View Course Outline - University of Western Ontario

Spanish 2214F: Comparative Grammar of English and Spanish
Meets: Fall 2014, Tuesdays 10:30 -11:30, Thursdays 10:30 – 12:30, UC-137.
Anti-requisites: Spanish 3303
Instructor: Prof. Silvia Perpiñán, [email protected], UC-152
Course Description
This course is an introductory linguistic description of the Spanish language with a
special focus on its main differences with English. By means of comparing the two
languages, we will discover the main problematic contrasts for an English-speaking
student of Spanish. We will cover topics such as masculine vs. feminine, stress placement
and syllabification, imperfecto vs. pretérito, indicativo vs. subjuntivo, etc. The idea of the
course is that by exploring challenging areas for second language learners, we will also
learn the underlying linguistic concepts that rule those selections (aspectual differences,
mood interpretation, to name a few).
Course Aims:
The course aims to achieve the following:
• Develop linguistic awareness by comparing two languages.
• Compare English and Spanish linguistic features in order to deepen our
understanding of the structure of Spanish.
• Improve the student’s Spanish knowledge by using English as a point of
comparison.
• Learn basic theoretical linguistic concepts.
Learning Outcomes:
It is expected that, upon the successful completion of this course, the students will have
the ability to accomplish the following:
• Be able to reflect about the source of common mistakes in the interlanguage of a
learner of Spanish.
• Have the basic concepts of linguistics applied to Spanish.
• Understand why some grammar topics of Spanish are more difficult than others
for an English speaker.
• Be able to improve their Spanish skills by reflecting on the grammar of the
language.
Course Materials
For this course, there is not a textbook assigned. Course notes and weekly
homework will be provided through Sakai.
Recommended Books
Dozier, E. (2003). Manual de gramática (3rd ed.). Boston: Thompson, Heinle.
King, L. D., & Suñer, M. (2004). Gramática española: análisis y práctica (2nd ed.).
Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Lunn, P. V., & DeCesaris, J. A. (2006). Investigación de gramática (2. ed.). Boston, MA:
Thomson Heinle.
M. Stanley Whitley (2002). Spanish/ English Contrasts: A Course in Spanish Linguistics.
2nd. Edition. Georgetown University Press. (Also available the e-book)
Evaluation
Exams: 60% (2 x 17.5, final 25%)
Homework: 15% (One-hour class)
Compositions: 15% (3 x 5)
Attendance and participation: 10%
Exams
1- Nominal Phrase. Mid October
2- Morfología verbal. Mid November
3- Cumulative + Complex Sentences. Final Exam Period
Homework
At the beginning of each one-hour class, the TA will go around your notebooks and
check whether you have completed the homework assigned for that day. You can be
given these three grades, depending on your effort:
10 = good job. All exercises are done, homework is completed on time. It is clear that the
student spent the necessary time and effort to complete the assignment. Notice that
I will not be grading whether the activities are correctly completed, but whether
you put the necessary effort into doing it.
5 = minimal effort. There are incomplete exercises, homework is unfinished. Student
shows minimal effort into completing the assigned work.
0 = no homework done. Student clearly comes unprepared to class. Student misses class
without an excuse.
Compositions (Opiniones Personales)
During this course, you will compose 3 personal opinions about a recent topic given one
week in advance. The main goal of these opiniones personales is to practice the grammar
seen in class. There is a minimum length for the essays to get credit, they must be at
least 350 words long and completely in Spanish. List of words, songs, dialogs, and
copies of other texts are not acceptable and will not receive credit. Remember that this is
individual graded work, so students are not allowed to seek help from other instructors,
friends, family members, etc. or use electronic translators. Any composition that has
more than three words copied from a text in Spanish (from the internet, from a book, a
magazine, etc.) will be given a zero automatically. The compositions need to be handed
in on paper in class. No email attachments will be allowed. Please, remember to print
out and staple the Grading Criteria for Opiniones Personales (attached at the end of this
document) when you hand in your composition.
Other Academic Matters: UWO Academic Calendar (Academic Policies/Regulations).
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a major academic offense (see Scholastic Offense Policy in the Western
Academic Calendar). Plagiarism is the inclusion of someone else's verbatim or
paraphrased text in one's own written work without immediate reference. Verbatim text
must be surrounded by quotation marks or indented if it is longer than four lines. A
reference must follow right after borrowed material (usually the author's name and page
number). Without immediate reference to borrowed material, a list of sources at the end
of a written assignment does not protect a writer against a possible charge of plagiarism.
This also applies to work facilitated or written for students by third parties. The
University of Western Ontario uses a plagiarism- checking site called Turnitin.com.
Absenteeism:
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests,
exams, participation components and/or assignments must apply to the Academic
Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic
accommodation cannot be granted by the instructor or department.
The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Policies which govern the
conduct, standards, and expectations for student participation in Modern Languages and
Literatures courses is available in the Undergraduate section of the Department of
Modern Languages and Literatures website at
http://www.uwo.ca/modlang/undergraduate/policies.html.
It is your responsibility to understand the policies set out by the Senate and the
Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and thus ignorance of these policies
cannot be used as grounds of appeal."
Calendar (tentative)
DÍA
TEMARIO
TAREA
Week 1
Leer el sílabo
Week 1
Week 2
Week 2
Week 3
Presentación del curso. Sílabo. Requisitos
Morfología Nominal: Género y número
El determinante y su interpretación.
La posesión inalienable
Práctica sobre el sintagma nominal
Silabificación y acentuación
Reconocimiento del acento silábico. Separación en
sílabas
Ejercicios 1
Ejercicios 2
Week 4
El sintagma nominal y sus funciones.
Los pronombres
Práctica sobre funciones sintácticas y
pronominalización
El se. Los pronombres sujeto. Diferencias de uso
Repaso
Week 5
Práctica con pronombres sujeto.
Week 3
Week 4
Ejercicios 3
Ejercicios 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 6
Week 7
Week 7
Week 8
Week 8
Week 9
Week 9
Dudas
Examen 1: El sintagma nominal y la
silabificaciónn
Morfología Verbal: el paradigma verbal y la
información semántica de las formas.
Entregar Opinión
Personal 1
¿Qué es el aspecto? El aspecto en el pasado.
Práctica pretérito imperfecto vs. pretérito indefinido
Ejercicios 5
¿Qué es el tiempo? Los tiempos simples y los
tiempos compuestos
Práctica de aspecto y tiempo.
FALL BREAK
Corrección ejercicios. Dudas.
Examen 2: Morfología verbal, Ser y Estar
Week 10
Las oraciones simples y complejas.
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Tipos de oraciones complejas. ¿Qué es el modo?
Práctica con oraciones subordinadas nominales
Oraciones subordinadas adjetivas y el subjuntivo.
Interpretación
Práctica sobre subordinadas adjetivas.
Week 12
Oraciones subordinadas adverbiales y el subjuntivo
Week 13
Práctica subordinadas adverbiales y subjuntivo
Week 13
Repaso. Evaluaciones
Week 11
Ejercicios 6
Ejercicios 7
Entregar Opinión
Personal 2 (En papel)
Ejercicios 8
Ejercicios 9
Ejercicios 10
Entregar Opinión 3
(en papel)
Grading criteria for Opiniones Personales Escritas: Spanish 2214 – Fall 2014
A grade of 0 (zero) will be assigned if one of the following applies:
• Student wrote less than the minimum amount of words.
• Student did not turn in the assignment on the date indicated in the calendar.
• The assignment was not typed.
• The assignment contained mostly direct quotations from sources, and/or plagiarized material.
The following criteria will be used to assign a grade to the opiniones personales escritas:
Contenido (10 puntos)
Excelente (10)
Bien (8)
Regular (7)
Inaceptable (4)
Clear statement of opinion
supported by a wide range of
facts, ideas, and/or external
sources. All points are well
developed.
Clear statement of opinion
supported by a few facts,
ideas, and/or external sources.
Some points need further
development.
Clear statement of opinion
supported by only one idea,
and/or external source. Most
points need further
development.
No clear statement of
opinion.
Ideas are not supported by
any facts, and/or external
sources.
Organización (5 puntos)
Excelente (5)
Bien (4)
Regular (3)
Inaceptable (2)
Points are presented in a
coherent and organized
manner. Connections between
paragraphs and/or ideas are clear.
Points are presented in an
organized manner; however,
connections between
paragraphs are often unclear.
Minimal organization of
points presented. Some
ideas appear to be
disconnected from each
other.
Inadequate organization
of points presented.
Most ideas are disconnected
from each other.
Excelente (5)
Bien (4)
Regular (3)
Inaceptable (2)
Variety of structures used.
Sentence lengths and patterns
varied. No run-on sentences.
Some variety of structures
and sentence lengths used.
Very few run-on sentences.
Minimal variety of
structures and sentence
lengths used. Some run-on
sentences.
Lack of variety of structures.
Sentences are repetitious.
Many run-on sentences.
Excelente (10)
Bien (8)
Regular (7)
Inaceptable (4)
Very few spelling or accent
errors.
Some spelling or accent
errors.
Many spelling or accent
errors.
Many spelling or accent
errors that interfere with
meaning.
Excelente (20)
Bien (16)
Regular (14)
Inaceptable (8)
Excellent accuracy with
few errors in grammatical
points covered up to this point.
Good accuracy with some
errors in grammatical points
covered up to this point.
Adequate accuracy with
consistent errors in
grammatical points
covered up to this point.
Almost complete lack of
attention to grammatical
points covered up to this
point.
Expression (5 puntos)
Ortografía (10 puntos)
Gramática (20 puntos)

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