All Courses
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CST First-Generation Initiative
This canvas page exists to support the mission of the CST First-Generation Initiative as we seek to build a community of practice in our faculty and staff and a community of support among students to foster their success, build social capital and make known the hidden curriculum at our institution.
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Composition
Course Description and Goals: As a writing intensive course, Spanish 2096 helps students to develop composition skills through a variety of analytical and creative assignments. To accomplish this goal, the course reviews previously studied grammar topics and introduces additional verbal structures to foster communicative accuracy. Students work on techniques to identify errors while proactively learning to avoid similar mistakes. Despite the course’s emphasis on written expression, other language skills are emphasized through practical means. Students will be analyzing various texts assigned for reading. Likewise, listening engagement and oral participation are also key components as manifested in follow-up discussions to analyze content, structure, and aesthetics of the texts. These assignments will help students to expand their vocabulary, improve spelling precision, and develop critical thinking while learning another language. Spanish will be the target language for all activities related to the course. This is a three-credit course meeting 2 or 3 times per week. At the end of the semester, students should be able to write in Spanish at the Intermediate- Mid level (ACTFL Rating Scale). According to the Department’s Outcomes Assessment document, a writer at this level is able to write brief synopses and paraphrases, summaries, and short compositions using present and future tenses with fair accuracy. Students may use past verb forms, but not always with complete correction or with proper control. Students may show good control of elementary vocabulary and some control of basic syntactic patterns, but major errors still occur when expressing more complex thoughts. At this level, students are able to use basic cohesive elements of discourse to full advantage (i.e., relative constructions, pronouns, connectors, and the like). Though faulty, writing is comprehensibleto native speakers used to reading Spanish written by non-natives. Students are able to express a few thoughts for which vocabulary is unknown via circumlocution, but may insert syntactic patterns of their respective native-language when expressing ideas beyond current level of linguistic competence (Appendix B. Written Expression in Spanish. 1.5-1.0). Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: Write clearly and logically in various registers and writing situations Communicate feelings, opinions, brief stories, arguments, and information in writing Construct a narrative Correct their own work with greater accuracy Plan their tasks by using pre-writing techniques: taking notes, focusing on essential questions, brainstorming Draw on an expanded vocabulary Draw on a knowledge of grammar and structures solidified by practice and correction Conduct library research and be able to accordingly cite reference and sources