Designed for students with little exposure to Spanish, this course develops basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills and basic intercultural competence in interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication at the Novice Level of proficiency based on ACTFL guidelines. During this course, students perform better and stronger in the Novice-Mid level while some abilities emerge in the Novice High range. This is an introductory course aimed at helping the student to communicate in Spanish in everyday familiar situations via recognition and production of practiced or memorized words, phrases, and simple sentences.

Designed for students with some degree of exposure to Spanish in high school and/or at home, this course continues to develop basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills and basic intercultural competence in interpretive, interpersonal and presentational modes of communication based at the Novice High Level of proficiency based on ACTFL guidelines, although a few abilities may emerge in the Intermediate Low Level. Students in this course communicate in Spanish in familiar topics using a variety of words, phrases, simple sentences and questions that have been highly practiced and memorized.

This is a beginning-level Spanish course designed for students who have a cultural connection to the Spanish language. Some students have had very little exposure to the language and enter the class to develop beginning-level skills. Other students may have grown up hearing the heritage language int he community and may understand some Spanish and speak at a basic level as a result. The objective is to draw upon the connection to the heritage language as a source of motivation and engagement for our learning communities. At the same time, we build upon the language base that students may already have as a result of their heritage learner experience in order to develop new proficiencies in Spanish and reactive the Spanish that students have learned previously. By the end of this course, students will be able to describe their home, campus surroundings and common activities including cultural traditions. At the same time, students gain cultural competency and develop a critical understanding of their linguistic and cultural background.

Spanish as a Heritage Language II is a second semester class designed for students who have developed some basic Spanish proficiency from previous classes and/or from community experiences. This course provides students with the opportunity to develop their proficiency in the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). Class activities are designed to strengthen oral communication skills (speaking and listening) through a variety of group activities. By the end of the course students will be able to understand and produce narrations of past events in oral and written Spanish. In order to foster a desire to revitalize and maintain the Spanish language in the US context we attempt to raise students’ critical awareness of what it means to be part of a specific speech community.

This course is based on the integration of Student Learning Outcomes across Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational Modes of Communication at the Intermediate Low Level of proficiency based on ACTFL guidelines. Students accomplish real-world communicative tasks in culturally appropriate ways as they gain familiarity with the target culture(s). This is an intermediate course aimed at helping the student to communicate in Spanish on familiar topics about self, others and everyday life at the same time that they recognize and handle short social interactions in interactions in everyday situations by asking and answering a variety of questions.

This course is based on the integration of Student Learning Outcomes across Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational Modes of Communication at the Intermediate High Level of proficiency based on ACTFL guidelines. Students accomplish real-world communicative tasks in culturally appropriate ways as they gain familiarity with the target culture(s). This is an intermediate course aimed at helping the student to communicate in Spanish on familiar topics about self, others and everyday life at the same time that they recognize and handle short social interactions in interactions in everyday situations by asking and answering a variety of questions.

Intermediate Spanish for Heritage Speakers I is a third semester course designed for students who have been raised in a Spanish-speaking environment and speak, or understand, some Spanish as a result of hearing it in the home, and in the community by family, friends, and neighbors. Students in this course will continue to develop their ability to narrate events in the past and will be able to describe hypothetical situations. Students will also develop their ability to express wishes, desires, and necessities. This course will help the student build confidence in their Spanish abilities and expand the language use in the areas of writing, reading, oral production and listening comprehension. In order to foster a desire to revitalize and maintain the Spanish language we attempt to raise students’ critical awareness of wider issues facing Spanish speakers in the US context.