SPAN 141: Introduction to Spanish

Grammar

Course Description
Welcome to Spanish 141! This course reviews grammar points covered in SPAN 122 and 103. During the
semester we will review the major challenges in Spanish grammar. When appropriate, we will make
contrasts with English, and refer to variation in the use of a particular Spanish item. The topics included
in the course refer to the noun (gender, number, article, adjective, etc.), the verb (tense, aspect, mood,
etc.), and to sentence structure. You will study the formal aspects of the Spanish language and will learn
grammatical terminology.

Learning Spanish by means of a computer-enhanced course will provide the following advantages:

 Self-pacing. The computer allows you to work ahead. However, as with other classes, you cannot fall
behind.

 Immediate feedback. The computer grades your homework exercises instantly, tells you which
answers are wrong, and allows you to redo the exercise.

 Opportunity for improvement. The program is designed so you can attempt the exercises as many as
five times to earn the grade you want.

 Easy access. You can do your homework from any computer which accesses the internet through any
reliable internet browser (e.g. Internet Explorer).

Miscellaneous
Note: The best way to contact your instructor is via e-mail. Your instructor will maintain one fixed
office hour/week. You can also make an appointment with her/him. If you have any concerns
FIRST contact your instructor. Also note that your instructor is not required to answer questions about
Compass Discussions postings nor give you access to your mid-term exam during the week prior to the
final exam.

In addition to contacting your instructor for help, the Spanish Basic Language Program also offers a free
tutoring service in the Spanish tutoring room (4031 FLB). Please see the Compass Announcements for
the tutoring room schedule.

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Important announcements concerning the course will be placed periodically in the Compass
Announcements. It is your responsibility to read these announcements regularly and be aware of them.

If you have a problem with access to iLrn or Compass you must inform your instructor or the Course
Coordinator BEFORE a deadline in order to resolve a possible problem.

If you have any questions about your grade you may contact your instructor during office hours to review
your grades. Should there be any disagreement, you should resolve it with your instructor immediately
following the posting of the grade.

Any student who believes that s/he has a disability for which an academic accommodation is needed
should inform the instructor as soon as possible and/or contact the Division of Rehabilitation Services
(DRES) at www.rehab.uiuc.edu

Course Materials
1. We will be using the following book:

Dozier, Eleanor and Zulma Iguina, 2008. Manual de Gramática. Grammar Reference for Students of
Spanish, Fourth Edition. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

2. The following course management programs will be used in the course:

a. iLrn, accessed via the following URL: http://ilrn.heinle.com

b. Compass, which you can access by using the Compass URL: http://compass.illinois.edu

For Compass, the computer will ask you for your university net id and your AD password. There is no
additional charge for access.

In order to receive access to iLrn, you will need to purchase an access card. The bookstore offers a
bundle that includes both the textbook and access to iLrn. Alternatively, you can purchase the
bundle through the publisher, at this website: www.cengagebrain.com You will use the book code
that can be found in the Registration Instructions document in Compass.

Attendance and Participation

For regular class periods, there is no absence policy apart from the participation criteria.
Participation points missed cannot be made up. No matter what the reason for the absence, if you
are absent, you will receive a zero in participation for that day. However, your worst participation
score (week) will be dropped from the average at the end of the semester. Cases of students with
extended absences (more than one week of consecutive class periods) that are appropriately
documented will be considered individually. If you feel your case meets these criteria, please bring
supporting written documentation to your instructor within one week of returning to class.
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Examples of appropriate written documentation include: doctor’s notes, or a letter from the
Emergency Dean providing explicit documentation for all the days you were absent. Exceptional
cases will be referred to the Course Coordinator.

Student athletes, band members, and members of other such university organizations should bring a letter
from their supervisor or specific department at the beginning of the semester indicating the dates they will
miss class.

Failure to attend class always results in missed opportunities to hear and speak Spanish. Active class
participation is vital in learning a second language, and quite simply, you cannot participate if you are not
in class. Also, in order to be able to participate in class, you must have completed all work (including
filling out the yellow pages) and readings before every class meeting; failing to do so results in a
lower participation grade for that day. If you do miss class you are responsible for contacting other
classmates to obtain any missed information.

Each week, your instructor will evaluate your participation level and determine a grade based on the
criteria listed below. You will have the opportunity to earn 5 points for every class period, for a total of 10
points per week. Your participation grades, along with all other grades (minus those for iLrn online
assignments), will be posted online in the Compass Grade Book.

Participation Evaluation Criteria

Outstanding = 5 points

 arrives for class on time

 greets people and takes leave using Spanish expressions
 speaks exclusively in Spanish during whole class and group discussion
 volunteers and responds to instructor's questions, demonstrates that (s)he has completed the
assigned readings/homework for the day (including the yellow pages) and has thought about the
material creatively (coming up with his/her own examples, questions, etc.)
 works on comprehension skills by listening attentively when others speak
 participates in all activities with enthusiasm and a positive attitude
 often asks questions when something isn't clear
 contributes actively during group activities
 actively uses the terms and grammar studied in Manual de Gramática lessons and exercises

Average = 4 points

 arrives for class on time

 sometimes greets people and takes leave using Spanish expressions
 speaks Spanish during whole group discussions, and only rarely uses English during small group
activities
 volunteers, but participation is mostly limited to answering instructor's questions
 is usually an active listener when not participating during whole class or group interactions and
only rarely does not listen while others talk
 participates in all activities, sometimes enthusiastically
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  usually asks for help in Spanish when something isn't clear, but not always
 demonstrates familiarity with the terms and grammar studied in Manual de Gramática lessons and
exercises but may have forgotten to do the yellow pages

Below Average = 3 points

 arrives no more than 5 minutes late for class

 sometimes uses more English than Spanish during group activities, but always uses Spanish
during whole class activities
 participation is limited to answering instructor's questions
 is usually an active listener when not participating during whole class or group interactions and
only rarely does not listen while others talk
 sometimes contributes actively during group activities
 sometimes contributes to getting the task done in group work
 demonstrates little familiarity with the terms and grammar studied in Manual de Gramática
lessons and exercises

Unacceptable = 0 points

 arrives more than 5 minutes late for class

 uses English when speaking with the instructor or class members
 is not prepared for class (i.e. has not completed assigned readings/exercises)
 does not respond to instructor's questions
 doesn't listen while others talk
 doesn't contribute much to getting the task done in group work
 contributes to the failure of activities by not completing small group or individual assignments
 works on assignments for other classes or is otherwise distracted on activities not related to the
class (for example, text messaging)
 demonstrates no familiarity with the terms and grammar studied in Manual de Gramática lessons
and exercises

Note on tardiness: Being late disrupts both your instructor and your classmates, so be aware that
tardiness will negatively affect your participation grade. In addition, your instructor has the prerogative to
deny admission to students who arrive more than 10 minutes late.

Homework – iLrn and Written Assignments

As indicated in the Class Schedule, two hours of this four-hour class are fulfilled with exercises
completed outside of class. Most of these exercises are completed using an online computer program
called iLrn. Others are written assignments from the textbook (Manual de Gramática) that you must
complete and bring to class on the date indicated in the calendar. You should expect to spend a minimum
of two hours per week on these homework assignments, as they account for both class time and
homework time. The calendar indicates the day when each assignment is due.

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Before coming to every class, you should:

*Check the calendar to find the material corresponding to the next class in the textbook; carefully
read through this material.

*Complete the corresponding yellow page(s) in the course packet.

*Complete any written assignment listed in the calendar as due in that day’s class. You may type
or handwrite these assignments, but please make sure your handwriting is legible.

After class:

*You will complete exercises in iLrn, according to listed deadlines. All deadlines for iLrn
assignments are specified in the calendar, as well as on the iLrn site.

*Your instructor will not remind you of homework deadlines. You are responsible for having the
required materials for class, checking the calendar for assignments, and completing all
assignments indicated for each week.

*You will only be allowed five attempts to complete each iLrn exercise and the score recorded
for each exercise will be the highest score you achieved. Therefore, it is highly advised that you
read the textbook pages before beginning the iLrn activities. Take your textbook with you to the
computer site. After the deadline you can (and should) do the exercises again for practice and as a
way to prepare for your tests.

*Written assignments will be corrected in class, and then collected by your instructor who will
assign you a grade of credit or no credit (1 or 0). In order to receive credit, you must have
attempted to respond to every item according to the assignment instructions. No credit will be
given if your responses do not reflect a sincere attempt to complete the assignment according to
instructions, as judged by your instructor.

WARNING – iLrn HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS

All iLrn homework must be submitted online by 11:59 PM on the day indicated in the syllabus. Keep in
mind that it may be difficult to find an open station on certain days and that systems sometimes crash or
are overloaded. Please plan accordingly, as technical difficulties will not be an acceptable excuse for
late homework. Again, we recommend that you do your iLrn homework early, since this has the added
benefit of allowing you enough time to contact your instructor to solve technical difficulties that may
arise. In any case, you should still complete the homework set, since the information found in the
homework may appear in the exams. It is strongly recommended that before you log off you check that
your work has been properly recorded (check by clicking on the appropriate chapter through the
“Textbook Assignments” tab on the right side of the webpage.)

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 Compass Discussions
In addition to the homework assignments described above, you will use Compass to write to your
classmates and your instructor in Spanish. Compass Discussions provide you with the opportunity to
communicate your ideas at your own pace in written Spanish and to practice the grammatical structures
learned in the course in an extended writing format.

You will be required to post a total of 5 messages for the semester. Here is how it works:

1. The class will be divided into groups composed of a number of students and the instructor. You will
interact only with the people within your own group.

2. A week prior to a due date, the instructor will post the first message within each group. This message
addresses the assigned topic for the week (Due dates are indicated in the Weekly Calendar).

3. The next person to log on to Compass Discussions is required to read the instructor's message and to
respond to it.

4. All remaining members who log on thereafter are required to read the instructor's message as well as
any messages posted on that week by other group members and to write a single response.

5. In the response you should react to the views expressed by other members in your group on the same
topic.

Note that there is a minimum length for the essays to get credit: entries must be at least 150 words
long and written completely in Spanish. Lists of words, songs, dialogs, and copies of other texts are
not acceptable messages and will not receive credit. Copying from your instructor's model or from
another group member’s posting will result in a grade of zero for that posting. Remember that this is
individual graded work, so students are not allowed to seek help from other instructors, friends,
etc., or use electronic translators. Doing so will result in a grade of zero for the posting.

Your response should be posted as follows:

You must use the Reply command at the bottom of the last posting in a category in order to write your
own posting. To do so, open your instructor's message, read it, read any other message following it, and
“Reply” to the last message in the list (click on the Reply command). Do not use the “Create message”
option at the top of the page. After you have written your posting you must send it by clicking the POST
button immediately under your composition. Check to see that your posting is in the right place and
properly labeled.

Your Discussion postings should be labeled automatically according to the posting number and due date.
To do this, simply “reply” to the previous person’s posting. Compass then labels your posting
automatically.

Note that if your essay is not posted as specified above it will **not** receive credit.

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The messages you post will be read by your instructor and by other members of your group. Compass
Discussions are not private.

After the deadline, your instructor will evaluate your message using the grading criteria below. Please
remember that late postings, messages not posted as specified above or postings consisting of less
than the minimum number of words will not receive credit.

Discussion Evaluation Criteria

5 points

 Appropriately addresses the topic and grammar focus assigned

 Responds to / comments on others’ postings
 Demonstrates very consistent control of grammar concepts studied in class.

4 points

 Appropriately addresses the topic and grammar focus assigned

 Does not respond to / comment on others’ postings
 Demonstrates inconsistent control of grammar concepts studied in class.
 Student is advised to go over this composition/posting with instructor in her/his office.

3 points

 Minimally addresses the topic and grammar focus assigned

 Does not respond to / comment on others’ postings.
 Highly inconsistent control of grammar concepts studied in class or avoids using these
structures.
 Student is highly advised to go over this composition with instructor in her/his office.

0 points

 Does not appropriately address the topic and grammar focus assigned
 Posting contains fewer than the required number of words, late, or not posted according
to syllabus guidelines
 Lists words, sentences, songs, or copies other texts
 Virtually no control of grammar
 Is incomprehensible
 Lexical and syntactic evidence in the text to suspect that an e-translator was utilized.

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 Make-Up Work Policy
No late work or make-up work will be considered without written documentation for your absence
(examples of written documentation include: doctor’s notes, or a letter from the Emergency Dean
providing explicit documentation for all the days you were absent). NOTE: This section does not apply
to participation points. Please see “Attendance and Participation” section for more details.

To request consideration for make-up work, submit your written documentation along with a Make-Up
Work Request Form (which can be found in the box hanging outside of 4090 Foreign Languages
Building) within one week of returning to class.

After submitting your documentation and your form in the box hanging outside of 4090 FLB, you will be
notified by e-mail within 3 business days whether your request will be accepted or not, along with details
about the new due date for your homework. It is your responsibility to check your university e-mail
account for this information.

DO NOT submit documentation to your instructor, and DO NOT ask your instructor about make-
up work. He or she will not be able to help you with this.

Exams
You will have two exams during the semester. The exams cover the information presented in the
textbook, and in class. You will be responsible for grammatical terminology as well as the grammatical
forms of formal written Spanish. In addition, there will be a composition section in each exam. These
exams will take place outside of class (in the evening) on dates and times to be announced (check the
Compass announcements).

If you are absent from an exam, you must contact Ms. Perret, the Course Supervisor
(sperret2@illinois.edu, 4090-A FLB), within one working day (24 hrs.) from the exam date and provide
written documentation for your absence before a make-up exam without penalty is given.

In these cases the exam must be taken within two working days from the date of the exam. Any additional
extensions may be granted only under exceptional circumstances or highly unusual cases and will be
granted at the discretion of the Coordinator.

Students who miss an exam without an excused absence must contact their instructor immediately.
They may take the exam with a 15% deduction provided that they take it within 24 hours from the
original exam date.

Note that the date, time, and location of the final exam will be announced later in the semester.
Consult Compass Announcements. The date of the exam does not correspond to the date
announced in the university's final exam schedule. Do not make travel plans until the date and time
of the final exam have been announced.

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 Conflict Exam
If you have a conflict on the day of an exam, you must file a petition to take a conflict exam. The same
goes for students who have a conflict with both the regular and conflict exams.

To file a petition to take a conflict exam:

Go to room 4090 of the Foreign Languages Building and fill out a Conflict Petition Form, attach a copy
of your class schedule (from a university source) to the form, and return the form to the appropriate box in
4090 FLB.

The names of the persons approved for the conflict exam will be posted outside 4090 FLB and in the
Compass announcements. It is your responsibility to check this list to see whether you have been
approved to take the conflict exam.

Petitions should be filed five working days prior to the regularly scheduled exam. If you are not approved,
you must attend the regularly scheduled exam or accept a 10% deduction from your exam grade.

Grade Weighting
Class Participation: 10%
iLrn Assignments: 20%
Written Assignments: 10%
Compass Discussions: 10%
Exam 1: 25%
Exam 2: 25%

Grading Scale
A+ = 97 - 100
A = 93 - 96.9
A- = 90 - 92.9
B+ = 87- 89.9
B = 83 - 86.9
B- = 80 - 82.9
C+ = 77 - 79.9
C = 73 - 76.9
C- = 70 - 72.9
D+ = 67 - 69.9
D = 63 - 66.9
D- = 60 - 62.9
F = 0 - 59.9
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 Weekly Calendar
Spring 2011
***Take note of iLrn and Compass Discussion due dates, as they do not always fall on the
same days of the week!***
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 1: January 18-21

Day 1: Introducción al curso

**T/R sections will not meet on Thursday of the first week of class**
___________________________________________________________________

Week 2: January 24-28

Day1: El nombre y sus equivalentes (pgs. 30-36)

Género
Número

Day 2: Los determinantes (pgs. 39-45)

Artículo definido
Artículo indefinido

***iLrn assignments are not due until week 3, but it is recommended to keep up to date
with class work***
iLrn Recommended:
Ejercicio 2.3, 2.4, 2.10, 2.12
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 3: January 31-February 4

Day 1: Los adjetivos demostrativos y posesivos (pgs. 45-47)

Day 2: Los adjetivos descriptivos (pgs. 47-53)

Tipos
Concordancia
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 Posición
Written Assignment #1:
Ejercicio 2.21 (pg. 333), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 2.3, 2.4, 2.10, 2.12, 2.14 DUE Tuesday, February 1, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 2.18, 2.20, DUE Thursday, February 3, 11:59 PM
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 4: February 7-11

Day 1: Los adjetivos descriptivos (pgs. 53-57)

Comparación
Day 2: Los adjetivos descriptivos (pgs. 268-280)

Ser/estar

Written Assignment #2:

Ejercicio 7.3 (pg. 439), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 2.22, DUE Tuesday, February 8, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 7.1, 7.2, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, DUE Thursday, February 10, 11:59 PM

Discussion Posting #1 DUE Friday, February 11, 11:59 PM.

_______________________________________________________________________

Week 5: February 14-18

Day 1: Acentos (pgs. 17-27)

Day 2: Acentos (cont.)

Written Assignment # 3:
Ejercicio 1.27 (pg. 322), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, 1.22, 1.23, 1.24, 1.36, DUE Thursday, February 17, 11:59
PM.
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 6: February 21-25

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Day 1: Los pronombres (pgs. 63-72; 36-38)
Funciones de los nombres
Pronombres de sujeto, objeto directo, y objeto indirecto
“a” personal
Day 2: Los pronombres (pgs. 73-77)
Pronombres de objeto directo y objeto indirecto: posición
Pronombres de objeto de preposición
Written Assignment #4:
Ejercicio 3.16 (pg. 341), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 3.2, 2.6, DUE Tuesday, February 22, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9, 3.14, 3.15, DUE Thursday, February 24, 11:59 PM

Discussion Posting #2 DUE Friday, February 25, 11:59 PM.

__________________________________________________________________ajsdklfj_

Week 7: February 28-March 4

Day 1: Los pronombres (pgs. 88-95; 99-102)

Required:
Pronombres interrogativos
Suggested:
Pronombres demostrativos
Pronombres posesivos
Pronombres indefinidos
Day 2: Conclusión y Repaso

Written Assignments #5 and #6:

Ejercicio 3.34 (pg. 350), 3.35 (pg. 350), DUE in class on Day 1
______________________________________________________________________
Week 8: March 7-March 11

Exam 1, Thursday, March 10, 7:00-9:00PM

Conflict Wednesday, March 9, 7:00-9:00PM

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 (Place to be announced. See Compass announcements)

Day 1: El presente (pgs. 160-165; 188-189; 184-185; 203)

Presente simple y progresivo
Day 2: El presente (cont.)

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.56, 6.1, DUE Friday, March 11, 11:59 PM

_______________________________________________________________________

Week 9: March 14-18

Day 1: El pasado (pgs. 165-168; 189-197)

Pretérito/imperfecto
Day 2: El pasado (cont.)

Written Assignment #7:

Ejercicio 6.10 (pg. 409), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 5.9, 5.10, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, DUE Tuesday, March 15, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 6.4, 6.6, 6.12, DUE Thursday, March 17, 11:59 PM

Discussion Posting #3 DUE Friday, March 18, 11:59 PM.

_______________________________________________________________________

Week 10: March 21-25

SPRING BREAK-NO CLASS

_______________________________________________________________________

Week 11: March 28-April 1

Day 1: El pasado (pgs. 169; 185-186; 201; 198-199)

Presente perfecto
Pasado perfecto
Day 2: El futuro (pgs. 170, 208)

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iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 5.18, 5.19, 5.60, 6.13, 6.14, DUE Tuesday, March 29, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 5.20, 5.21, DUE Thursday, March 31, 11:59 PM
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 12: April 4-8

Day 1: El subjuntivo (pgs. 6-12; 173-176)

Las oraciones subordinadas
Formación del subjuntivo
Day 2: El subjuntivo (pgs. 222-223)
El subjuntivo en subordinadas adjetivales

Written Assignment #8:

Ejercicio 1.5 (pg. 317), DUE in class on Day 1

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 5.28, 5.29, 5.30, 5,31, 5.32, DUE Tuesday April 5, 11:59 PM
Ejercicio 6.38, DUE Thursday, April 7, 11:59 PM

Discussion posting #4 DUE, Friday April 8, 11:59 PM.

______________________________________________________________________

Week 13: April 11-15

Day 1: El subjuntivo (pgs. 212-222)

El subjuntivo en subordinadas nominales
Day 2: El subjuntivo (pgs. 212-222)
El subjuntivo en subordinadas nominales (cont.)

Written Assignment #9:

Ejercicio 6.32 (pg. 418), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 6.29, 6.30, 6.31, DUE Thursday, April 14, 11:59 PM
______________________________________________________________________

Week 14: April 18-22

Day 1: El subjuntivo (pgs. 224-227)

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 El subjuntivo en subordinadas adverbiales
Day 2: El subjuntivo (pgs. 224-227)
El subjuntivo en subordinadas adverbiales (cont.)
Oraciones subordinadas: conclusión y actividades

Written Assignment #10:

Ejercicio 6.41 (pg. 421), DUE in class on Day 2

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 6.40, DUE Thursday, April 21, 11:59 PM

Discussion Posting #5 DUE Friday, April 22, 11:59 PM.

____________________________________________________________________

Week 15: April 25-29

Day 1: Mandatos (pgs. 178-183)

Day 2: Mandatos (cont.)

iLrn Deadlines:
Ejercicio 5.39, 5.40, 5.41, 5.42, 5.43, 5.47, 5.48, 5.49, DUE Thursday, April 28, 11:59 PM
_______________________________________________________________________

Week 16: May 2-6

Day 1: Repaso
**M/W sections will not meet on Wednesday of the last week of class**

Combined Final Exam date and time to be announced.

It is NOT as listed in the University Non-Combined Final Exam Schedule.

______________________________________________________________________________

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