COURSE SYLLABUS: SPANISH COMPOSITION WORKSHOP

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Partner Institution: University of Belgrano

Course Title (English): Spanish Composition Workshop

Course Title (Spanish): Taller de escritura

Sessions Offered: Fall Semester, Spring Semester

Instructional in: Spanish

Classroom Contact Hours: 60 contact hours

College Credit (Semester Credit Hours): 6 credit hours

College Credit (Quarter Units): 9 quarter units

Prerequisites: Intermediate II Spanish Level if taught in Spanish

Local Department: Programa de estudios argentinos y latinoamericanos (PEAL)

Course Code: SPAN 200/300 (SPAN 200 is for Intermediate, SPAN 300 is for Advanced)

Course Description

The course helps international students develop different prose styles so that they can successfully complete academic papers and other assignments.

The course material aims to create an adequate space for socialization of the reading and writing assignments of diverse types and topics in Spanish. The class has a workshop component, that’s to say, a space for analysis and production. In small groups and individually, the students will learn to formulate hypothesis on the readings, extract conclusions and propose arguments in accordance to the texts that are assigned. Likewise, from these reading experiences, students will complete different writing exercises. There will be a continuous writing process for each student in the workshop. The student will realize different planning exercises put in text and revision. Some of the work assignments will be done in class and others outside of class. The student will also utilize the class space to analyze the works completed in class.

Course Objectives

• Recognize diverse modes of discourse and the different types of text being worked on in class and systematize the problems associated with the production of these
• Develop discursive competency, promoting critical reflection, analysis, and production of different types of text.
• Develop linguistic competency, promoting the meta-linguistic reflection on different aspects related with cohesion and textual coherency.
• Be conscience of the difficulties of writing, create your appropriate typology for errors, and develop, consequently, strategies to achieve a more efficient writing style.

Program Schedule

Unit 1:

Descriptive text

Describe people. Writing proposals.

Describe places. Writing proposals.

Unit 2:

Narrative text

Suspense stories. Writing proposals.

Children’s stories. Writing proposals.

Unit 3:

Newspaper writing. Writing proposals.

Unit 4:

Argumentative text. Writing proposals.

Unit 5:

Epistolary text. Writing proposals.

Appendices:

Accentuation. Writing proposals.

Punctuation. Writing proposals.

Program Calendar

Week 1

Presentation of material. Argumentative text: "Muchos festines, pocos invitados".

Week 2

Argumentative text: "Muchos festines, pocos invitados". Workshop: writing exercise.

Week 3

Argumentative text: describing people.

Week 4

Descriptive text: description of people and places. Homework: writing exercise.

Week 5

Narrative text. Suspense story: "El marinero de Ámsterdam"

Week 6

Narrative text. Suspense story: "El marinero de Ámsterdam". Homework: writing exercise.

Week 7

Argumentative text. The opinion column: article by Rosa Montero.

Week 8

Argumentative text. The opinion column: article by Rosa Montero. Homework: writing exercise.

Week 9

Midterm

Week 10

Periodical text

Week 11

Periodical text. Homework: writing exercise.

Week 12

Epistolary. Formal and informal letters. Homework: writing exercises.

Week 13

Epistolary text: formal and informal letters. Homework: writing exercises. Turn in proposals to prepare for the final exam.

Week 14

Apendix of accentuation. “agudas, graves, esdrújulas y sobreesdrújulas”. "Milonga de Jacinto Chiclana", by Jorge Luis Borges. The songAudición de la canción "Dulce Daniela".

Semana 15

Final exam.

Course Evaluation

In agreement with the policies of the University of Belgrano the student can only have a 25% absence rate. The percentage of attendance that is required in order to take the final exam is 75%. Any trip or excursion that is not planned in the calendar is part of the 25% absence.

• Participation & Attendance: 20%
• Midterm: 20%
• Final exam: 30%
• Written projects and grammar: 30%

Bibliography (Text and Materials)

Required Texts:

• Mariel Soriente, Taller de Escritura, Buenos Aires, Universidad de Belgrano, 2009. (libro de la materia).
• Diccionario monolingüe en español.
• Real Academia Española. Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [en línea], 1° edición, Madrid, RAE, octubre de 2005, http://buscon.rae.es/dpdI/.

Recommended Texts:

• AA.VV., Gramática básica del estudiante de español, Barcelona, Difusión, 2005.
• Botta, Mirta. Tesis, monografías e informes. Nuevas normas y técnicas de investigación y redacción, Buenos Aires: Biblos, 2002.
• Cassany, Daniel. La cocina de la escritura. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1995. Reparar la escritura. Didáctica de la corrección de lo escrito. Barcelona: Grao. Biblioteca del Aula, 1998.
• Ciapuscio, Guiomar. Tipos textuales. Buenos Aires: Eudeba, 1994.
• Fernández, Stella Maris. Técnicas del trabajo intelectual. Buenos Aires: Centro de publicaciones de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Bs. As., 1992.
• Flower, L.; Hayes, J. “Teoría de la redacción como proceso cognitivo”, en Textos en contexto. Buenos Aires: Lectura y vida, 1996.
• García Negroni, María Marta (coord.); Pérgola, Laura; Stern, Mirta, El arte de escribir bien en español, Buenos Aires, Edicial, 2006.
• Gómez Torrego, Leonardo, Gramática didáctica del español, Madrid, Ediciones SM, 2002.
• Matte Bon, Gramática comunicativa del español, Madrid, Edelsa, 1995.
• Montolío, Estrella (Coord.); Figueras, Carolina; Garachana, Mar; Santiago
• Marisa, Manual práctico de escritura académica, Barcelona: Ariel, 2000.
• Perelman, ch.; Olbrechts Tyteca, L. Tratado de la argumentación. La nueva retórica. Madrid: Gredos, 1989.
• Reyes, Graciela. Manual de redacción. Cómo escribir bien en español. Madrid: Arco-Libros, 1999.
• Serafini, M. T. Cómo se escribe. Barcelona: Paidós, 1994.
• Vázquez, Graciela (Coord.). Español con fines académicos: de la comprensión a la producción de textos. Madrid: Edinumen, 2005.
• Guía Didáctica del Discurso Académico Escrito. Madrid: Edinumen, 2001.
• Guía Didáctica del Discurso Académico Escrito: actividades para la escritura. Madrid: Edinumen, 2001.

Contact Information:

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