Course Requirements

Required Texts:

  • Galloway, Vicki and Labarca, Angela. Visión y voz, second edition.
  • Workbook for Visión y voz, second edition.
  • Lab manual for Visión y voz, second edition.

Attendance: Attendance at all class meetings is required and I will take attendance at each class meeting. Students who have three (3) unexcused absences will receive a warning. After three unexcused absences, your participation grade will lower by 1/2 letter grade every other absence. Excused absences are those which accompany a doctor's or coach's note.

Homework: Homework is assigned on a daily basis. Each Friday, a web assignment is due based on the song to which we will listen in Friday's class. Students need to keep up with the chapter's workbook assignments. It is also your responsability to check your own workbook assignments and correct mistakes with a red pen. I will usually collect the workbookbook assignments for a chapter the day of each week's quiz. Late assignments will not be accepted. If you are absent for a class, you may email the homework assignment to me by 11am on the day that the assignment is due.

Compositions: Students will write weekly compositions in the form of journal writing. They will incorporate the grammar and the themes of the text. You will need a small notebook that you will use during the semester as your journal. You may NOT get outside help (ex. your roommate who is a native Spanish speaker,etc.) for these or any other assignments.

Oral Preparation: Students should regularly listen to the tapes or CDs that correspond to each lesson of Visión y voz. The weekly quizzes will frequently refer to parts of the lab work so you are advised to keep up with all lab assignments. Tapes and CDs are available for sale to students at the Columbia University Bookstore and are available for use in the Language Lab in Lewisohn Hall.

Quizzes: At the end of almost each major unit you will have an announced, written and/or oral quiz, or composition---there will be seven (7) quizzes in total. In addition, you will have a midterm and a final examination. There will be no make-ups. The lowest quiz grade will be dropped in averaging your final grade.

Oral Exam: At the end of the semester, there will be an oral final exam that may be a final presentation or a skit. The skit or presentation must incorporate the themes and grammar points from the book and participants can not use notes.


Final Grade Breakdown

Class Preparation/Class Participation: 25%
Quizzes: 20%
Midterm Exam: 15%
Compositions: 15%
Oral Exam: 5%
Final Exam: 20%

Grading Scale

97-100 = A+
93-96 = A
90-92 = A-
87-89 = B+
83-86 = B
80-82 = B-
77-79 = C+
73-76 = C
70-72 = C-
60-69 = D