Subject Handbook

Year 1 :

Theme One: 

Being a young person in Spanish-speaking society

  Families and citizenship Changing family structures; the changing nature of marriage and partnership; being a good citizen  Youth trends and personal identity Trends in fashion; how young people respond to modern technology; relationships with others and peer pressure  Education and employment opportunities The education system and student issues; work and travel opportunities and the changing work scene. 

Theme Two:

• • Understanding the Spanish-speaking world 

  • Regional culture and heritage in Spain, Spanish-speaking countries and communities Festivals; customs and traditions; historical sites; museums and galleries  Media, art, film and music in the Spanish-speaking world Trends in media and art, film and music in the lives of young people 

Year 2

• • Diversity and difference  

  • Migration and integration Reasons for migration; factors which make migration/integration easy/difficult  Cultural identity and marginalisation 

  • Reasons for marginalisation; ways to eliminate marginalisation 

  •  Cultural enrichment and celebrating difference 

  • The positive aspects of a diverse society  Discrimination and diversity Life for those who are discriminated against 

Theme 2: 

The two Spains: 1936 onwards 

 El franquismo Origins, development and consequences 

 Post-Civil War Spain – historical and political repercussions 

Control, repression and daily life in Franco's Spain  

Spain – coming to terms with the past? "Recuperación de la memoria histórica"; attempts to deal with the past; 'los desaparecidos'; removing the symbols of Franco's Spain 

Grammar:

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/as-and-a-level/spanish-7691/subject-content/grammar 

Set Texts:

• Laura Esquivel : Como agua para chocolate 

• Maria llena eres de gracia

Equipment:

 In order to do well you must be well organised and ensuring you have the right equipment is vital!

 ·  In addition to a blue or black pen, you should also ensure you have a red pen for marking work, both your own and that of your classmates.  It is important to learn from your mistakes and noting corrections in red will help you to do this.

·  Highlighter pens allow you to pick out important information, key words, and unknown words to be looked up in the dictionary.

·   An A4 lever arch file. 

·  You should keep this handbook somewhere readily accessible; at the front of your file would be ideal.

·   You should have file dividers.  Suggested labels are: Homework to be handed in, Course Information, Vocabulary, Grammar, proses , Topic Work, Literature work, Independent Listening, conversation class work, extension work and past papers.

Your file will be checked by your teacher from time to time to ensure your notes are properly organised.

You will need to buy a copy of the  Spanish Grammar Workbook from the College Shop.

Marking, feedback & assessing progress

Marking:

·      Vocabulary and grammar tests will now be corrected in class by you or your neighbour or online.  The mark gained will be recorded by your teacher. Vocabulary and grammar tests are usually awarded a mark out of 20. All vocabulary for tests can be found on Quizlet.

·      Prose work, listening and reading exercises will be self or peer marked using exam mark schemes, then taken in by the teacher to double check. You doing the marking and discussing possible answers and explanations is far more beneficial than the teacher simply marking it and telling you what the ‘right’ answer is. This way, you will learn to understand and apply the mark schemes used by Eduqas examiners, which will enhance your performance in the real exam.

·      All essays will be marked by your teacher, likewise any other work that cannot be effectively corrected in class.

Feedback:

We will provide constructive and positive verbal/written feedback on your skills and progress, by means of marked work, conversations and comments, plus individual feedback for essays and you setting targets 

Independent Study Skills:

In addition to the homework set, we expect you to do some extension work, as this is how you really progress and learn good habits for study in higher education. This may be done at home or during non-contact time at college. Independent work is especially important when you're researching your oral topic.  This work could include:

·         Independent listening watching Spanish films (DVDs available in the library), watching Spanish TV online and listening to the Spanish radio. Rooms 122 and 125 are available during lunchtime to use the PCs for listening or other Spanish work.

·         Reading Spanish magazines and newspapers are available in the library and the department, surfing the Internet for the latest Spanish news (e.g. www.elpais.com or www.20minutos.es) or reading one of the many Spanish books in the library.

·           Vocab revision from work done in class and at home, from supplementary sheets, from listening transcripts or from vocabulary books (e.g. Palabra por palabra). 

·           Grammar revision and consolidation - there are reference and self-correcting grammar books in 122 and the library.  It's essential that you have a good set of notes and that you understood for the grammar covered at AS level. 

·           Essay preparation (Como Agua Para Chocolate/ La Casa de Bernada Alba/, Maria llena eres de gracia - learn flashy phrases for essays and re-read your marked essays, learning good bits and noting where you’ve gone wrong. Wider reading and viewing are essential to access the top mark bands for your Maria llena eres de gracia and Como Agua Para Chocolate essay. 

Useful links- have a look at the sites below and see what works for you! 

General reference

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/spanish/   -  Recap your GCSE Spanish to help you at college

http://www.wordreference.com/  , http://www.spanishdict.com/   &    http://www.linguee.com/ - Online dictionaries

http://forum.wordreference.com/forums/spanish-english-vocabulary-vocabulario-espa%C3%B1ol-ingl%C3%A9s.83/  , http://forum.wordreference.com/forums/spanish-english-grammar-gram%C3%A1tica-espa%C3%B1ol-ingl%C3%A9s.22/ ,

 – Forums where native Spanish speakers can answer your difficult questions

Grammar

http://www.spanishdict.com/conjugation - Verb conjugations

http://www.languagesonline.org.uk/ - Grammar and vocab activities

http://www.studyspanish.com/tutorial.htm  - Grammar explanations & tests

http://www.studyspanish.com/verbs/  - Verb drills

http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php  - Grammar & reading exercises

Vocabulary

https://quizlet.com/subject/spanish-A-level-vocabulary/  - Spanish vocabulary lists (you can also make your own and share them with others!)

https://www.memrise.com/  ,  https://www.duolingo.com/ - You need to sing up (phone apps)

Speaking & Listening

https://spanish.yabla.com/?a=1561  - Watch Spanish videos in an online video player

http://www.rtve.es/ - The Spanish equivalent of the BBC. Watch news, programmes, etc

News online:

http://www.bbc.com/mundo - Spanish version of the BBC news website

http://elpais.com/  ,  http://www.elmundo.es/  , http://www.20minutos.es/ , http://www.abc.es/ - Various news websites

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/students - Improve your general knowledge

Revision

http://www.spanishrevision.co.uk/a_level/piggott/aqa_as/index.htm  - For AQA but some topics overlap with WJEC

http://oye.languageskills.co.uk/advanced/year13.html - A variety of activities

Attendance:

As you know attendance is compulsory and any absence is registered electronically and monitored closely. Missing any lessons will impact greatly on your attendance record, as well as studies. Attendance is linked to achievement. 

We fully understand you may have university visits and interviews this year, but as ever, if you know in advance you can’t attend, you must inform your teacher. If you fail to attend a conversation lesson without contacting Alicia, your absence is recorded on a red slip. Your subject teacher will email your tutor if necessary. After repeated absences, your subject teacher/Tutor will contact your guardian/parents and your Principal Tutor will be informed. 

However, if you miss do miss a lesson, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to catch up with the work missed. Get in touch with someone from your group to find out what you have missed and what homework was set. However, catching up with the work missed due to absence is never the same as actually being in the lesson, as you miss valuable information, examples and tips so try to arrange to attend an alternative lesson in another block.  

Teacher absence

If the absence is known in advance, work will be set. If absence is unexpected, another member of the department will set you some work to complete. You must never treat a teacher’s absence as free time. There is always plenty for you to do: even if you think you have completed all of your work, there is always something extra you could be doing. Use all of the information given in this handbook to give you some inspiration!

How and where to find or contact us

If we’re not teaching in 125 or 120, you will usually find us in the Languages Office, 124.  However, you can email us at the following addresses: 

Sara Fisher-Stout

Alicia Garcia

sfisherstout@qeliz.ac.uk

agarcia@qeliz.ac.uk

                                                      ¡Buena suerte y que lo disfrutéis !