Spring 2009 Language Courses

Department of Language and Literature
Spring 2009 language courses

To see detailed descriptions of the department’s spring 2009 language classes, click on a language or scroll down to see the full list.

Arabic| Chinese| Spanish

Note: Department course offerings are subject to change at any time. For the most up-to-date information, please check BenULive.

Arabic

Arabic calligraphy ›› ARBC 102 | Elementary Arabic I (Hammad)

This course offers students continued study of basic Arabic skills. Students will work on developing oral and written proficiency in Arabic by improving their vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading comprehension. In addition, students will gain a broader understanding and appreciation of Arab culture.

Chinese

›› CHIN 102 | Elementary Chinese II (Feng)

This course offers students continued study of basic Chinese skills. Students will work on developing oral and written proficiency in Chinese by improving their vocabulary, pronunciation, and reading comprehension. In addition, students will gain a broader understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture.

Spanish

›› SPAN 101 | Elementary Spanish I (Montero)

In this introductory course, students will learn to do the following in oral and written Spanish:

tell your name, where you are from, and your age.
greet someone and say goodbye.
identify the various regions and countries of the Hispanic world.
describe people and objects and identify a person’s nationality.
discuss everyday activities and state location and where you are going.
indicate possession.
describe what someone is doing.
express the time and date.
begin to narrate the past.
begin to compare people and objects.

Students will also gain an enhanced understanding of and appreciation for various Hispanic cultures.

›› SPAN 102 | Elementary Spanish II (Montero)

In this course, students will learn to do the following in oral and written Spanish:

talk about things in the past.
discuss the location of people and things.
describe family relationships.
describe household items,
identify food items.
make hotel and phone reservations.
ask and give prices.
narrate past actions.
discuss leisure-time activities.
place phone calls.
express emotions.
express doubt and certainty.
describe needs, wants, and preferences.
give instructions and advice and making requests.

Students will also gain an enhanced understanding of and appreciation for various Hispanic cultures.

›› SPAN 201 | Intermediate Spanish I (Vinkler)

This course will enable students to improve their ability to communicate in Spanish correctly, use native-like intonational patterns, and learn more about Hispanic civilizations and cultures. Students will learn to do the following in oral and written Spanish at the Intermediate-Mid level:

describe daily routines and activities.
describe the permanent characteristics of and the temporary state or condition of people or things.
compare people and things using adjectives and comparisons of equality, inequality, and the superlative.
discuss what will happen in the future
discuss what has happened previous to the present moment, and what they and others have or have not done.
report/narrate what happened in the past
discuss what things “used to” be like in the past, and describe what they and others “used to do” or “would do” habitually.
use informal and formal commands.
give advice and make suggestions, express their emotional reaction to various events, express doubt about various issues, discuss hypothetical issues or things.
identify and analyze the impact of Latinos and Latino culture in the United States, and the Latino presence in the arts, politics, business and everyday life.
describe and discuss the importance of various religious and traditional beliefs and practices that are an integral part of the cultures of a number of Spanish-speaking countries.

›› SPAN 202 | Intermediate Spanish II (Iglesias)

Detail from entrance mosaic: Park Guell in Barcelona, designed by Antoni Gaudí

This course serves as a continuation of SPAN 201, providing both a comprehensive review of previously studied material and enabling students to use the Spanish language with greater accuracy, flexibility, and assurance. In addition to learning about Hispanic civilizations and cultures, students will continue to work on pronunciation, listening comprehension, and the use of native-like intonational patterns. Topics to be covered may include the following:

describing scenes, people, and things orally and in writing.
using both oral and written Spanish to request and summarize information; compare and contrast things and ideas; make suggestions and give commands in both informal and formal contexts; and communicate about past, future, probable, and hypothetical actions.
learning new vocabulary that will enable students to talk and write about shopping, dental care, money and banking, foods, animals, the environment, personality traits, photography, seeking employment, interpersonal relationships, and art.
reading a number of literary and informational texts in Spanish by Hispanic authors.

›› SPAN 211 | Intermediate Grammar & Composition (Vinkler)

Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958) This course offers a comprehensive review of Spanish grammar in order to reinforce and synthesize material studied in elementary and intermediate level Spanish courses. Students will gain experience using many of the most difficult grammatical aspects of the Spanish language (e.g., accentuation, preterit and imperfect tenses, regular and irregular verb conjugations, indicative, subjunctive and imperative modes, prepositions, gender and number of nouns, adjective forms and agreement, etc.) and develop writing skills in Spanish at a level sufficient to enable them to participate successfully in upper level intermediate and advanced courses in Spanish.

Students will learn to write texts of moderate length with sufficient grammatical accuracy so as to be easily comprehensible to native speakers of Spanish who are used to reading the writing of non-natives. They will also conduct focused research on a topic of their choosing to find several Spanish language sources of good academic quality and use these sources as the basis for strong argumentative writing.

›› SPAN 212 | Intermediate Oral Communications (Iglesias)

›› SPAN 291/391 | Topics: Contemporary Spanish Film (Montero)

Spain has produced many exciting and distinctive filmmakers, actors and actresses. Indeed, the sexually charged and colorful nature of many contemporary Spanish films has made them popular worldwide and led their directors and stars, like Antonio Banderas, to be welcomed by Hollywood. However, Spanish cinema has a rich and interesting history all its own, one that provides insight into many aspects of Spanish history and culture.

This course offers an introduction to Spanish cinema, focusing on the work of filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, Julio Menem, Alejandro Amenábar, Gonzalo Suárez, and Pedro Almodóvar. It traces the development of various themes and movements through different periods in Spanish cinema and Spanish history, including the Civil War, dictatorship, and the transition to democracy. The class is offered at the 200 and 300 levels, with more intensive work required at the 300 level.

›› SPAN 307 | Contemporary Drama in Spain (Iglesias)

This course studies representative Spanish playwrights of the twentieth century. Students will learn about the lives and work of some of the major contemporary playwrights of Spain (particularly Federico García Lorca and Valle-Inclán) and explore some of the cultural, economic, political, and ideological forces that influenced these writers. Students will work with critical and theoretical readings that introduce strategies for the analysis of drama, as well as have opportunities to strengthen their Spanish language skills.