This module aims to refine your linguistic and cultural competencies acquired in Spanish at previous levels. By fortifying productive (written and oral), receptive (aural and reading) and mediation (translation, précis, textual analysis) and intercultural awareness skills, students will achieve capacity for graduate employment or higher degrees of specialisation. To accomplish this, you will work with a variety of oral, aural and textual materials, primarily aimed at consolidating communicational skills in the Spanish language. You will use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes, while also fine-tuning your transferable skills.

1. Read, understand and speak Spanish to a level comparable with C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages. (CEFR)
2. Express themselves fluently and spontaneously in formal contexts without much obvious searching for expressions.
3. Collect, select, evaluate and present information or interpretations of material on a specific topic for oral presentation.
4. Collect, select, evaluate and present information or interpretations of material on a specific topic in writing.
5. Mediate between source and Spanish language by means of translating and/or interpreting across a wide range of topics.
6. Comment critically on aspects of the cultures, communities and societies where the language is used.

The module will be delivered through a range of interactive teaching sessions supplemented by online teaching and learning activities and materials – and may include, where relevant, asynchronous materials such as lecture recordings. Full details on the delivery mode of this module will be available on Learning Central at the start of the academic year – and may be, in part, determined by Welsh Government and Public Health Wales guidance.  

Independent Learning: You will be expected to spend a significant amount of time studying and participating in individual and collaborative activities outside the live sessions. Materials will be provided on Learning Central which will help you develop your expertise as an independent language learner. You will be asked to consolidate your language learning by learning vocabulary and linguistic structures, and by reading, watching and/or listening to material in the Spanish language. You will also be expected to prepare and complete exercises and activities online, to complete written, listening and oral tasks and engage with tutors and peers through discussion boards and forums. Over the course of the year you will begin to acquire a repertoire of effective language learning strategies

Language skills

• Express yourself fluently and spontaneously in the Spanish language on a wide range of topics and registers.
• Understand a wide range of longer texts and recognise nuances in meaning and use.
• Write clear, well-structured, detailed texts in Spanish on complex subjects.
• Refine knowledge and understanding of language varieties, register, genre, nuances of meaning and language use.
• Use the Spanish language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
• Engage in online exchanges between several participants effectively linking your contributions to previous ones on the thread.

Intercultural awareness, understanding and competence

• Critically understand other cultures and practices other than your own.
• Articulate to others the contribution that the Spanish culture has made at a regional and global level.
• Appreciate and evaluate critically your own culture.

Language-related skills

• Develop awareness and understanding ofyour own approaches for learning Spanish language.
• Develop awareness and understanding of your own learning style and learning opportunities of Spanish language.

Generic skills

• Use Spanish language creatively and precisely for a range of purposes and audiences.
• Extract and synthesise key information from written, spoken and other sources.
• Organise and present ideas within the framework of a structured and reasoned argument.
• Develop digital literacy.
• Develop problem-solving skills.
• Use Spanish source materials appropriately.
• Make effective use of language reference materials such as grammars, standard and specialised dictionaries.
• Write and think under pressure and meet deadlines.
• Manage your own learning.
• Effective communication, presentation and interaction.
• Ability to work creatively and flexibly with others as part of a team.
• Linguistic mediation skills.

The key language skills are receptive (reading and listening), production (speaking and writing), mediation (translation between two languages) and intercultural awareness. Developing these skills involves acquiring metalinguistic and lexical competence, i.e., studying the building blocks of the language including grammatical and lexical patterns and structures. All of these skills are assessed through continuous assessment over the course of the module which reflects the progressive and accumulative nature of language learning.

The method(s) of assessing the learning outcomes for this module are set out in the Assessment Table, which also contains the weightings of each assessment component.

Mapping of Assessments to Intended Learning Outcomes:

Aural comprehension assesses ILOs 1, 6

Written coursework assesses ILOs 4, 6

Oral assesses ILOs 1,2,3,6

Reassessment 

If you fail the module you will be reassessed through the one synoptic re-assessment  (weighted at 100%).  Resit assessments that are not supported by extenuating circumstances will be capped at the pass mark applicable to your programme.

Revision and improvement on your grammar skills at a C1 level, which will enable you to communicate in Spanish with a near-native competence. Specific topics in this course include the simple and complex sentence, the noun clause, the verb clause, reported speech and the use of subjunctive, amongst others

The course will also focus on:

Translation into English and Translation into Spanish

Essay writing

Reading and listening comprehension.

More detailed syllabus content will be available on the course coursekit.