OVERVIEW

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at students' acquisition of basic morphosyntactic structures of the Spanish language and vocabulary  ̶ above all of an economic-commercial nature ̶  necessary to understand also texts on current issues concerning, in particular, the field of specialization, in order to start a written and oral production suited to a level B1 communicative competence.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the student will be able to understand sentences and expressions of frequent use related to the daily sphere or working contexts, to produce short and coherent texts and to speak in a simple way of his personal experiences and his plans as well as interacting in communicative situations related to the field of specialty.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the skills acquired will allow the further development of receptive and productive communication skills and of the fundamental vocabulary to express itself both in the usual daily life situations and in those related to the field of specialty.
Autonomy of judgment: the skills learned will allow both a conceptual and practical assessment of autonomously and effectively and to achieve consistent choices in different situations.
Communication skills: the acquired specialty language will allow you to communicate with both specialist and non-expert interlocutors.

Learning skills: the acquired competences (level B1) will allow autonomously to continue to deepen the themes and contents learned for the purpose of their use in the world of work.

PREREQUISITES

The course is intended both for beginners, who will have the opportunity to start from scratch, and for non-beginners. Therefore no special prerequisites are required.

In aulaweb, any way, beginner students will be provided with appropriate tools to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and basic skills useful to more easily address the contents of teaching, as well as the possibility of self-practice (interactive exercises with solutions).

TEACHING METHODS

Distance lessons on the TEAMS platform: frontal lessons for the theoretical part; communicative-contrastive method for the practical part.

If it is not possible to carry out activities in presence, the delivery methods established in case of emergency situations will be adopted (mixed mode: in presence and online), also with regard to the examination methods, which will be communicated in AW.

Verification of learning. There will be periodic simulations of the exam, with immediate correction.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1) LETTORATO:

a) Grammar content.

• Pronunciation and spelling of sounds • Accentuation •  Number and genus of nouns and adjectives • Determined and indefinite article • Indicative timings (regular and irregular): morphology and syntax • Ser / estar, haber / tener: uses and contrastive analysis • Numerals • Demonstrative, possessive and indefinite pronouns and adjectives • Grades of the qualifying adjective • Contrasting use of the times of the past • Personal pronouns as a complement • The Imperative (affirmative and negative) • The prepositions • The Subjunctive. • The Conditional present.

b) Communicative functions and vocabulary (daily and in the business environment).

• Greeting and presenting in a formal and informal way • Spanish-speaking countries and nationalities • The family • The home • The office • Professions and professions • Physical description of the character, profession, work environment, home and of objects • Ask and give personal or professional information (study or work) • Express and ask for preferences regarding food and leisure • Clothing • Ask and give directions in shops, hotels and restaurants. 

2) COMMERCIAL MODULE 

a) CULTURE

Spanish in the world: diffusion and economic-cultural importance. • Latin America and Spain: language (hints of sociolinguistics) and civilization. Socio-political aspects.

b) COMPANY

The business world in Spanish-speaking countries. • Import / Export: trade treaties (NAFTA and MERCOSUR). • MERCOSUR and EU trade agreements. • Business marketing. • Spanish as a language of specialty (job interview; drafting simple e-mails; cover letters (with CV); job requests and offers; requesting / giving information about a company and the duties and tasks performed; presentation and promotion of a commercial product (creation of advertising slogans). • Topical topics of a socio-economic and political-cultural nature will be examined in order to specifically strengthen the communication skills of the level (both written and oral), within the field of specialties, as well as allow you to recognize some linguistic varieties of Spanish through the examination of different types of texts.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) M. de Prada y P. Marcé, Entorno laboral, nivel A1/B1, nueva edición ampliada, Edelsa 2016.
2) E. Conejo; P. Seijas; B. Tonnelier; S. Troitiño, Cuadernos de Gramática española A1-B1, Difusión (edición en español).
3) The part relating to the course of Professor LANIERI will be expanded later. Slides, summary sheets / details elaborated by the teacher and additional material will be made available to students (both attending and not attending) in aulaweb.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MORENA LANIERI (President)

CHRISTINA GREEVE

JUSTIN RAINEY

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons start: on September 28th. More information will be provided in Aulaweb.

Class schedule

SPANISH LANGUAGE

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written test: on the grammatical topics examined. Completion exercises and open questions. Short written production text

Oral exam: a short, interactive conversation based on the level of communication functions and the economic-cultural issues analyzed during the year.

The oral exam will be held immediately after the written exam.

Attending students: there will be ongoing tests that will compete for the final evaluation in the measure of 50% and will be valid from June to January (inclusive), except if the student does not pass the whole exam. In this case, both the written and the oral must be repeated two times later (not in the following one).

NOT attending students: the program and the bibliography are the same.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The written exam will verify the syntactic-grammatical skills of the required level as well as the ability to produce short texts on experiences regarding daily life or reproducing situations related to the working environment of the business world. The evaluation of the oral exam will take into account the correctness of the exposition, also in the use of the specialized lexicon, the knowledge of the economic-cultural aspects examined during the year and the capacity for personal re-elaboration of the contents.

Exam repetition: It is not possible to take the exam in two consecutive sessions within the same session.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Spanish Erasmus students / students with a high school diploma obtained in a Spanish-speaking country: written work concerning the specialty area - to be agreed with the professor Lanieri - who will have to present orally.

LINGUISTIC CERTIFICATIONS.
Those in possession of a DELE, of no more than 3 years, will be able to partially avail themselves of this diploma: the same will be validated upon passing a supplementary oral exam on topics to be agreed with the professor LANIERI.