Module: Spanish Language Skills 3

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Spanish Language Skills 3
Module Code	SPA1033 (ITS: SP376)
Faculty	SALIS	School	Humanities & Social Sciences
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	10

Description

This module, delivered in the target language, aims to develop all Spanish language skills at a higher intermediate level. Students will work on reception, production, interaction and mediation, developing their language and cultural awareness and applying language appropriately in formal and informal situations. Students will acquire a thorough understanding of contemporary Spanish-speaking countries and strengthen their cultural and societal awareness through research, discussion and critical analysis based on a range of authentic multimodal resources. Students will develop their oral, written and reading skills and their range of linguistic expression, accuracy and style to the required level, and will become fully autonomous language learners.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand and extract information and opinions from a range of spoken and written material from a variety of sources including broadcast media, reports, documentaries, films, radio and academic articles.
2. Present ideas clearly and accurately through Spanish using complex structures, appropriate vocabulary, register and tone.
3. Interact with native and non-native speakers of Spanish with a degree of fluency and spontaneity taking active part in discussions in familiar contexts, and sustaining/negotiating their views.
4. Produce written pieces in a clear, well-structured manner, showing a high level of grammatical control, complex syntax, and cohesive devices.
5. Demonstrate the ability to use topic-specific vocabulary in Spanish using a broad lexical repertoire to express ideas with accuracy, developing awareness and control of the organisation of meaning.
6. Acquire knowledge and develop critical thinking on topics related to contemporary socio-cultural issues.
7. Develop resourcefulness: find new, creative and different ways of transmitting a message when a debate and a discussion take place.
8. Demonstrate research skills from an array of resources such as literature, media, and audiovisual material, including digital sources.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Tutorial	44	Contact hours, peer activities and/or consultation hours with the lecturer.
Fieldwork	44	Work on material in preparation for or as a follow-up of the class.
Independent Study	62	Completion of in-class work.
Assignment Completion	50	Preparation for the annotated bibliography, mediation task and oral exam.
Group work	50	Preparation with peers of classroom work, including presentation and activities.
Total Workload: 250

Section Breakdown
CRN	11562	Part of Term	Semester 1 & 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez	Module Teacher	Hannah Leonard

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
In Class Test	In-class tests. This series of tests are based on grammar, vocabulary, sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects. You will demonstrate your competences on your language skills and your improvement on the use of Spanish.	30%	n/a
Group assignment	Mediation task. In this assignment students will engage in a series of mediation tasks which include multimodal material. The nature of the tasks focus on reflective, research, analytic, and linguistic skills. Students will be assessed on the final two tasks. The module coordinator reserves the right to hold an oral examination to verify any piece of continuous assessment submitted.	20%	n/a
Essay	You will need to engage in a written analysis in Spanish based on a text in translation. The text will be related with contemporary Spain and historical memory. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate your critical analysis skills based on the knowledge acquired inside and outside the classroom.	20%	n/a
Oral Examination	Oral examination where the student will have to work on a sustained dialogue and interact with the teacher(s) and/or their peers.	30%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Content
This is a task-based module conducted through Spanish and is delivered annually. All tasks lay emphasis on fluency, linguistic accuracy, pragmatic competence and critical analysis. Students will engage with linguistic, social, political and cultural issues in contemporary Spain and will analyse them within a global context. The tasks will be based on the presentation, discussion, research and critical analysis of a range of relevant authentic material: namely reports, literature, journalistic texts, media, and films. The class activities will provide students the necessary practice to improve their linguistic competences and transferable skills such as teamwork, communication skills and reflection on the learning process, guided by teacher and peer feedback.

Methodology
This module will follow a flipped approach to instruction during some of the sessions, it is therefore essential that students complete the assigned work before class in order to be able to participate in class discussions.

Work format
Coursework involves individual and pair/group work to complete oral and written tasks. Students will need to communicate with classmates during class as well as outside our timetabled sessions in order to complete group tasks and assignments.

Beyond the classroom
Students are expected to take responsibility for their own language learning by looking for language learning opportunities and engaging in language practice outside of class.

Indicative Reading List

Books:
None

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None