Student Learning Outcomes for Spanish Majors
Spanish Majors will achieve a level of proficiency in Spanish communication skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and in the understanding of Hispanic cultures sufficient to allow them to function effectively in careers in teaching, business, the media, government, the arts, etc.
These outcomes will be achieved by showing proficiency in the 5 C’s:
- Communication: The communication standard stresses the use of Spanish for communication in “real life” situations. It emphasizes “what students can do with language” rather than “what they know about language.” Students are asked to communicate in oral and written form, to interpret oral and written messages, to show cultural understanding when they communicate, and to present oral and written information to various audiences for a variety of purposes.
- Cultures: Cultural understanding is an important part of Spanish language education. Experiencing other cultures develops a better understanding and appreciation of the relationship between languages and other cultures, as well as the student’s native culture. Students become better able to understand other people’s points of view, ways of life, and contributions to the world.
- Connections: Spanish-language instruction must be connected with other subject areas. Content from other subject areas is integrated with Spanish-language instruction through lessons or courses that are developed around themes common to other subject areas.
- Comparisons: Students are encouraged to compare and contrast Spanish language and cultures with their own. They discover patterns, make predictions, and analyze similarities and differences across languages and cultures. Students often come to understand their native language and culture better through such comparisons.
- Communities: Extending learning experiences from the Spanish-language classroom to the home and multilingual and multicultural community emphasizes living in a global society. Activities may include: field trips; use of e-mail and the Internet; participation in clubs, exchange or study-abroad programs, and cultural activities; school-to-work opportunities; and opportunities to hear speakers of Spanish at the University and in the classroom.
Outcomes Assessment Activities
Assessment of the world languages program is the responsibility of the World Languages Program Assessment Committee, consisting of the Program Director for World Languages and three other faculty members. The committee’s annual reports evaluating the program and proposing any needed changes are compiled from the following information:
- A central file of course syllabi with representative assignments is maintained by the department for inspection by the committee and other qualified persons.
- Faculty advisors monitor each student’s progress towards completing major requirements and meeting the program goals listed in the catalog. Advisors report any problems or deficiencies in the program encountered by the students to the program assessment committee through the associate chair.
- All Spanish majors produce a senior assessment portfolio emphasizing professional standards and sharpening the proficiency skills students have acquired in their Spanish courses. Students work in conjunction with an advisor to complete the project and submit it to the Program Assessment Committee for review.
- Oral and written exit exams evaluate proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing as well as understanding of Hispanic culture.
- The Program Assessment Committee reviews the senior portfolios and the results of the exit exam on an annual basis and prepares an analysis of what is revealed about the program’s success.
- The Program Assessment Committee administers a student-satisfaction questionnaire to all senior world languages majors and minors each year. A similar questionnaire is sent to recent graduates on a periodic basis.
- The Program Assessment Committee monitors the world languages curricula at leading comparable institutions and apprises the department of innovations worthy of consideration.
Specific Requirements for B.A. in World Language - Spanish with K-12 Teaching Endorsement
In addition to the courses listed below, Spanish majors must also meet the following requirements:
- A senior assessment portfolio.
- A minor in Education and completion of all requirements of the Teacher Education Program for K-12 Spanish licensure.
- Completion of the oral and written proficiency exams and of the graduating-senior survey.
- At least one upper-division SPN course must emphasize Latin America, one Spain.
Students completing a major in World Language-Spanish with an emphasis in K-12 are required to complete a minor in education and meet all other requirements outlined by the Teacher Education Program.
Study abroad is strongly encouraged.
The general education requirement for graduation includes a total of 35 semester credits in two categories: Skills Component and Knowledge Component. Please see the General Education Requirement section under Academic Policies for more information.
|SPN 101||BEGINNING SPANISH I||3|
|SPN 102||BEGINNING SPANISH II||3|
|SPN 201||INTERMEDIATE SPANISH I||3|
|SPN 202||INTERMEDIATE SPANISH II||3|
|SPN 203||INTERMEDIATE PROFICIENCY BUILDING||3|
|SPN 301||SPANISH GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT||3|
|SPN 303||SPANISH PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY||3|
|or SPN 309||INTRO TO HISPANIC LINGUISTICS|
|Select one of the following:||3|
|CONV & COMP: MEXICO & CENTRAL AMER|
|CONV & COMP: SOUTH AMERICA|
|CONV & COMP: CARIBBEAN|
|CONV & COMP: SPAIN|
|CONV & COMP: U.S. LATINX|
|SPN 370||INTRO TO LITERATURE & CULTURE||3|
|Select four upper-level electives, of which at least two must be 400-level||12|
Specific Requirements for Secondary & K-12 Education Minor
The student must complete an appropriate major and the following Education courses:
|Select one of the following:||3|
|PSYC 151||HUMAN DEVELOPMENT||3.0|
|PSYC 251||CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE||3.0|
|PSYC 342||EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY||3.0|
|ED 202||FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION||3|
|ED 280||EDUCATIONAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY 2||3|
|ED 301||FRAMEWORKS OF TEACHING (Admission to Education is completed in this course)||4|
|RDG 435||CONTENT AREA LITERACY 3, 5||4|
|Special Methods in Education Areas (Prerequisites - Admission to Education) 5||4|
|ED 412||TEACHING DIVERSE LEARNERS 4, 5||3|
|ED 485||CAPSTONE SEMINAR IN EDUCATION||1|
|ED 488||STUDENT TEACHING SECONDARY||12|
|or ED 489||STUDENT TEACHING K-12|
|Total Credits 3||37-40|
Music Education students may complete MUS 103 MUSIC AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY I (1.00 c.h.) and MUS 306 TECHNOLOGY FOR MUSIC EDUCATORS (2.00 c.h.) for ED 280 EDUCATIONAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY (3.00 c.h.).
English/Language Arts student must also complete RDG 410 TEACHING READING ( c.h.)
GPA of 2.6 required