SPAN 323: Composition and Translation
Prerequisite: SPAN 320
Credit Hours: (3)
Development of students’ abilities in composition in the Spanish language.
Detailed Description of Content of Course
This course is designed to develop students’ abilities in composition and translation. The first part of the course involves practice in writing descriptions and narrations along with reviewing the most common problems in orthography and grammar. The second moves on to the study of several useful procedures to develop an expository essay. Students will learn techniques and writing strategies based on definitions, analysis and classification as well as comparison and contrast.
There will be a progression from simple to complex sentence structure. Later compositions will require sophisticated use of all the tenses as well as effective manipulation of writing techniques and strategies such as organization, paragraph development, thesis statement, transitions, and successful communication of ideas.
Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
This course will be conducted entirely in Spanish and requires active participation. Each class period begins with a discussion of the type of writing to be attempted. This is followed by a presentation of writing models plus a rigorous analysis of the models’ organization and style. After students have begun producing drafts, they are encouraged to work in small groups in order to develop their critical reading skills based on analysis of their own and of their classmates’ writing. Students are also trained to practice techniques of editing and proofreading.
In addition to weekly composition writing and translation exercises, the student is asked to keep a journal for each class day and to write a ten-page term paper applying one of the expository techniques discussed in class. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is recommended regarding the preparation of the final project.
Goals and Objectives of the Course
1) Students will develop advanced skills in the organization of compositions: description,
narration, and exposition.
2) Students will be able to proofread their own and others’ material for errors in
mechanics, organization, and stylistics.
3) Students will develop a sense of writing as interaction between writer, reader,
purpose, and message.
4) Students will build a richer repertoire of syntactic and lexical tools.
5) Students will be able to translate journalistic writing.
6) Students will improve their grammar and vocabulary.
7) Students will acquire critical methods, models, and strategies necessary for writing
critically and for revising their own research paper and the research paper of one
of their classmates.
Assessment Measures
Exam I tests the student’s knowledge of the techniques of description and narration. Exam II tests the student’s knowledge of the different methodologies involved in the writing of an expository essay. The final examination is comprehensive and it includes a grammar section, translation exercises, and theory and practice of writing and editing. All exams must be answered in Spanish.
Other Course Information
A foreign language major in Spanish requires at least 24 hours above the intermediate level. Spanish 323 fulfills part of this requirement for majors and also for minors.
Approval and Subsequent Reviews
September 2005 Reviewed Philip Sweet