Spanish

Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures is to promote academic excellence by providing UNF students with the opportunity to learn to communicate effectively in writing as well as orally in a language other than English. Additionally, the department fosters human understanding by exposing students to a multiplicity of textual constructs and by urging them to undertake cultural experiences that enhance their vision as global citizens. Such a commitment to excellence requires that faculty members pursue in earnest academic research and publication to stay abreast of new developments in literary criticism, cultural studies and language acquisition, that they integrate results of their inquiry effectively in the courses they teach, and that they publish or present their research in highly regarded professional forums. The Department's pedagogical focus is to underscore at all times the importance of language as a window to human understanding. The Languages, Literatures and Cultures faculty strives to instill in students the critical skills necessary to analyze a variety of texts (literary and otherwise) in their original language and social context, so that they may discern and appreciate cultural differences. Programmatic relevance is ensured by a shared teaching methodology that blends language instruction at its most practical level with academic approaches in the humanistic tradition, which assert the inherent value of multiculturalism. In order to ascertain success in its mission, the Department assesses its students yearly through instruments tailored to the program as well as to the desired learning outcomes. This commitment to rigorous assessment promotes self-reflection on the part of a committed faculty willing always to renovate and upgrade the language program for the benefit of UNF students as well as to address the needs of the community the university serves.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

Content Specific Knowledge

• understand and analyze similarities and differences between Hispanophone cultures.
• possess a broad vocabulary at the Intermediate-High level that allows for ready understanding of the main ideas of a literary or cultural text.

Communication

• write well organized paragraphs using accurate and comprehensible discourse.
• demonstrate oral fluency and understandable pronunciation at the Intermediate-High level.

Critical Thinking Skills

• analyze, interpret and assess literary and cultural texts through writing at an Intermediate-High level.
• show originality or independence of thought, present a clear thesis and support ideas coherently when writing in Spanish.

Assessment Approaches

The intended student learning outcomes in upper-level Spanish language, literature and culture courses will mainly be assessed through direct measures. For example, in SPN 4400, Advanced Spanish Grammar and Discussion, a reflective writing assignment that is part of the regular course curriculum will be assessed for command of grammar, syntax and vocabulary in Spanish. In courses that stress oral production and comprehension of Spanish, such as SPN 4410 Advanced Spanish Conversation, students' mastery of oral fluency and understandable pronunciation will be assessed through individual, oral interviews that are part of the course. In 4000-level Spanish literature and culture courses, critical thinking skills will be assessed through evaluation of written assignments and in class oral presentations. Student work in these advanced courses will be assessed for originality and the ability to analyze and interpret literary and cultural texts in the target language. Ideally, students completing the program in Spanish will have an informal exit interview with a faculty member in order to be assessed for spoken proficiency and comprehension of Spanish at the Intermediate-High level (ACTFL scoring).