UC Merced offers Elementary Spanish courses (SPAN 001 & SPAN 002), Intermediate Spanish courses (SPAN 003 & SPAN 004), and advanced Spanish courses (please see http://spanish.ucmerced.edu for a list of advanced Spanish courses). At the intermediate level, we offer also a track for Spanish Heritage speakers (SPAN 010 & SPAN 011)
The Spanish language courses aim to build a solid foundation of vocabularies and grammar necessary for developing interpersonal, interpretative and presentational communication skills in the language. In addition, students have ample opportunities to speak, read, and write in Spanish as well as learn about the culture of Spanish speaking countries and communities.
SPAN 001: Elementary Spanish I
1. Course Description
Elementary Spanish 001 is an introduction to the Spanish language and the culture of the countries, and communities in the United States that speak it. It is the first course in the series SPAN 001-SPAN 004. Students that complete Spanish 004 are eligible to start the minor and major in Spanish that UC Merced offers.
2. Prerequisite:
No prerequisite. This course is intended for student with little or none ability to communicate in Spanish. Students that do not fit this description or are Spanish Heritage speakers are encouraged to talk with the World Languages coordinator Dr. Virginia Adán-Lifante (vadan-lifante@ucmerced.edu) or their academic advisor to discuss what Spanish course they should take
3. SPAN 001 and General Education
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize and reproduce the Spanish sound system.
2. Identify and reproduce in writing and orally vocabulary related to: greetings, numbers, school, family, clothes, colors, days of the week, seasons, weather, food, and travel.
3. Describe and compare people and things, including aspects of the culture of several Spanish speaking countries.
4. Ask basic questions.
5. Recognize and produce communicative messages orally and in writing by using basic Spanish grammar and common expressions (present, past tenses, future actions –Ir+a+infinitive-, ser and estar, direct, indirect and reflexive pronouns, formal commands, indefinite and negative words).
6. Compare and contrast his/her own values, behaviors and worldviews with those of Spanish-speakers.
7. Analyze readings as well as apply reading strategies.
SPAN 002: Elementary Spanish II
1. Course Description
Elementary Spanish 002 is an introduction to the Spanish language and the culture of the countries, and communities in the United States that speak it. It is the second course in the series SPAN 001-SPAN 004. Students that complete Spanish 004 are eligible to start the minor in Spanish that UC Merced offers.
2. Prerequisite: Elementary Spanish I (SPAN 001) or equivalent (score on placement test or had taken two or three years of non-Spanish Heritage speaker courses at high school or received an AP Spanish Language score of 2). Students that do not fit this description or are Spanish Heritage speakers are encouraged to talk with the World Languages coordinator Dr. Virginia Adán-Lifante (vadan-lifante@ucmerced.edu) or their academic advisor to discuss what Spanish course they should take.
3. SPAN 002 and General Education
- Language requirement
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize and reproduce accurately the Spanish sound system.
2. Identify and reproduce in writing and orally vocabulary related to: leisure time, health, professions, electronics, housing, art, environment, and social life.
3. Describe and compare people and things, including aspects of the culture of several Spanish speaking countries.
4. Ask questions.
5. Recognize and produce communicative messages orally and in writing by using Spanish grammar and common expressions (Past tense- present perfect, imperfect, preterite-, superlatives, relative pronouns, uses of hacer, uses of se, uses of por and para, informal commands, subjunctive, past participle).
6. Compare and contrast his/her own values, behaviors and worldviews with those of Spanish-speakers.
7. Analyze literary works by Hispanic authors and non-literary readings as well as apply reading strategies.
SPAN 003: Intermediate Spanish I
1.Course Description:
In Intermediate Spanish I (SPAN 003) students will have the opportunity to review what they learned in first year Spanish, but also will acquire new grammar structures and vocabulary. Special emphasis will be placed on culture as well as on enhancing oral, listening, writing and reading skills. SPAN 003 is the third course in the SPAN 001-SPAN 004 series. Students that complete SPAN 004 are eligible to start the minor in Spanish that UC Merced offers.
2. SPAN 003 and General Education:
SPAN 003 Fulfills the following new General Education program requirements (from Fall 2018):
- Approach to knowledge: Arts and Humanities
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
-Literary & Textual Analysis: Learn how language creates meaning and ambiguity.
3. Prerequisite:
Elementary Spanish II (SPAN 002) or equivalent (grade on placement test or had taken three or four years of Spanish at high school or a score of 3 on the AP Spanish Language Exam). Spanish Heritage Speakers that had not taken Spanish for Heritage speakers at high school should not take SPAN 001 or SPAN 002. They should take SPAN 010 or SPAN 003 (to enroll in SPAN 003 they should get a requirement override form signed by Prof. Virginia Adán-Lifante (vadan-lifante@ucmerced.edu)
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize and reproduce accurately the Spanish sound system.
2. Identify and reproduce, in writing and orally, vocabulary related to: physical features and personality, social relations, family, professional world, media, and technology.
3. Narrate and understand, in writing and orally, stories in the present and in the past in Spanish, including background information, description and sequence of events using a variety of verb tenses (present indicative, progressive tenses, preterit and imperfect indicative, present perfect and pluperfect indicative).
4. Communicate and understand, in writing and orally, influence, emotion and doubt using the subjunctive mood (present subjunctive).
5. Recognize and produce communicative messages, orally and in writing, by using Spanish grammar and common expressions such as to be (ser, estar, tener, haber), gustar and similar verbs, pronouns, accidental and impersonal se, and formal and informal commands.
6. Produce organized writing and oral texts rich in content, grammar, and vocabulary on individual experiences as well as on Hispanic individuals and communities.
7. Describe and compare people, things and social groups, including aspects of the culture of several Spanish speaking countries and communities. Student also compares his/her values, behaviors and worldviews with those of Spanish speakers.
8. Analyze by applying reading strategies literary and non literary works by Hispanic authors.
SPAN 004: Intermediate Spanish II
1. Course Description:
In Intermediate Spanish II (SPAN 004) students will have the opportunity to review what they learned in first year Spanish, but also will acquire new grammar structures and vocabulary. Special emphasis will be placed on culture as well as on enhancing oral, listening, writing and reading skills. SPAN 004 is the fourth course in the SPAN0 01-SPAN 004 series. Students that complete Spanish 04 are eligible to start the minor and the major in Spanish that UC Merced offers.
2. SPAN 004 and General Education:
SPAN 004 fulfills the following new General Education program requirements (from Fall 2018):
- Approach to knowledge: Arts and Humanities
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
-Literary & Textual Analysis: Learn how language creates meaning and ambiguity.
3. Prerequisite:
Intermediate Spanish I (SPAN 003) or equivalent (grade on placement test or a score of 4 on the AP Spanish Language Exam). Spanish Heritage speakers that have taken Spanish for Heritage speakers in High School should may not have to take SPAN 001, 002, 003 before taken SPAN 004. They should talk with Porf. Virginia Adán-Lifante (vadan-lifante@ucmerced.edu) to find out which is the best Spanish course for them.
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
- Recognize and reproduce accurately the Spanish sound system.
- Identify and reproduce in writing and orally vocabulary related to: bilingualism, immigration, national identity, environment, economy, human rights, Latin American and Spanish history.
- Communicate and understand, in writing and orally, influence, emotion, doubt, contingency, purpose, and non-existence, using the subjunctive mood (present, past, present perfect and pluperfect of subjunctive).
- Communicate and understand, in writing and orally, actions in the future using the future and the future perfect tenses.
- Express and understand, in writing and orally, likely, unlikely and impossible actions (hypothetical situations) using present and future indicative, conditional, conditional perfect, past and pluperfect subjunctive.
- Produce organized writing and oral texts rich in content, grammar, and vocabulary on individual experiences as well as on Hispanic individuals and communities. Write a research paper.
- Describe and compare people, things and social groups, including aspects of the culture of several Spanish speaking countries and communities. Student also compares his/her values, behaviors and worldviews with those of Spanish-speakers.
- Analyze by applying reading strategies literary and non-literary works by Hispanic authors.
SPAN 010: Spanish for Heritage Speakers I
1. Course Description
Spanish for Heritage Speakers I (SPAN 10) has been designed keeping in mind the linguistic and cultural needs of those students that have been exposed to Spanish at home but have not studied it in an academic institution. Some of those students understand Spanish but do not feel comfortable speaking it, while others are able to converse in Spanish at home and in community situations but may lack the abilities to interact comfortably in more formal settings and possess limited skills in reading and writing in Spanish. According to Barbara González–Pino and Frank Pino, among others, “for heritage speakers to maintain the language, a formal study of Spanish needs to occur with instructional goals focusing on grammar, reading and writing, vocabulary development, exposure to the language and culture and its communities, and consciousness-raising activities about Spanish language and identity” (“Serving the heritage speaker across a five-year program.”ADFL-Bulletin, 32(1) 2000, 27–35). Consequently, SPAN 10 aims to develop and challenge Spanish heritage speakers’ ability in speaking, reading, writing, listening, and cultural development in Spanish. Furthermore, Spanish for Heritage Speakers allows students to reactivate the Spanish they have learned previously and develop it further to learn more about their language and cultural heritage, acquire Spanish literacy skills, develop or augment Spanish academic language abilities, and enhance career opportunities.
2. Course requirements:
There are not prerequisites for this course other than being a Spanish Heritage speaker. In fact, students that are Spanish Heritage speakers and had not taken Spanish for heritage speakers or advanced Spanish at high school should not take SPAN 001 oe SPAN 002, they should take SPAN 010 (or SPAN 003).
3. SPAN 010 and General Education:
SPAN 010 Fulfills the following new General Education program requirements (from Fall 2018):
- Approach to knowledge: Arts and Humanities
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
-Literary & Textual Analysis: Learn how language creates meaning and ambiguity.
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize and reproduce accurately the Spanish sound system.
2. Identify and reproduce in writing and orally vocabulary related to: art, the professional world, education, the university, the military and statistical study.
3. Ask and answer questions.
4. Narrate and understand, in writing and orally, stories in the present and in the past in Spanish, including background information, description and sequence of events using a variety of verb tenses (present indicative, progressive tenses, preterit and imperfect indicative).
5. Demonstrate appropriate writing skills by using correct accentuation and spelling.
6. Apply correct grammar (ser/estar, adjectives, por/para, pronouns, and superlatives), sentence structure, vocabulary, and capitalization to write descriptions and narrations.
7. Apply knowledge of cultural practices to spoken and written Spanish.
8. Recognize and respect linguistic variation. Realize that Spanish spoken in one country or regions may vary from that of other regions, but that all are valid and worthy of respect.
9. Analyze by applying reading strategies literary and nonliterary works by Hispanic authors.
SPAN 011: Spanish for Heritage Speakers II
1. Curse Description:
Spanish for Heritage Speakers II (SPAN 011) has been designed keeping in mind the linguistic and cultural needs of those students that have been taken one year Spanish for Heritage Speakers in an academic institution or have been exposed to Spanish at home and received at least a score of 4 on the AP Spanish or 3 on Spanish Literature. Some of those students understand Spanish but do not feel comfortable speaking it, while others are able to converse in Spanish at home and in community situations but may lack the abilities to interact comfortably in more formal settings and possess limited skills in reading and writing in Spanish. According to Barbara González–Pino and Frank Pino, among others, “for heritage speakers to maintain the language, a formal study of Spanish needs to occur with instructional goals focusing on grammar, reading and writing, vocabulary development, exposure to the language and culture and its communities, and consciousness-raising activities about Spanish language and identity (“Serving the heritage speaker across a five-year program.” ADFL-Bulletin, 32(1) 2000, 27–35. Consequently, SPAN 011 aims to develop and challenge Spanish heritage speakers’ ability in speaking, reading, writing, listening, and cultural development in Spanish. Furthermore, Spanish for Heritage Speakers allows students to reactivate the Spanish they have learned previously and develop it further to learn more about their language and cultural heritage, acquire Spanish literacy skills, develop or augment Spanish academic language abilities, and enhance career opportunities.
2. Requisite:
Spanish for Heritage Speakers I (SPAN 010) or equivalent or consent of instructor. Since the placement exam is not designed for Spanish Heritage Speakers, those students that have learned Spanish at home should have taken SPAN 010 or an equivalent course in high school or have received at least a score of 4 on the AP Spanish or 3 on the Spanish Literature. SPAN 11 is a prerequisite for those Heritage Speakers that would like to take upper-division Spanish courses, Literature courses taught in Spanish, or pursue a Minor or Major in Spanish.
3. SPAN 011 and General Education:
SPAN 010 Fulfills the following new General Education program requirements (from Fall 2018):
- Approach to knowledge: Arts and Humanities
- Badges:
-Diversity & Identity: Consider how multiple kinds of difference—ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual—impact individuals and societies in the past and present.
-Global Awareness: Learn about environments, cultures, and issues in nations and regions outside the US.
-Literary & Textual Analysis: Learn how language creates meaning and ambiguity.
4. Course Outcomes:
By the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Recognize and reproduce accurately the Spanish sound system.
2. Identify and reproduce in writing and orally vocabulary related to: sports, fashion, clothes materials, information technology, science and business.
3. Ask and answer questions.
4. Narrate and understand, in writing and orally, stories in the present and in the past in Spanish, including background information, description and sequence of events using a variety of verb tenses (present indicative, progressive tenses, preterit and imperfect indicative, past participle, future, conditional, perfect tenses, and subjunctive mode).
5. Demonstrate appropriate writing skills by using correct accentuation and spelling.
6. Apply correct grammar (relative pronouns, formal and informal commands, etc), sentence s structure, vocabulary, and capitalization to write descriptions and narrations.
7. Apply knowledge of cultural practices to spoken and written Spanish.
8. Recognize and respect linguistic variation. Realize that Spanish spoken in one country or regions may vary from that of other regions, but that all are valid and worthy of respect.
9. Analyze by applying reading
