Aims

In consonance with the overall aims of the degrees offered in the SML, this module will:

1. focus on further developing students' written communicative and oral/ aural competence in the
foreign language gained in Level B (including fluency, grammatical and lexical accuracy and range; register and pronunciation);
2. prepare students for the future study of the language (written communicative and oral / aural skills);
3. facilitate students' ability to establish and maintain effective social and working relations with
speakers of the foreign language in written and spoken media during their intercalary year. This includes students’ ability to use and understand authentic material and produce their own written and spoken output.

Outline Of Syllabus

Communication: development of spoken and written communicative competence by study of the following thematic programme dealing with a range of aspects of Spanish and Latin American culture and contemporary society:
1. Introducción del módulo
2. Mundo laboral
3. Estudiar en España
4. Trabajo voluntario y volunturismo
5. Choque cultural y estereotipos


- further study and practice of a wide-ranging coverage of the grammar system of modern Spanish and
- further systematic development of lexis in a wide range of contemporary themes and settings.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1. Teaching in the language seminars will focus on oral communication skills (speaking and listening) while reading and writing skills are mainly developed in the preparation of and the associated work after the language seminar.

2. Independent learning and learner autonomy are further developed through the means of structured homework and research activities, grammar-related activities, online guided tasks, pair and group work, assessment preparation, and self-study at home, via the University’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and in the Language Resource Centre. Particular initiative is expected from students at this level, e.g. course participants will be asked to contribute their own materials to the classes and activities and be very pro-active in their language study.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The written exercise (100%) will be submitted online towards the end of Semester 1. It will test the students’ ability to produce a well-structured text in the target language based on the comprehension and analysis of written source material.