Presentation

Fourth-year students will be grouped according to their level. Their level will be determined by the Spanish grade they achieved in the entrance exam, for new coming students, and directly by the third-year teacher for students who are already attending the school. For both levels, authentic and diverse materials and documents on topics and/or current issues related to the four majors will be used. In addition to the consolidation and enhancement of the students’ language skills,  the objectives of this method conference are: to help students gain a more in-depth understanding of the main political, socio-economic and cultural issues at stake in Spanish-speaking countries by examining them from an analytical and critical point of view; particular emphasis will be placed on topics related to the four major courses; finally, to enable students to participate actively and to express well-informed personal opinions without resorting to stereotypes, during debates in class on a current issue, prepared in advance.

Recommended Prerequisite(s)

Full command of the prerequisite language skills and of the content of the third-year civilization course. Good knowledge of current political affairs in Spanish-speaking countries. Good command of digital communication tools and materials (Spanish-specific characters, Powerpoint or Prezzi, etc.).

Bibliography

• Bescherelle, el arte de conjugar en español, Hatier, 1997.
• Freysselinard E., Le mot & l’idée, espagnol 2, Ophrys, 2017.
• Bouzet J., Grammaire espagnole, Belin, 1985.
• https://www.rtve.es/television/informe-semanal/ 

Educational formula

Personal preparation prior to class is mandatory.  In class, emphasis is placed on oral expression and various types of authentic documents are used. Assignments and course activities will consist of press reviews (analysis of current events in Spanish-speaking countries); presentations (without notes; in pairs and limited in time) that will not merely be descriptive but will also raise a question; debates on a topic prepared in advance or on a question raised during the presentation, or related to current events; comments and analysis of documents of all types; exercises of transposition from one language to the other.