Assignments

Picture of vibrant multicolor woven textiles from a market in Guatemala.

Student Participation

Active participation is an essential part of a language class. Consequently, students will conduct weekly self-assessments of their participation and will answer three short questions to assess their own progress. A form for participation is available on Canvas, please submit it weekly.

The participation form has two sections:

The first is a numerical self-assessment. The criteria for this assessment are provided below.
The second section is a short-answer question. Students should write two sentences for one of the following questions; a thoughtful reflection is worth 1 participation point. An answer such as “I understand everything” is insufficient and will be marked with a zero.
- ¿Qué lograste hacer en la última semana para ayudarte en esta clase?
- ¿Qué meta te pondrás para la próxima semana para ayudarte a tener éxito en esta clase?

Note: If students’ self-assessments don’t reflect the criteria above, the professor reserves the right to adjust them in accordance with student's performance.

Participation Was Exceptional (3/3 Points)

Student comes to class prepared.
Student arrives on time and stays until the end of class.
Student actively speaks up in class conversations without being asked.
Student speaks Spanish all the time (including in group discussions)
Student remains on task and does not use their phone or computer except to access class materials.

Participation Was Average
(2/3 Points)

- Student comes to class with minor evidence of being unprepared.
- Student arrives on time and stays until the end of class.
- Student only participates when called on.
- Student speaks Spanish most of the time, relying on English only occasionally (including in group discussions).
- Student may have occasionally been distracted on social media or their phone for unrelated reasons.

I'm Struggling
(1/3 Points)

We all have off weeks, own it, let's talk about it if we need to, and work to improve.

- Student shows evidence of being unprepared.
- Student attends but may arrive late or leave early in some instances; or student had an unexcused absence.
- Student does not participate actively.
- Student relies on English significantly to express ideas (including in group discussions).
- Student is frequently distracted on social media or their phone for unrelated reasons.

Unsatisfactory
(0/3 Points)

Participation was not up to the standards above. (Inc. missing 2 or more classes) Let me know if there’s something standing in the way of your engagement with the course. I’ve been there before and am happy to help.

Photo of an art museum exhibit; there are many possible opportunities for participation extra credit.

Participation Extra Credit

If students find that their participation score is not meeting their own expectations, they may supplement the score by attending Spanish-language or Latinx culture events outside of class time. These will be announced throughout the semester. Any external event that a student attends is worth 1 point on ANY previous week’s participation score to a max score of 5 points.

You can claim your participation extra credit in one of two ways:

1. If the professor was at the event, say hi and send an email within a week of the event to ask for the credit.

2. If the professor was not at the event, send an email within a week of the event to ask for the credit, but in this case, you must describe the event and provide a few sentences about what you learned.

Note that this is the only type of extra credit available for this course.

Translation Activities

Students will be assigned translation exercises from the textbook at least once per week. These may range from a series of individual sentences geared at addressing specific challenges that arise when translating, or longer sample texts which require students to consider a range of challenges we've discussed in one text.

The final number of translation activities assigned will depend on how we progress through the course, so the bundle requirements are a percentage of satisfactorily completed assignments (remember, assignments are pass-fail).

A passing grade on these assignments meets all the following objectives:

Draft is typed in the target language
(if the source text is in Spanish, you're translating into English, or vice versa).
Draft has been spellchecked prior to submission
Student submits assignment on Canvas by the due date.
(We're going to workshop these in class quite often, to get the most out of those workshops, the assignment needs to be completed before class).

Translation Games

The Translation Games are both a competition and a midterm. Working in small groups with students from SPAN 2120, you'll translate a short text from Spanish to English during class time. You will not have access to the text before the Games begin.

You'll harness the skills that each student brings to the task to ensure a polished and natural-reading English version of the source text.

A passing grade on these assignments meets all the following objectives:

Assignment is written in English
Assignment has been spellchecked and grammar checked before submission
Translation is submitted during class time.

Following the Games, a panel of Spanish professors will read the anonymized translations and identify a winning team. The winning team will receive a prize.

Oral Presentations

Students will be divided into groups with students from SPAN 2120 and assigned a short text to translate from Spanish to English. Together you will discuss the meaning of the text you're translating, identify challenges, and edit it into a polished translation.

You'll submit your translation on Canvas and give a five minute presentation to the unified classes about the challenges of your translation process, how you overcame them, and how your collaboration yielded a better translation than if you had done it alone.

A passing grade on this assignment meets all the following objectives:

Translation is submitted on Canvas the day of your presentation.
You present for at least five minutes and do not exceed 7 minutes.
Practice and time yourselves.
The presentation includes the following elements:
- - - - Collaboration from all parties
      - A brief introduction to your text
      - A discussion of at least one element of the translation that was challenging
      - An explanation of how that challenge was resolved
      - A discussion of how you worked successfully in a team to make the translation better than it would have been if you'd worked alone.

Note: Each student is graded separately on this assignment and the grading criteria for students in SPAN 2120 will be different from the criteria against which students in this class are graded. Your responsibility is to put in a good faith effort to complete this assignment in partnership with others and to meet the criteria stipulated here. If you're having trouble meeting these criteria with an equitable and shared workload, try to resolve that issue through dialogue amongst yourselves first. If this is not working, reach out to your professors for assistance in mediating conflict.

Final Reflection

In place of a final exam, you will write a final reflection paper on one of the following prompts:

A) ¿Cómo esta clase cambió tu perspectiva de la traducción y la comunicación intercultural?

B) ¿Cómo aplicarás lo que has aprendido en esta clase a la comunicación tanto bilingüe como monolingüe?

C) ¿Cuál aspecto de la traducción te pareció más interesante o desafiante? ¿Por qué?

A passing grade on this assignment meets all the following objectives:

Assignment is written in Spanish
Assignment has been spellchecked and grammar checked prior to submission.
If sources are cited (which is not required), they must be cited in MLA, APA, or another convention of your choosing and a works cited list must be included.
(A works cited list does not count towards your word count)
Essay responds to one of the three prompts above.
Essay contains a brief introduction and conclusion and is otherwise structured as an essay.
Essay is at least 500 words long and does not exceed 1000 words.
- - Composition is uploaded to Canvas by the due date.

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