Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Beginning Spanish I (Online)

SPAN 1010-30I

Course: SPAN 1010-30I
Credits: 4
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: FLPH
CRN: 30715

Course Description

This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of Spanish, and it aims to develop basic skills in the core areas of language learning During the course we will work on multiple major skill areas for language learning such as listening, reading, writing, and speaking. As is the case with any other language class, this course requires active participation in the learning process. Taking the time to complete the daily assignments is also crucial for not only earning a good grade but also learning the language and keeping up with the class. The goal of all activities is basic communicative competence not grammatical perfection. 

Required Texts

  • Contraseña By Gillian Lord, Amy Rossomondo ( Lingro Learning) VBID: 9781636040363 ISBN: 9781636040363
  • Access to the ebook – Contraseña by Lingro Learning
  • Students will get access to Contraseña through Inclusive Access.
  • Access to Canvas
  • Access to a webcam and microphone for Zoom

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, successful students will be able to:

Greet others, introduce themselves, describe things, narrate basic events, discuss their preferences, daily habits and routines, and express desires and wishes in the present tense.

Produce and comprehend Spanish speech and text using basic vocabulary to discuss and/or compare: clothing, colors, physical and character attributes of people (including nationality), birthdays and holidays, classroom objects, weather and seasons, family, personal information, food, and emotions. Students will gain a very basic understanding of various countries and Hispanic cultures. They will demonstrate an awareness of some of their customs and geography and will begin to make connections between these Hispanic cultures and their own.

In addition, we will focus on acquiring the following areas from the SUU Essential Learning Outcomes:

Communication: Gain intellectual and practical skills, particularly in written and oral communication.

Intercultural Knowledge and Competence: Demonstrate that they possess a set of cognitive and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts.

Digital Literacy: Students strategically and responsibly employ appropriate technologies to explore,

create, collaborate, and organize in a digital context.

Course Requirements

Throughout the semester, students are responsible for completing the following assignments:

  • Exams (4) 35%

  • Homework in Contraseña 35%

  • Composition (1) 10%

  • Digital Portfolio 10%

  • Final interview 10%

I use the following grading scale to submit final grades:

GRADEPOINT SCALE
A93-100
A-90-92
B+87-89
B83-86
B-80-82
C+77-79
C73-76
C-70-72
D+67-69
D63-66
D-60-62
F59 and below

In addition, these are the policies and expectations in this course:

Daily online homework in Contraseña: With your purchased Contraseña code you will be able to complete all online assignments and will have access to the e-book. Specific assignments for each week can be found in the course calendar. It is the student's responsibility to work on these assignments continuously each week. If you have doubts, issues, or questions please contact the professor.

Exams and compositions: All assignments must be submitted on the day and time indicated in the course calendar. Should you have a family, medical, or personal emergency that makes this impossible, please be sure to reach out to me via email as soon as possible. You will always receive a study guide prior to exams (often in the form of Power Point or a short list of content points to study in the e-book).

Exams: Exams can include a mixture of listening, writing, and reading comprehension. You will be informed of the format of each exam ahead of time.

Compositions: There will be one composition in this course which will be completed individually by the student. You will complete two drafts of the composition. The second draft will address the professor’s suggested edits and changes.

Course Outline

Calendario de tareas (Subject to changes)
SEMANA | TAREA
SEMANA 1
Read syllabus and familiarize yourself with course calendar.
Register for Contraseña
Tarea 1: Complete all informational activities in Contraseña
Spanish Key Words and Phrases
Expresiones útiles para la clase
El alfabeto
Los colores
El tiempo
SEMANA 2
Tarea 2:
Complete all Getting Started! modules
UNIDAD 1
¿Quién soy yo?
Introducción y texto:
Los perfiles sociales.
Tarea 3:
Preparar: Texto
Vocabulario I: Los perfiles sociales
 Tarea 4:
Preparar
Vocabulario II: Los números
SEMANA 3
Tarea 5:
Preparar
Aplicar: 1.1 – 1.5
Gramática I: Ser and Estar (singular forms)
Tarea 6:
Preparar
Aplicar: 1.1 – 1.8
Tarea 7:
Comprobar
SEMANA 4
Gramática II: Gender Agreement
Tarea 8:
Preparar
Aplicar: 1.12 – 1.14
Exploración cultural: Las redes sociales en el mundo hispano.
Tarea 9:
Aplicar
Repaso para el examen 1
Examen 1
SEMANA 5
UNIDAD 2
¿Quién eres tú?
Contexto de la unidad y texto: Conversaciones en la universidad.
Vocabulario I: Saludos, despedidas y preguntas básicas.
Tarea 10:
Texto y Aplicar
Vocabulario I: Preparar
Vocabulario II: Los cursos y las especializaciones
Tarea 11:
Vocabulario II: Preparar
Aplicar: 2.1 – 2.8
Gramática I: Ser and Estar (Plural forms).
Tarea 12:
Preparar
Aplicar: 2.1 – 2.6
SEMANA 6
Tarea 13:
Comprobar
Gramática II: Asking questions in Spanish.
Tarea 14:
Preparar
Aplicar: 2.8 – 2.11
Tarea 15:
Comprobar
Exploración cultural: El tuteo en el mundo hispano.
SEMANA 7
Tarea 16:
Aplicar
Repaso para el examen 2
Examen 2
Composición 1 (first draft – borrador) en Canvas
SEMANA 8
UNIDAD 3
¿Qué tengo que hacer esta semana?
Contexto de la unidad y texto: Los planes de Ana y David.
Vocabulario I: Los días de la semana, meses y estaciones.
Tarea 17:
Texto y Aplicar
Vocabulario I: Preparar
Vocabulario II: Las actividades diarias.
Tarea 18:
Vocabulario II: Preparar
Aplicar: 3.1 – 3.3, 3.7, 3.8
Gramática I: La hora.
Tarea 19:
Preparar
Aplicar: 3.1 – 3.3
Tarea 20:
Comprobar
SEMANA 9
Gramática II: Los verbos IR y TENER.
Tarea 21:
Preparar
Aplicar: 3.6 – 3.8
Tarea 22:
Comprobar
Exploración cultural: ¿Adiós, siesta?
Tarea 23:
Aplicar
SEMANA 10
Repaso para el examen 3
Examen 3
UNIDAD 4
¿Cómo es mi universidad?
Contexto de la unidad y texto: Mi universidad: un selfirecorrido.
Vocabulario I: La vida en el campus.
Tarea 24:
Texto y Aplicar
SEMANA 11
Vocabulario I: Preparar
Vocabulario II: Me gusta y no me gusta.
Tarea 25:
Vocabulario II: Preparar
Aplicar: 4.1 – 4.4, 4.9, 4.10
Gramática I: El verbo HABER.
Tarea 26:
Preparar
Aplicar: 4.1 – 4.3
Tarea 27:
Comprobar
Gramática II: Present tense of -ar verbs.
SEMANA 12
Tarea 28:
Preparar
Aplicar: 4.6 – 4.9
Tarea 29:
Comprobar
Exploración cultural: La vida universitaria en los países hispanos.
Tarea 30:
Aplicar
Repaso para el examen 4
SEMANA 13
Examen 4
UNIDAD 5
¿A quién admiro?
Contexto de la unidad y texto: Una nominación.
Vocabulario I: Las cualidades personales.
Tarea 31:
Texto y Aplicar
Vocabulario I: Preparar
Vocabulario II: ¿Qué hacen las personas admiradas?
Tarea 32:
Vocabulario II: Preparar
Aplicar: 5.1, 5.2, 5.5, 5.6
SEMANA 14 THANKSGIVING BREAK
SEMANA 15
Gramática I: Present Tense of -er and -ir verbs.
Tarea 33:
Preparar
Aplicar: 5.1 – 5.7
Gramática II: Los verbos SABER y CONOCER.
Tarea 34:
Preparar
Aplicar: 5.10 – 5.12
Exploración cultural: Personas admiradas en el mundo hispano.
Tarea 35:
Aplicar
Trabajar en el Portafolio digital
Repaso para el examen oral
FINALS WEEK
Exámenes orales (via Zoom)
Digital Portfolio due

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Policies on late assignments

For the online homework assignments, a 5% penalty will be deducted after every late day. Past due assignments will be accepted with this penalty.

No past due exams or compositions will be accepted unless previously arranged with the professor.

Academic translators: The use of translation tools or devices to complete course assignments is prohibited. Using a translation service or tool is equivalent to plagiarism and will be reported as a violation of Academic Integrity, as outlined by Policy 6.33 Academic Integrity:

https://help.suu.edu/uploads/attachments/PP633Academic.pdf

Attendance Policy

Attendace policy 
As this is an asynchronous online class, attendance will not be factored in when deciding your final grade. However, your active online engagement essential to your success in the class.

Course Information

Spanish 1010-30I: Beginning Spanish I
Department of Languages and Philosophy
Southern Utah University
Fall 2025

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.