Absolute beginner's level or a level under A2.
As far as the level is concerned, the students should reach the A2+ level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in terms of Listening and Reading skills, and the A2- level as far as Speaking and Writing skills are concerned.
The objective of the course is the development of the communication skills of the student in General Spanish and building awareness about the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries.
The communication contexts as well as the subjects are linked to everyday life : hobbies, travel, living conditions, invitations, family and friends, future projects, etc.
At the end of this learning module, the students should be able to :
- Read short texts about everyday life (personal letters, etc.), find specific information in commonly-used documents (advertisements, etc.) and understand the gist of discursive texts or simple narrative.
- Understand key information from short listening-comprehension passages about everyday life and grasp enough to be able to react to straightforward oral messages, on condition that the input be clear and the pace not too fast.
- Talk about themselves and their immediate surroundings ; communicate during simple and common tasks that only require brief and direct interaction.
- Write short and commonly-used documents (e-mail, postcards, etc.)
- Pronounce Spanish sounds and master basic vocabulary and the key concepts of basic Spanish grammar.
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Continuous assessment (several written tests and an oral test, throughout the year)
The course follows the communicative notional-functional method.
The course is based on communication and the methodology is a blend between the communicative and the notional-functional approaches. Notions of code are not acquired through the learning of vocabulary lists or an exclusively structural approach to grammar. These are integrated into meaningful contexts and grouped according to functional content (asking for and providing personal details, talking about everyday activities, spare time and tastes, describing a city, suggesting activities, etc.). They are subsequently practised in the form of excercises requiring the development of a global communicative competence.
The didactic materials include very detailed grammatical referencing and drilling exercises common to the structural approach, but the typology of the exercises and the basic materials are very heterogenous : songs, games, role-playing, authentic or abridged texts, advertisements, etc.
Materials
The materials are handed out to the students at the beginning of the year in the form of coursenotes or a handbook.
Bibliography
- Español 1. Ejercicios complementarios : workbook with numerous additional exercises and key
- Español G. Bases de gramática : a basic 27-chapter Spanish reference grammar.
This course may be chosen as an elective by students from all faculties of UCL, as well as by members of the academic, scientific and administrative staff.
