Program Codes:
BASPANED
Bachelor of Arts
Introduction
The Spanish education major at Mercyhurst offer students hands-on experiences as they prepare to be language teachers in K-12 classrooms. With practicum experiences from the freshman year, our Spanish Education majors graduate with strong language skills and deep understanding of best practices in world language education. As the only university in the Erie region to certify French and Spanish education students, our graduates are sought-after by area school districts. Additionally, 45 states have signed teacher certification reciprocity agreements with Pennsylvania, so language education graduates can teach all over the US.
Mission Statement
The Department of World Languages and Cultures supports the mission of the University by fostering meaningful language acquisition and cultural study that will enable our students to “exercise leadership in service toward a just world.”
The department promotes the acquisition of indispensable skills in intercultural communication for our students’ future careers and personal development. Understanding that we cannot truly understand a people without understanding their language, the department’s focus is on quality, student-centered instruction in the reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension skills necessary to function in our target languages. Courses in world cultures and literatures are a vital complement to language study and support the University core value of global responsibility, which “challenges us to learn how to steward the resources of the Earth wisely and to act in solidarity with its diverse peoples.”
In order to foster awareness of world cultures, the department supports study abroad experiences, sponsors speakers and other events on campus, and serves as a language and cultural resource to the greater Erie community. The department of World Languages and Cultures works to foster respect for others, an openness to difference, and productive relationships facilitated through intercultural communication.
Major Requirements
All majors must maintain an overall 2.5 GPA and at least a 2.75 GPA in major courses. Spanish Education majors must also meet all the requirements of the Education Department, including their GPA minimums. All majors and those students seeking teaching certification, are expected to maintain a portfolio which will be important for assessment at Sophomore Review.
Entrance into the major program is determined by the successful completion of the Introduction and Intermediate sequence or by the demonstration of equivalent skills on the CLEP, AP, or International Baccalaureate examinations. Students must also successfully pass through the Sophomore Review process before formal admittance to the major is granted. In order to receive this degree and certification in French Education, students must complete all major courses indicated for the French major as well as all the requirements of the Education Department for K-12 certification.
An outline of requirements for the portfolio, which includes written and oral work, can be obtained from the student’s language advisor or from the Department Chair. Students with previous experience in a language offered by the department (including native speakers) must consult with the department faculty to be placed into an appropriate level course. The Department reserves the right to reassign students whose level of experience is not appropriate for the course.
Sophomore Review
During spring semester of the sophomore year, the Department reviews the student’s academic record, the language portfolio, and recommendations from professors to determine academic progress. At this time, qualified students are formally invited into the major and are informed in writing of the Department’s decision.
Senior Review
Spring semester of the senior year, students will meet with department faculty to conduct an exit review. All language majors sit for the Oral Proficiency Interview in their senior year. The OPI is an independent evaluation of a student’s language proficiency level by an outside evaluator. Students can use the OPI rating, which is recognized internationally, on their resumes and employment or graduate school applications.
Historical and cultural development of Latin America. Lectures, class discussions, and readings examine the most significant aspects and trends of political, literary, economic, social and artistic life. The course is conducted in English.
An intensive study of the subjunctive mood, as well as some of the more sophisticated grammatical patterns and idiomatic structures of Spanish, designed to increase proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking the language. For students with 4 or more years of prior study.
Using short stories, poems, and novels, students will enhance their reading comprehension while discussing literay concepts such as plot, theme, metaphor and symbol.
SPAN 204
This course presents an introduction to the culture and history of Spain. Literature, lecture, film, and art introduce the student to geography, history, and politics of Spain as well as contemporary issues such as regionalism, immigration, and the European Union which are shaping modern Spain.
SPAN 204
Students will develop their communicative skills, while building vocabulary and a greater understanding of structure and idioms, through composition and guided as well as spontaneous conversations.
Content determined by preference of students/professor. Focus may be on a literary movement, a century, or a genre. Group will then examine the relationships between cultural patterns and literary tendencies.
SPAN 204
This upper level course focuses on the mastery of the International Phonetic System, the phonemes and allophones of Spanish/French, phonetic and phonemic transcription, dialectical variation, etc.
SPAN 204
Student will hone their skills in compositoin, writing descriptive, narrative, expository and argumentative essays. Students wll examine several basic differences in the structure of the Spanish and English languages before addressing problems of translation.
SPAN 204
This course will present a historical overview of language education and introduce the student to various current approaches to foreign language teaching, including the Natural Approach, communicative methods, and Total Physical Response. Issues such as error correction, grammar instruction, testing (including the ACTFL proficiency guidelines), and bilingual education/ESL will be discussed. Students will become familiar with the use of the language lab and techniques for its implementation. *This course includes a 20-hour practicum. Prerequisite: Language education majors or Teaching English Language Learners certification/minor
This course does not assume prior language or linguistics study but rather introduces students to the social aspects of language, in general, and to the relationship between language and social factors that affect its usage, such as geography, gender, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic class.
Majors must choose at least two (2) electives in their major language.
Using Spanish as the language of instruction, this course examines business practices in Latin America and Spain in an era of globalization. Students will acquire the vocabulary and cultural skills needed to interact in a business setting. Memo, resume and business letter writing, as well as the interview and telephone skills, will be practiced.
SPAN 204
Using Spanish as the main language of instruction, this course will introduce you the structural and social aspects of language in general, and to the ways these aspects manifest in the Spanish-speaking world. We will analyze English and Spanish contact in the United States, as well as other language contact situations around the globe, such as communities where Spanish intertwines with indigenous languages. Topics discussed will include dialects, types of bilingualism, code-switching, issues of language and power, and the socio-political ramifications of bilingual/bicultural education. The course does NOT assume prior linguistics/sociolinguistics study, although students possessing such knowledge will have an opportunity to share experiences with the class.
SPAN 204
With instructor approval, students may use this course to develop an independent study program based on their experiences abroad. Students must have spent at least four weeks in a Spanish-speaking country and must arrange, prior to the trip, to complete a research or creative project and present it during the semester following their return.
SPAN 204