- Having met the BAC 1 and BAC 2 course objectives set by the Faculty of Arts.
- Having enrolled for this course and included it in one's curriculum.
- Simultaneously follow the BAC 3 Spanish classes offered by the Faculty of Arts.
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
The aim of this course is to develop the systematic mastering of the communication and language skills (socio-lignuistic and pragmatic) needed in various productive, receptive, interactive and negotiating situations, corresponding to a B2.1-level starting point (the first threshold of B2) and a B2.2-level objective (the second threshold of B2) of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.
To reach that target, the themes tackled in the course differ from those that are usually addressed when only basic communication skills are aimed at.
Conversations, critical reflection and writing activites will be organized about: self-characterization, everyday life, holidays and leisure, hobbies and points of interest, travel, food and drink, work, abstract or cultural subjects, etc.
At the end of this learning module, the student should be able to:
- express themselves using a fair range of vocabulary about a broad array of general topics. The learner can vary their formulation so as to avoid repetition, but lexical hiatuses may still cause hesitation and paraphrasing (language skill: lexis: B2.2)
- communicate with fair grammatical control. Non-systematic errors and minor syntactic mistakes may still occur, but they are rare and can often be self-corrected retrospectively (language skill: grammar: B2.2)
- pronounce clearly and naturally; the same holds for intonation (language skill: phonology: B2.2)
- produce clear, coherent and intelligible writing that follows the rules of usage, lay-out and structure. Spelling and punctuation are more or less accurate, but may undergo interference from the learner's mother tongue (language skill: spelling: B2.2)
- express themselves with a fair degree of self-confidence, clearly and politely, in both formal and informal registers appropriate to the situation and the interlocutors at hand (socio-linguistic skill: self-correction: B2.2)
- adapt what they are saying and how they do it to the situation and the interlocutor; adapt the degree of formality according to the circumstances (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and flexibility: B2.2)
- use realy-made expressions (e.g. "That's a difficult question") so as to gain time while they are speaking and thinking at the same time about what they are going to say (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and turn-taking: B2.2)
- launch a speech, intervene at the right moment and end the conversation when necessary, even though it might come across as clumsy from time to time (pragmatic skill: discursiver competence and turn-taking: B2.2)
- intervene efficiently in a discussion, using the right language functions (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and turn-taking: B2.2)
- start, pursue and end a speech efficiently, respecting turn-taking (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and turn-taking: B2.2)
- make a clear description or narrative, developing and arguing the salient points with the help of significant details and examples (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and thematic development: B2.2)
- use a limited number of connectors to link their statements, even though there might be some hiatuses during a longish intervention (pragmatic skilll: discursive competence and coherence and cohesion: B2.2)
- use a large number of linkwords efficiently so as to clearly indicate the links between one's ideas (pragmatic skill: discursive competence and coherence and cohesion: B2.2)
- communicate with a fair degree of ease and spontaneity, which enables regular interaction with native speakers without any of the parties having to make an effort (pragmatic skill: functional competence and speaking ease: B2.2)
- transmit detailed information faithfully (pragmatic skill: functional competence and accuracy: B2.2)
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 with various activities linked to improving the communication, interactive and language skills (speaking, writing, listening and reading) as well as negotiating activities to be carried out throughout term, with a final exam on grammar and vocabulary.
The learning module is mainly taught in the form of contact hours, along with e-learning support on two UCL platforms (Moodle and Mahara).
The learning module follows a foreign-laguage handbook and its workbook, corresponding to the level aimed at in the course (B2.1).
The learning module is based on the PBL principle (problem-based learning) as well as the principles of self-study and self-reflection: the student is at the heart of their learning process and they are cognitively activated, so that they can autonomously self-construct their knowledge and know-how, beside the help of their peers.
Various self-assessment and peer assessment activities will thus be proposed throughout the learning module.
This learning module aims at developing all the language and communication skills entrenched in a communicative, lexical and grammatical approach. The methodology is very varied and includes carrying out various assignments (written and oral) throughout the course, linked to the themes tackled.
This learning module starts from an action-oriented approach, which means that the language learner is essentially becoming a language user in various fields (personal, public, professional, educational) and situations (places, organizations, actors, objects, events, operations, texts), with special attention paid to activities centred around spoken production.
- Alonso, R., Castañeda, A., Martínez Gila, P., Miquel, L., Ortega, J., & Ruiz Campillo, J.P. (2005). Gramática básica del estudiante de español
- Chamorro, M.D., Lozano Gr., Martínez Gila, P., Muñoz B., Rosales Fr., Ruiz Camillo, J. Pl., & Ruiz Fajardo, G. (2010). Abanico: libro del alumno (nueva edición)
- Chamorro, M.D., Lozano Gr., Martínez Gila, P., Muñoz B., Rosales Fr., Ruiz Camillo, J. Pl., & Ruiz Fajardo, G. (2010). Abanico: cuaderno de ejercicios (nueva edición)
