LANG1920-1

Duration

70h Th

Number of credits

	Bachelor in economics and business management	6 crédits
	Bachelor in business engineering	6 crédits

Lecturer

Nicole Grutman

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The course aims to reinforce their knowledge of Spanish and of the Hispanic world.
A portfolio of files and press articles enables students to broach topical news on the economic, political and Hispanic world as well certain cultural and societal aspects.
Special attention this year is given to Spain and Latin America (particularly Argentina).
To reach the course objective as regards listening comprehension, students are given a textual corpus and a sound recording of the conversations on economic, cultural, political and societal topics.
To keep their level and actively use the vocabulary learned in 2016-17, they will have to revise the dictionary compiled by the teacher.
The course further deals with grammatical theory. It is taught in Spanish except for the grammatical explanations given in French. As the focus is on the differences between both languages, a command of French is mandatory.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Objective: B2-B2+ level (CEFR)
By the end of the course, students will be expected to be able to understand the essential content of complex texts, including a technical explanation relating to their specialism (basic comprehension).
They will have to be able to speak spontaneously, fluently and clearly on a wide range of topics, expound their opinion on topical news and argue effectively.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Succeeding in the previous study years of the HEC-ULg programmes or else reaching level B1 (CEFR).
Having a command of the grammar taught in B1 and B2 (all verbal tenses and all syntaxical aspects of complex sentences) and extensive vocabulary.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Vocabulary, speaking, listening, writing and reading skills are developed together on the basis of the various supports and methods:
- a portfolio of files and press articles provides the basis of communicative and interactive exercices, which take up half of each class. This input on the Spanish economic, political and cultural world feeds debates in which students are expected to be able to express an opinion and defend it effectively.
- For those choosing so, their performance in these debates will be scored as continuous assessment, in which case class attendance is required. They will be proposed to act as facilitators in one debate (alone or in pairs), so as to get experience of how to manage a meeting. The student facilitators will be assisted by the teacher for their preparation and will be assessed with greater leniency given the difficulty of their task. This type of exercices also aims at sharpening students' critical thinking and getting them to manage conflicts.
- Most conversation topics will be introduced by an audio or video document. Regular reading of the Hispanic press and preparation of the listening comprehension exam (to be done individually for a part using the textual corpus and recording) means to develop the four skills with regard to economic, cultural, political and societal topics. Listening comprehension is developed throughout the course (teacher's input, audio and video extracts, individual homework).
- Part of the time is devoted to oral presentations relating to the Hispanic business and economic world. Students are to present a synthesic summary of the articles on these topics so as to check their comprehension.
Study of the dictionary already used in 2016-17 is to be revised so as to activate this vocabulary in oral expression.
Grammar exercices are given throughout the course.
Interactiviy is encouraged at all times.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

The course is taught in-person:
2h/week in Q1 and 3h/week in Q2.

Class attendance is vital. Please take this into account when signing up for the course.
Individual homework is focussed on the following aspects:
- Training and learning of the final part of the syntax and the new lexicon.
grammatical and lexical exercices to be done at home helps identify weaknesses and necessary remediation.
Vocabulary training first calls for revision of the advanced lexicon of Block 2 (dictionary) and then for further learning through press articles dealt with in class (business world, news).
- Preparing individual presentations: on a topic relating to the course.
- Readings as input for debates: on the basis of a textual corpus the form and content of which are to feed class discussions.

Assessment methods and criteria

Four parts each accounting for 1/4 of the final score:
- listening comprehension (scheduled during the Jan. session or in April for outgoing Erasmus students in Q1):
Part of the exam bears on the vocabulary of the texts dealt with (translation of separate words or idioms into and from French/Spanish). Most of the exam, though, consists in audio excerpts from press articles and native speakers' conversations on topical news (dealt with in class) with transcription and comprehension exercices; plus transcription exercices bearing on one (unknown) audio excerpt.
- vocabulary test on the Dictionary and the verbal tenses (in the Jan. session or in April for outgoing erasmus students in Q1): translations of words, idioms and short sentences from French into Spanish.
- writing (exam scheduled during the exam session): translation and grammar exercices, questions on the culture and composition on a topic dealt with in class.
- speaking (during the exam session or continuous assessment, optionally): conversation on topics dealt with in class.
Continuous assessment naturally requires weekly class attendance.

Please note:
A score of attendance for part of the exam or absence for part of the exam automatically entails a score of attendance for the course as a whole.
Severe failure (7/20 or less) in one of the 4 exam parts automatically entails failure for the whole course (even if the mean of the 4 parts is 10/20 or above).

Work placement(s)

No internship is provided with the course; students, however, are warmly encouraged to take any opportunity for a stay in a Spanish-speaking country.

Organizational remarks

Attending the first class of the term is mandatory as this gives out all essential information.

Contacts

Nicole GRUTMAN
email: Nicole.grutman@ulg.ac.be
tel: 04/232 72 80
Office 215 (N1)

Advanced Spanish 3