Spanish B2 (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competencies)

Language

Spanish

Prerequisites

Have achieved the objectives defined by the course offered in the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters in Block 1 (LESP1101). 
The course must be included in the study programme of the student. 
Simultaneously follow the Spanish courses offered by the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters in Block 2. 

Main themes

The aim is to systematically develop communicative language skills (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic) through different language communication activities and productive, receptive, interactive and mediation strategies that correspond to the skills and activities of a starting level B1 (threshold level) and to target level B2 (vantage) of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference. Supplementary volume (2022).  
To this end, the themes covered in the course correspond to specific communicative acts; these are the focus of the discourse, conversation, reflection or writing, with an emphasis on the choice of activities for the development of plurilingual and pluricultural skills.  
The themes covered may be general, such as personal characterisation, daily life, holidays and leisure, hobbies and interests, travel, education, food and drink, work, but also abstract or cultural subjects close to the student's field of study, such as music, gastronomy, history, cinema and literature, which may be presented in the form of a lecture or presentation. he aim is to systematically develop communicative language skills (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic) through different language communication activities and productive, receptive, interactive and mediation strategies that correspond to the skills and activities of a starting level B1 (threshold level) and to target level B2 (vantage) of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference. Supplementary volume (2022).  
To this end, the themes covered in the course correspond to specific communicative acts; these are the focus of the discourse, conversation, reflection or writing, with an emphasis on the choice of activities for the development of plurilingual and pluricultural skills.  
The themes covered may be general, such as personal characterisation, daily life, holidays and leisure, hobbies and interests, travel, education, food and drink, work, but also abstract or cultural subjects close to the student's field of study, such as music, gastronomy, history, cinema and literature, which may be presented in the form of a lecture or presentation. 

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Express themselves with a good range of vocabulary on the most general topics. They can vary their phrasing to avoid frequent repetition, but lexical gaps may still cause hesitations and the use of periphrases (linguistic competence: lexicon B2), communicate with good grammatical control; non-systematic errors and small syntactic mistakes may still occur but they are rare and can often be corrected retrospectively (linguistic competence: grammar).
2	Produce clear, natural pronunciation and intonation (linguistic competence: phonology).
3	Produce a coherent, clear and intelligible piece of writing which follows the usual rules of layout and organisation. Spelling and punctuation are relatively accurate but may be influenced by the mother tongue (linguistic competence: spelling).
4	Express themselves confidently, clearly and politely in a formal or informal manner appropriate to the situation and the people involved (sociolinguistic competence: correctness).
5	Adapt to changes in topic, style and tone normally encountered in conversation and be able to vary the formulation of what they want to say (pragmatic competence: discourse competence and flexibility).
6	Adapt what they say and how they say it to the situation and the addressee, and adapt the level of formal expression appropriate to the circumstances (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and flexibility).
7	Use ready-made expressions (e.g. "That's a difficult question") to save time and keep the speaker talking while they think about what they are going to say (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and speaking turns)
8	Initiate a speech, intervene at the right moment and end the conversation when necessary, albeit sometimes awkwardly (pragmatic skills: discursive skills and turns of speech).
9	Take part in a discussion appropriately, using the right language (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and turns of phrase).
10	Begin, continue and end a speech appropriately, respecting the speaking turns effectively (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and turns of phrase),
11	Give a clear description, developing and arguing the main points with the help of meaningful details and examples (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and thematic development).
12	Use a limited number of articulators to link their statements, although there may be a few "jumps" in a long speech (pragmatic competence: discursive competence and coherence and cohesion).
13	Use a wide variety of linking words effectively to show clearly the relations between ideas (pragmatic competence: discourse competence, coherence and cohesion).
14	Communicate with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without imposing any effort on either side (pragmatic competence: functional competence and oral fluency).
15	Convey detailed information reliably (pragmatic competence: functional competence and accuracy).

Content

This teaching unit aims to develop communicative language skills using a communicative approach that takes into account lexical and grammatical aspects.  The type of exercises is very varied, with different tasks to be carried out throughout the course in relation to the themes covered.   
In line with the action-oriented approach adopted, the EU is based on the principle that the student is first and foremost in the process of becoming a language user in different domains (personal, public, professional, educational) and situations (places, organisations, actors, objects, events, operations, texts), with particular emphasis on oral production activities. 

Teaching methods

The course is taught face-to-face, with the possibility of distance sessions with e-Learning support on UCLouvain platforms (Teams, Moodle) and other external platforms (Google, Zoom, etc.). 
The course is based on a textbook of Spanish as a foreign language and an exercise book corresponding to the target level of the course (B2). The course follows the method of learning languages through tasks or projects and is based on the principles of reflective learning: students are placed at the forefront of their learning in order to make themselves cognitively active so that they can construct their knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills independently but also with the help of their peers. Various self-assessment and/or co-assessment activities will be offered throughout the course.   
Tandem activities with native speakers will also be proposed and organised as part of the course. 

Evaluation methods

Assessment is continuous, with different language communication activities involving production (oral and written), reception (oral and written), interaction (oral and written) and mediation to be carried out throughout the year, with a final grammar and vocabulary test. 
The parts of the assessment are as follows:   

• 40% Oral and written tasks and publication in the Eportfolio   
• 10% Tandem project and exercises (Moodle or other) and publication in the Eportfolio   
• 10% Vocabulary entries   
• 40% Final grammar and vocabulary test 

Success can only be achieved by passing each of the assessment parts/activities.   
The final mark will be made up of these 4 parts (tasks and portfolio; vocabulary; final grammar and vocabulary test; tandem project and EPortfolio): successful completion of these parts is essential to demonstrate the skills and knowledge defined in the learning outcomes for the teaching unit. Success can only be achieved by passing each of the assessment parts/activities. The final mark is the weighted average of the different parts. To pass this course, 50% of each part of the assessment must be obtained, i.e. a minimum of 20/40 or 5/10 (absorbing mark). 
The activities in the "oral and written tasks" and "tandem projects and exercises (Moodle or other)" sections are organised only once per academic year. In the event of re-registration for the examination, the parts of the assessment remain the same, but the mark relating to these learning activities is then deemed to be attached to each of the examination sessions of the academic year (Article 78. - Exception to Article 77.  General regulations governing studies and examinations). 
Attendance to the course is required. The holders of the course may, under Article 72 of the General Rules of Studies and Examinations, propose to the jury to oppose the registration of a student who has not attended at least 70% of the course sessions 

Bibliography

• Alonso, R., Castañeda, A., Martínez Gila, P., Miquel, L., Ortega, J., & Ruiz Campillo, J.P. (2005). Gramática básica del estudiante de español NUEVA EDICIÓN. 
• Campus Difusión  

Faculty or entity

> ELAL