Spanish

Spanish 1.

Introduction

The Junior Spanish Curriculum aims to develop beginner-level Spanish language skills and to introduce the culture of the Spanish-speaking world. It provides basic training in spoken and written Spanish, oral practice for various everyday situations and essential grammatical structures. It also gives a general introduction of the Spanish-speaking countries’ society and culture. *

This is the second of a three-level set of courses (from S1 to S3) that helps the students reach the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). After that, they will be ready to take ** the official Spanish language certification for the A1 level, DELE Exam (Diploma of Spanish as a 1 Foreign Language) . 2.

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Objectives By the end of the course, students should: have revised and fixed the knowledge acquired in the last academic year be able to confidently distinguish Spanish sounds and pronounce them in a way that other Spanish speakers will be able to understand. have acquired a core active vocabulary of Spanish of around 150-250 words have developed skills to make relations between Spanish and English and Chinese grammar and vocabulary, reflecting on their similarities and differences. be able to make predictions on the meaning of words and sentences through the context or their similar words (cognates) in other languages known have developed basic intuitions on the Spanish morphology and syntax and learnt basic grammar patterns. be able to produce and understand simple messages in Spanish and interactively communicate in certain social situations with a basic awareness of the pragmatic rules involved. be able to write and read simple compositions in Spanish about themselves, family and the world around them. have a better understanding of human communication.

3.

Course Contents

3.1 „ „

Communicative contents Greetings in Spanish and reflection on pragmatic and cultural differences Asking and giving basic personal information: name, origin, nationality, age, address and phone number Describing and talking about oneself, the family and the people around us: civil state, hobbies, studies, occupation, personality, character and physical appearance Talking about likes and dislikes Introduction to the “classroom language”

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1*

A1 is the first of 6 levels, namely, A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, proposed in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated as CEFR, by the European Council in the guidelines used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages in Europe. ** DELE Exams are administered twice a year in Hong Kong (currently at the City University of Hong Kong). We are currently considering alternative external examination options for our students. 29

3.2

Linguistic contents Month „ „ 9/2010 „ „ „ „ „ 10/2010

11/2010

12/2010

1/2011

2/2011 3/2011

4/2011

5/2011

3.3 „ „ „ 4. 4.1 4.2. 4.3.

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Linguistic Contents General revision of the first level of Spanish Further practice on Spanish pronunciation and spelling system Introducing yourself Numeric operations Morphological features of Spanish (revision of gender and number) The articles The indefinite article “un/una/unos/unas” and the definite article “el/la/los/las” (the) The verb “haber” (“hay”) Talking about the classroom. The Spanish regular verb system Presente tense of regular verbs –ar, -er, and –ir verbs Talking about your school subjects Talking about your teachers and classmates Using adjectives to describe people Understanding all adjective agreements Giving opinions and reasons Talking about snacks, foods and drinks General revision after the Christmas holiday Using the possessive adjectives “mi(s), tu(s), su(s)” Talking about your family members, friends and pets Morphological agreement in Spanish (Articles, nouns, adjectives, ), Using the irregular verb “ser” (to be) Describing people in Spanish (physically and in character) Using the verb “estar” (to be) for locations Talking about the place where we live Hong Kong (“vivir”) Recognising all forms –ar and –er verbs Describing your room Using prepositions (“a, para, por, con, de”, ) Using stem-changing verbs (irregular “ir”, “querer”, “saber”…) Talking about activities you do in your bedroom Using “salir” (to go out) and “hacer” (to do) Telling the time Using the verb “ir” (to go) Talking about sports Talking about what you do in your free time Taking about likes and dislikes “gustar”

Cultural contents What do Spanish speaking peoples (the “Latinos”) have in common, from Chile to Spain; how do the Hispanic cultures differ from other Western cultures; what is similar and different from the Chinese traditional culture? General cultural notes about Spanish speaking countries, about one of them (Spain) and about the Spanish language in the world, the family relationships in the Spanish speaking countries An overview of Latin music and dance Homework and Course Requirements There is one hour per class per week, and students are expected to study about one hour at home every week for revision, self-study, and homework. Weekly homework announcements via e-homework system in the e-class will be done so that parents can help supervising the process. Doing the homework and the class-work assignments in time is vital for the appropriate development of the new linguistic and communication skills in Spanish.

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4.4.

Mark deduction will be applied to any late submission of every homework and classwork (except for medical reasons). 4.5. Students not performing according to the expected level will be required to attend a remedial class and will be also required to do extra homework in order to help them catch up with the level of the class. 4.6. As a general rule, this course requires students to try to speak as much Spanish as possible in the lessons and use Spanish with the teacher in the school and in emails. 4.7. Dates for quizzes, presentations and other projects will be announced by the Spanish teacher in class with sufficient time. 5.

Books, Files and Exercise Books

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¡Mira! 1 Pupil Book * ¡Mira! 1Workbook A: reinforcement * CLUB PRISMA Nivel A1 - Libro de Alumno + CD, Spanish Language Textbook for Young Students (including CD for listening of texts) [material from last year] CLUB PRISMA Nivel A1 - Ejercicios para el Alumno, Spanish Language Workbook for Young Students (including website access for self-study and homework) [material from last year] Blue exercise book for Dictation, homework and notes A clear plastic folder for keeping handouts, book reports, course booklets and supplementary exercises

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*Depending on the performance of the students the second level of the newly adopted textbook (¡Mira! 2) and its workbook will be adopted sometime during the academic year.

6.

Other Useful Resources

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LTPSS Spanish Youtube Channel www.youtube.com/spanishltpss (Go to playlists) LTPSS E-Class system (for e-homework, audio-files, online exercises and communication with teacher) Online dictionary (multilingual English-Chinese-Spanish) www.wordreference.com Herramientas de Español (http://www.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/ats/) Enrique Yepes Spanish Grammar Online Advanced Spanish Book is a concise outline of essential grammar structures based on John Turner's All the Spanish Grammar You Really Need to Know. Español ABC (vol. 1), 速成西班牙语 (第一册) Liu Jian et al. 劉建, 徐蕾, 劉元祺, (2004). Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Beijing. Spanish resources in the LTPSS Library

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Assessments Continuous assessment (70%) - Active participation in class - Classwork performance (written work and oral interactions) - Homework (quality and regularity) - Projects: Written and Oral presentations - Quizzes, games and tests Examination (30%) Total

5% 10% 15% 20% 20% 100%

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8.

Role of Parents at Home

In order to make a strong connection between parents and students, the Spanish teachers will inform the parents about the academic progress of their students through the report card, as well as the communication column in students’ diary, and if necessary, via school’s email address. It is expected that parents would assume a supervisory role at home, monitoring the student’s academic progress. For most of the parents, Spanish language will be one of the few subjects that they will feel unable to help their children. However, parents can contribute a lot by showing interest in what the students are learning, asking to share with them the knowledge (useful sentences, linguistic and cultural differences, etc.) that their children have learnt or asking about the homework for the week. Parents should bear in mind that according to the School’s policies, only students performing satisfactorily in Spanish language would be allowed to take Spanish in the coming academic years.

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