Course Syllabus
SPA 1Y: Spanish for Travelers
Instructor: Lillian Jones
Email: liljones@ucdavis.edu
Pronouns: She/her
Office: Sproul 609
On-line activities: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Face-to-face classes: Tuesday and Thursday • 9am-10:20am • Wellman Hall 103
Our first day of in-person class will be Tuesday, 09/28.
Office Hours:
• martes, 10:30 a 11:30 de la mañana | en persona (Sproul 609) // Tuesday, 10:30am-11:30am | in person (Sproul 609)
• jueves, 4 a 5 de la tarde | virtual (Zoom) // Thursday, 4:00pm-5:00pm | (Zoom): https://ucdavis.zoom.us/j/91281391540 • First Thursday office hours will be held Thursday, 10/01. NOT Thursday, 09/23.
*Office Hours are subject to change.
Tutors' schedule: NA
| domingo | lunes | martes | miércoles | jueves | viernes | sábado |
|
online activities
|
9:00am-10:20am 10:30am-11:30am office hours • in person |
online activities
|
9:00am-10:20am 4:00pm-5:00pm
|
online activities |
• Mid-term oral and written exam: Thursday, Nov. 4th
• Final Exam: Thursday, December 2nd • 9:00am-10:20am Pacific Time
Get-to-know you survey!
Please fill out this survey as a way for me to get to know you better before we start our class, as well as understand some of what you are excited or concerned about this upcoming quarter. I will also be conducting weekly anonymous surveys as a way to continuously check in with you all to understand how the course is going, and what challenges or strengths you are experiencing. You can access the survey here. ¡Mil gracias!
Health & Safety in our classroom
😷 "No mascarilla, no tienes silla" 🪑
As UC Davis students, instructors, and faculty we all have a responsibility to follow policies and requirements to keep us all healthy. This means that everyone in our class must wear a face covering at all times. All face coverings must cover your mouth and your nose. Thank you to everyone for your teamwork and understanding, as we all work together to keep our community safe and healthy.
For more information on university mask requirements, please read: Face coverings required for everyone and UC Davis Health Policies & Requirements.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A pdf with a detailed calendar can be found here.
This is a hybrid course, which means that, instead of coming to a face-to-face class every day of the week, you will come to class only twice a week and will complete online activities for the rest of the days.
All the program of the course and the links to the on-line activities, homework, power points, etc. for the course can be found in the Modules section. Each Module corresponds to a week of the quarter and all modules start with a Welcome Page where you can find all the instructions you need about what you need to do each day of the week. Make sure to visit the Modules section as often as possible to be up-to-date with all the information you need for this course.
Course goal
The goal of the SPA1Y: Elementary Spanish (Spanish for Travelers) course is to develop basic proficiency in Spanish in the context of real-life activities that happen when you are traveling in a Spanish-speaking country. The course particularly addresses the needs of students planning to participate in a Study Abroad program or in a touristic trip in Latin America or Spain and who have no previous experience with the Spanish language. Students are expected to learn to use basic Spanish vocabulary and grammatical constructions for communication in real, meaningful situations. It is also intended that students get comfortable listening, reading, writing and talking in Spanish, when using linguistic contents learned in the classroom.
Organization of the Modules
Monday and Wednesday (online): You will watch videos or be exposed to other relevant written and oral input, such as a short blog entry, a Yelp review or other types of texts related to the tasks that will be performed during the next face-to-face meeting. The aim of this first step is for you to get acquainted with the vocabulary and grammatical structures that you will need in the face-to-face meetings to complete the tasks proposed by the instructor. In order to make sure that you not only are exposed to input but actually learn the vocabulary and grammar needed for the Module, you will also need to complete a series of activities to demonstrate your understanding and knowledge about the contents covered during the on-line phase of the course. As the due dates indicate, you will be expected to complete all online activities BEFORE the next face-to-face meeting.
Tuesday and Thursday (face-to-face: 1 hour and 20 minutes): Face-to-Face class meetings will focus on oral practice. During those meetings, you will be asked to perform real-life tasks, such as checking-in your luggage at the airport or asking for food at the restaurant, using the vocabulary and grammar that you learned during the previous on-line session. Materials on Canvas will be used in class and are available for your reference. Your instructor will let you know in advance if you need to bring any materials to class to complete an activity.
Friday (online): Every week, on Fridays, you will be asked to reflect on what you have learned and carry out an activity that requires the use of the contents covered in that Module. You will complete a weekly self-evaluation. You will receive credit for completion.
Language in the classroom
Class time is to be used primarily for oral expression and comprehension. Spanish will be spoken in class most of the time. If you do not understand what your instructor says, you are expected to ask them to speak slower, to repeat or to help you find the meaning, but the instructor is expected to speak mostly Spanish and not to translate everything into English. Be confident: after a couple of weeks, you will understand most of what your instructor says.
Grammar and vocabulary review
Learning a new language is a continuous and incremental process where each new word and each new grammar structure comes to be added to your developing linguistic system. As such, you are expected to know all materials seen in class at any given time. For instance, you could be asked a question in a quiz that requires that you revise materials from three weeks before. Be ready to review past materials constantly and to remember the basic grammar rules when you learn more advanced contents. If you feel that you need some help to review contents or want to make sure that you are up-to-date with all the materials, do not hesitate to talk to your instructor and ask for practice exercises.
Extra Credit for participation in research projects:
For all students enrolled in Spanish language courses at UC Davis, there is a possibility to get 3% extra credit on the grade of your final exam (from 90% to 93%, 94% to 97%, etc) by participating in a research project. This research project requires you to complete two short writing assignments during the quarter. To get all the information about the project and to complete the assignments, you only need to go to the following canvas site: https://canvas.ucdavis.edu/enroll/XJFHL4
If additional opportunities to participate in research come up during the quarter, you have to ask your instructor about the rules that would apply.
Classroom policies
- Attendance: A student with five or more unexcused absences will receive an F in the course. Every time you miss class, if you do not want it to count as an absence, it is expected that you provide a valid excuse, in the form of an official doctor’s note (signed by a doctor). If you have an excuse that you consider valid but you do not have a doctor’s note, contact your instructor and they will ask the course coordinator for a final decision. You might have to meet in person with the course coordinator, if necessary. The instructor will have a count of the number of late arrivals and missed classes, but it is your responsibility to keep that count as well. If you are about to miss your 5th class, the instructor could, out of generosity, contact you to remind you of the policy, but this is not their responsibility. You need to check your own absences and make decisions accordingly.
- Two late arrivals or early departures (more than 5 minutes) will count as one absence. Out of respect for the instructor and for the rest of the students, you are expected to arrive and leave class on time.
- Make-up exams: Students are expected to take all exams on the day scheduled in the syllabus and with the rest of the class. There are no make-up exams unless there is a documented medical emergency. Make-up exams are given during instructor’s office hours or in the Testing Center within three days of the original exam date (weekend days included). Students are expected to communicate directly with the instructor to coordinate their make-up appointment. Planned absences, due to religious holidays, athletic commitments or other mandatory university events, must be documented and communicated with the instructor at least one week in advance of an exam date. Any failure to follow these requirements will result in the loss of make-up rights.
- Quizzes and all on-line activities have to be completed by the due date indicated on the syllabus. No late completion will be accepted. Only extreme medical situations might be taken into account, if necessary.
- Electronic devices: Electronic devices, such as cellphones, tablets or laptops are not to be used in the classroom, during face-to-face meeting and, if they are in your bag, they are expected to remain silent at all times. Only if the instructor specifically requests that you bring your laptop or cellphone with you for class purposes, can you use them in the classroom.
- If you used Google Translate for one of your assignments, you will receive a 0 for that assignment. If your work is suspected of plagiarism, you will also receive a 0, unless you can prove that your text is original. In order to avoid misunderstandings, make sure to use vocabulary and grammar seen in class. If you use tenses or structures that belong to higher levels (SPA 2, 3, 21, etc.), you will immediately be suspected of using Google Translate or of having copied a text from the internet.
- If you have taken Spanish in High School, you might not be able to receive a grade for this class. Before enrolling in the class, make sure to contact Vanessa Alvarez (vgalvarez@ucdavis.edu) to ask her if you can enroll in the class and receive a grade. You might also consider taking a Placement test (also contact Vanessa Alvarez about this) in order to be placed in a more adequate level for you, if you already have some proficiency in Spanish.
**EMAIL ETIQUETTE**
If there is an issue you would like to address via email, do not hesitate to contact your instructor. In your email, please always make sure you include a subject line, a greeting at the beginning of your message, and sign your message with your name. Avoid “texting” writing in your email. Emails that do not follow this format will not be answered. Emails will be answered within 24hs from 8am-6pm Pacific Time (PT), Monday through Friday. Student emails that are sent on Fridays after 6pm will not be answered until the following Monday morning. *Some exceptions may be made depending on extenuating circumstances.
Waiting lists and PTAs: PTA numbers are not usually given in first-year Spanish courses, as 25 is already an extremely high number of students for a language class where communication is important. If you are in the waiting list for this course, go to every class from the very first day of class and keep doing your homework. If, finally, you cannot enter the course, talk to your instructor and to the course coordinator and they will let you know if there are free spaces in other sections of the course and which are your alternatives.
Credit by examination: Any student that already knows the material taught in either Spanish 1, 2 or 3 but has not received high school or college credit for it, may challenge a course and receive credit by doing an interview and taking the final exam offered at the end of the quarter. This option allows students to satisfy the language requirement without having to attend class five days per week. See the course supervisor for more details. This must be arranged in the first two weeks of class.
Incomplete grade: The grade “I” may be assigned when a student’s work is of passing quality and represents a significant portion of the requirements for a final grade, but is incomplete for a good cause as determined by the Course supervisor. Good cause may include illness, serious personal problems, an accident, a death in the immediate family, a large and necessary increase in working hours or other situation of equal gravity.
If you need any accommodations to complete the course requirements and you are registered with the SDC, please communicate with the instructor as soon as possible. If you feel you might benefit from a course accommodation, please contact the SDC directly https://sdc.ucdavis.edu/ for more information. The instructor cannot make any accommodations without the written modifications provided by the SDC.
Administrative questions and grievances
For any administrative question about the course, please contact Vanessa Alvarez: vgalvarez@ucdavis.edu
Any problems or grievances concerning the course should be referred to the course coordinator: Claudia H. Sanchez Gutierrez, chsanchez@ucdavis.edu
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|