A buen puerto: advanced Spanish
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This course follows on from Viento en popa: upper intermediate Spanish (L204). It continues to develop your knowledge and understanding of the society and culture of Spain and Latin America and to extend the practical skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The study resources include online authentic audio and video, comprising interviews and documentaries, and illustrated printed materials. You will also develop your critical, analytical and intercultural skills. The course is structured around six themes, which give a broad introduction to different aspects of society and culture in Spanish speaking countries.
Fees 2012
See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.
Course facts
An undergraduate course in Environment, Development and International Studies and Languages.
| About this course: | |
|---|---|
| Course code | L314 |
| Credits | 60 |
| OU Level | 3 |
| SCQF level | 10 |
| FHEQ level | 6 |
| Course work includes: |
|---|
| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) |
| End-of-module assessment |
| No residential school |
Register for the course
This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees and financial support may vary by country.
What you will study
Most of the materials for this course are delivered online via the course website, and you will spend a considerable amount of time carrying out interactive online activities.
Each of the six course themes is studied over five weeks. There are online activities through the course website – including listening and speaking exercises – two printed course books and videos on DVD for each theme. A range of online activities on the website gives you the opportunity to access further authentic material and develop your ICT and communication skills.
The themes in detail are:
- Culturas: Multicultural origin and identity; religion and society; immigration and exile; music and dance as an expression of identity
- Arte: Arts and crafts; the social function of art; music as a means of protest; cinema and society
- Lenguas: Language and politics in Spain; languages in Spanish America; Spanish in the USA; language and change
- Ciencia: Sciences old and new; the scientific method; from inventions to products; science in the Hispanic world
- Mercados: The world of work in the Hispanic context; trading; the global world: prosperity or poverty?; culture, identity and the global village
- Medioambiente: National parks and their conservation; tourism and the environment; sustainable development.
The course uses a wide range of mixed media that has been selected to increase your knowledge of the themes and develop your confidence in the four language skills (reading, listening, writing and speaking). You will also progressively develop your analytical skills leading up to a small scale project at the end of the course. The structure of the material allows you to evaluate your progress regularly and provide strategies to improve your language and general learning skills. The materials are interactive and encourage your participation.
This course is designed to enable you to achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level C1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Entry
This is a Level 3 course for students who have successfully completed Viento en popa: upper intermediate Spanish (L204) or who have an equivalent knowledge of Spanish.
If you have not studied a language with The Open University before or you have any doubt about the standard of your Spanish, you are strongly advised to ask your regional or national centre about looking at reference copies of the courses.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Preparatory work
If you have time before the course begins, we suggest that you continue to use your Spanish in any way you can. You could do this by: redoing some of the activities in Viento en popa: upper intermediate Spanish (L204); watching and listening to the L204 audio and video materials; listening to Spanish radio broadcasts; accessing authentic resources online; borrowing Spanish books and films from the local library; or reading a Spanish newspaper. Anything you can do to keep practising your Spanish will be helpful.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Please note that this course makes substantial use of audio and visual materials. Full transcripts of audio and video materials are provided, except those used for assessment purposes. The written and spoken elements you will be asked to complete as part of your assessment may use audio and possibly visual stimuli. The printed study materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Comb-bound versions of the written study materials can be provided on request. You are advised to discuss your individual requirements with a regional adviser before you register. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
You’ll need to make extensive use of a personal computer throughout the course as most of the study materials are delivered online. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in operating a computer or the internet and have any concerns about accessing this type of material you are advised to talk to the Student Registration & Enquiry Service about support which can be given to meet your needs.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our publication Meeting Your Needs.
You can also find information about accessible study materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Study materials
What's included
Books, DVD and a dedicated course website which will be the focal point of your study, with access to a range of electronic tools including real-time conferencing and asynchronous tools such as forums.
You will need
A headset with a microphone and earphones to take part in online tutorials, complete the speaking activities on the course website, record spoken tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and to take part in the online speaking test at the end of the course.
To be able to play DVD-video.
Please also check the Computer requirements and Assessment sections.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2005 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you cannot use an Apple Mac or Linux computer unless it is running Windows using Boot Camp or similar dual-boot system.
Materials to buy
Set books
- Butt, J & Benjamin, C A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish (5th edn), Hodder Education £24.99 - ISBN 9781444137699
In addition to the above set book students also need access to a good bilingual dictionary, and a monolingual dictionary such as either Diccionario Esencial de la Lengua Española , ISBN 9788467023145, £37.50, or Diccionario Salamanca de la lengua española, ISBN 9788493453749, £49.50.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written and spoken tutor-marked assignments (TMAs). You can also ask your tutor for advice and guidance. This course usually includes a mix of face-to-face and online tutorials. Please note that depending on where you live, the mix will vary and in some places face-to-face tuition may be replaced by telephone conferencing. Although you are not obliged to attend any of these, you are strongly encouraged to take part as they will provide you with plenty of opportunities to speak and listen to Spanish. The online tutorials give you practice in using the conferencing tool used for your end-of-module speaking test. How tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course in your area. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You can choose whether to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) by post or online through the eTMA system. You may want to use the eTMA system for some of your assignments but submit by post for others. This is entirely your choice but please note that the written part of the end-of module assessment (EMA) must be submitted online. The end-of-module assessment (EMA) includes a speaking test which is also carried out online.
If you wish to submit your TMAs on paper by post, please ensure you have an audio cassette recorder (full size, not mini format) with microphone and at least one blank cassette to record and submit your speaking test.
The TMAs test your written or spoken skills. The listening input for these will be provided as downloadable sound files on the course website.
Professional recognition
The Chartered Institute of Marketing now recognises this course under their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2013. We expect it to be available once a year.
Fees 2012
See fees and funding options for study from September 2012.
Course facts
An undergraduate course in Environment, Development and International Studies and Languages.
| About this course: | |
|---|---|
| Course code | L314 |
| Credits | 60 |
| OU Level | 3 |
| SCQF level | 10 |
| FHEQ level | 6 |
| Course work includes: |
|---|
| 5 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) |
| End-of-module assessment |
| No residential school |
Study explained
- Financial support
- - find out if you qualify for support with your fees with our eligibility checker.
- Study explained
- - all you need to know about distance learning with the OU.
Student Reviews
I had an excellent tutor, a wide range of materials, but this is again a rather disappointing rather claustrophobic course ...
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This review (as all the other ones shown here)refers to the old edition of L314 and does not apply to ...
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This was my final course in my quest for a degree in modern languages. It offered the usual high quality ...
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Your questions
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Or contact an adviser in our Student Registration & Enquiry Service Email or call +44(0) 845 300 60 90+44(0) 845 366 60 35
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