practices in the United States compare dietary practices of Hispanic culture to those of other cultures in the United States recognize differences in writing and oral communication practices of Spanish and English Compare leisure activities of Spanish-speaking communities with those in the United States compare religious ceremonies of Hispanic culture with those of other cultures in the United States compare idiomatic expressions used in English and in Spanish (Example: dichos, proverbs, etc.) V. COMMUNITIES identify cultural events taking place in the community participate in cultural or education events in the community visit restaurants, participate in festivals, or religious ceremonies identify events related to literature, the fine arts, and culinary demonstrations Level II - Novice Course Description This course continues to stress the development o Spanish language skills which students already possess and assists them to refine these skills by understanding when and where dialectal usages are appropriate in oral and written communications. Students in the second level Spanish for Spanish Speakers course are likely to be functioning more and more in the intermediate range. This course also helps students to understand and appreciate Hispanic culture. I. COMMUNICATION Sample Functions Students expand their ability to perform all the functions developed in Level I. They also develop the ability to: make requests express needs understand and express important ideas and some detail describe and compare use and understand expressions indicating emotion Context Students use the language: when speaking, in face-to-face social interaction when listening, in social interaction and when using audio or video texts when reading, using authentic materials, e.g., narratives, advertisements, brochures, and other media when writing short guided compositions Text Type Students can: use and understand learned expressions, sentences, and strings of sentences, questions, and polite commands when speaking and listening create simple paragraphs when writing understand important ideas and some details in highly contextualized authentic texts when reading understand and identify literary elements identify and observe cultural behaviors Content Levels I and II often include some combination of the following topics: the self: family, friends, home, health, school schedules, leisure activities, campus life, likes and dislikes, shopping, clothes, prices, size and quantity, pets and animals, dialects, and idiomatic expressions beyond self: geography, topography, directions, buildings and monuments, weather and seasons, symbols, cultural and historical figures, places and events, colors, numbers, days, dates, months, time, food and customs, transportation, travel, and professions and work, implications of cultural behaviors when using idiomatic expressions, dialects, colloquialisms, and formal and informal language. Accuracy: The degree of difficulty of the activities will vary according to the students' level of proficiency. Students demonstrate increasing fluency and control of vocabulary; show no significant pattern of error when performing Level I functions; communicate effectively with some pattern of error, which may interfere slightly with full comprehension when performing Level II functions; understand oral and written discourse, with few errors in comprehension when reading; demonstrate culturally appropriate behavior for Level II functions; demonstrate understanding of idioms, colloquialisms, formal and informal expressions. II. Cultures Practices explain immediate and extended family relationships observe cultural behaviors in relation to elders, extended family and financial responsibilities describe the significance of school and education as well as grading practices describe the importance of family life regarding daily activities, family, social and educational events, dining practices, and celebration of holidays and / or religious events Products demonstrate communication behaviors that reflect the presence of elders or highly respected individuals explain the financial responsibilities within immediate and extended family describe expectations and high regard for education explain how to make food purchases and describe dietary practices describe the use of medicinal herbs experience the fine arts of Hispanic culture, such as folkloric dancers, music, literature describe commercial practices (purchasing and marketing, courtesy, bartering, formal correspondence) examine attitudes toward money, time, children, teenagers describe attitudes toward courtship and marriage describe attitudes toward personal hygiene and the use of beauty and hair products III. CONNECTIONS Mathematics conversion from the U.S. measurement and weight system to the metric system, such as conversion of shoe and clothing sizes Science identify the physical environment conducive to growing medicinal herbs; show familiarity with chemicals which can help grow those herbs describe the environment and its effect on society Art identify fine arts and literary figures originally from Spanish speaking countries Social Studies identify geographical sites where famous people were born as well as their influence on the rest of the world describe behavioral practices regarding family, friends, community, church, government, work ethic explain historical figures and events which might have influenced the United States English Language Arts identify Spanish vocabulary words used in the English language use appropriate composition and correspondence techniques and practices IV. COMPARISONS compare purchasing practices (bargaining without insulting) identify commonalties and differences in public transportation, commercial centers vs. boutiques, casa de regalos, etc. compare and contrast idioms, colloquialisms, composition techniques, literary styles, educational systems compare and contrast food preparation, dietary preferences, medicinal practices, religious and cultural festivities, holidays compare and contrast cultural behavior of Hispanics to the rest of the United States population, and to people in Spanish-speaking countries compare intonation and pronunciation of Spanish to English; compare grammatical syntax, mechanics, formality, etc. of Spanish to English (exclamation marks, adjective noun to noun adjective, formal and informal correspondence) V. COMMUNITIES engage in written communication with pen pals, businesses, friends, family engage in oral communication with Spanish-speaking community members participate in cultural and educational events volunteer to interpret or translate at community meetings Level III-Intermediate Course Description This course provides additional opportunities for the enhancement of all language skills. It is a study of Hispanic language, culture, and history incorporating language skills and grammatical concepts. The main objective of this course is to continue building on the skills the students already possess by providing opportunities to expand their grammatical literacy, as well as social, communicative, and functional concepts identified with Spanish for Spanish speakers. These students will function comfortably in the Intermediate level, with some students showing some advanced level abilities. I. COMMUNICATION Sample Functions: Students expand their ability to perform all of the functions developed in Levels I and Level II. They also develop the ability to: clarify and ask for clarification express and understand opinions narrate and understand narration in the present, past, and future identify, state, and understand feelings and emotions Context Students use the language: when speaking, in face-to-face social interaction and in simple transactions on the phone when listening in social interaction and using audio or video text when reading short stories, poems, essays, articles, and short novels when writing journals, letters, literary critiques, and brochures Text Type Students can: use paragraph length speech understand spoken language in a variety of media by a variety of Spanish speakers create a series of paragraphs when writing acquire knowledge and new information from comprehensive, authentic texts when reading Content Content includes cultural, personal, and social topics such as: history, art, literature, music, current affairs, and civilization, with an emphasis on significant people and events in these fields the environment, social issues, and political issues career choices Accuracy - The degree of difficulty of the activities will vary according to the students' level of proficiency. Depending on the level of proficiency, some students: tend to become less accurate as the task or message becomes more complex, and some patterns of error may interfere with meaning (students may also fall back on non-standard vocabulary to circumlocute); others can engage in conversations with few errors and use a wide range of vocabulary; generally choose appropriate vocabulary for familiar topics, but as the complexity of the message increases, there is evidence of hesitation and grasping for words, as well as patterns of mispronunciation and intonation; others can express their knowledge of familiar topics without patterns and errors; generally use culturally appropriate behaviors in social situations; are able to understand and retain most key ideas and some supporting detail when reading and listening; others can expand key ideas and apply those to their daily life. II. Cultures Practices discuss the importance of immediate and extended family relationships describe leisure activities, vacation / travel, tardeadas, tertulias discuss teen attitudes toward life goals give examples of humor in all aspects of life demonstrate understanding and practice of subtle cultural behaviors describe the cultural perspective behind certain celebrations (e.g., weddings, funerals, wakes) explain attitudes toward material acquisitions Products describe the home furniture, decor, family heirlooms, size of dwellings explain options in vacation travel facilities (rail, air travel, youth hostels, and hotels) identify and explain cultural symbols used for marketing: advertising and publicity in Hispanic society, newspapers, billboards, pamphlets experience the works of selected artists, writers, poets describe language differences: idioms, proverbs, riddles, colloquialisms describe and explain culturally-deter mined behaviors: gender roles, body language, spatial variances III. CONNECTIONS Government discuss current events: national elections, notable artists History / Social Studies debate contemporary issues: environment, immigration, unemployment, future for teens present an overall view of important historic eras English Language Arts show appropriate use of various dialects, colloquialisms, idioms, and grammar IV. COMPARISONS compare travel in the U.S. and in Spanish-speaking societies: youth hostels, camping, travel by train, bicycle, hitchhiking, etc. describe characteristics of parent / child relationships in the U.S. and in Spanish-speaking societies practice formal and informal communication identify and explain cross-cultural misunderstandings debate contemporary issues compare proverbs, idioms, and colloquialisms examine variations in student's language / and in Spanish-speaking societies (e.g., regional vs. national dialects, language registers, written vs. spoken language form) identify and explain false and true cognates in Spanish and English V. COMMUNITIES interview local Spanish speakers on a variety of social issues (use newspapers, magazine articles, news reports on current events in Spanish to identify issues) gather information on student exchange or work / study / travel abroad programs participate in community events conducted totally in Spanish speak and present in community social and religious events participate in cultural and educational events related to Spanish language and / or culture

Top of page

Click to continue Student Resources