Spanish 4 (Level 4)

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 4
• Convenor: Dr Mari-Paz Balibrea Enriquez
• Assessment: continuous assessment (20%), a listening in-class assessment (20%), written in-class assessment (35%), oral in-class assessment (20%) and class participation (5%)

Leading to CEFR* C1 (Advanced)/post-A-level, this 24-week module builds on and broadens your existing knowledge and skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing in Spanish. The emphasis is on expanding your vocabulary, developing accuracy in oral and written communication, and learning to use more complex grammatical structures and sentences (e.g. compound sentences).

You will be expected to understand a variety of texts from a range of media, including literary texts, TV programmes and films. Materials in different varieties of Latin American and Peninsular Spanish will be used for reading and listening comprehension practice.

* Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Please note: this is only an approximate equivalence.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand extended speech even when it is not clearly structured and when relationships are only implied and not signalled explicitly
• understand television programmes and films without too much effort
• understand long and complex factual and literary texts, appreciating distinctions of style
• understand specialised articles and longer technical instructions, even when they do not relate to your field
• express yourself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions
• use language flexibly and effectively for social and professional purposes
• formulate ideas and opinions with precision and relate your contribution skilfully to those of other speakers
• present clear, detailed descriptions of complex subjects integrating sub-themes, developing particular points and rounding off with an appropriate conclusion
• express yourself in clear, well-structured text, expressing points of view at some length
• write about complex subjects in a letter, an essay or a report, underlining what you consider to be the salient issues
• select style appropriate to the reader in mind.