Course Syllabus

Spanish 101: Beginning Spanish I

Course Description

This is an introductory course in Spanish for beginners and students with less than two years of high school Spanish. The emphasis of this course is on the basic language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

This course is for beginners with little or no prior experience with the Spanish language. If you have taken previous high school or college courses in Spanish, or if you have advanced language skills in Spanish, you should not take this course. Rather, you should either test out of SPAN 101 or sign up for a more advanced Spanish course. During the first week of class, the instructor will determine if you are correctly placed in this course. If the instructor determines that you have advanced Spanish language skills, expect a conversation about whether this class is the best placement for you.

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Speak using simple sentences and answer basic questions with appropriate responses
2. Identify the main points and some supporting details of short readings and native-speaker speech
3. Write simple paragraphs; identify and correct basic written mistakes.
4. Identify various similarities and differences between local cultures and Hispanic cultures.
5. Describe the ways in which learning Spanish and about Hispanic cultures helps to become a better disciple of Christ and identify how the Lord can help in learning languages.

Course Schedule

The course has been designed to follow a weekly schedule in which students complete one lesson per week. You are expected to complete all of the learning activities in the order they are listed for each week. The instructor may shift the order of completion for some assignments and may even extend the deadlines on a few assignments if circumstances warrant it for the entire class. However, for most assignments and quizzes, you are expected to have them all completed by Saturday evening at 11:59 p.m. (mountain time) each week. Please refer to your Calendar in I-Learn for the specific times and dates for your time zone. 

In order to help you plan out your weekly schedule, every Thursday at 12:00 p.m. (mountain time) you will be given access to the learning activities for the next week. This is done so that you will be able to work ahead over the weekend if you choose to do so.

On average, it takes approximately 12 hours to complete all of the learning activities for each week. This is the average amount of time students must put into the course each week in order to get an average grade (C) in the course. Students who wish to earn higher grades may need to put in more study time. You should arrange your daily schedule so that you can put in about two hours of study every day from Monday through Saturday. This will ensure that you are able to put in the amount of distributed practice that is necessary to gain fluency in the language. 

With these classes, there is no time off for holidays like you might get in face-to-face classes. Consequently, you should make sure to arrange your study schedule so that holiday activities do not keep you from completing the learning activities.

*All due dates are in Mountain time. Please refer to your Calendar in I-Learn for dates and times specific to your time zone for each activity.

Required Materials

This course uses a low-cost, auto-access textbook. Read the information in the Textbook Information module to learn how to access your textbook.

IMPORTANT: This course requires McGraw-Hill Connect access to complete the activity and assignments. Please do not opt out of materials for this course. It is necessary for the integration to properly work in the course.

McGraw-Hill Account

This course uses McGraw-Hill Connect activities. If you have not previously created one for a BYU-Idaho course, you are required to create a McGraw-Hill account. Instructions, found on the About Your Textbook page, guide you to complete the necessary steps for setup.

Communication Practice

This course is designed around the premise that your language ability will become better through authentic communication. This includes writing, listening and conversation activities:

Conversation Labs

Given that this in an asynchronous online course without in-person opportunities to practice speaking, the conversation labs are one of the most important--and engaging--parts of this course. Therefore, you will be required to do the following:

• • • Attend two synchronous conversation lab sessions each week (except for Week 08 and Week 14 when you will do one lab). The sessions will be 30 minutes long, and attendance is required.
    • You will be provided several different lab sessions for you to choose from; we encourage you to attempt to attend the same day and time every week to help build relationships and connections.
    • The TA will direct all of the activities throughout each session.
    • If you are close to campus, you may attend the in-person Conversation Lab if desired.

You may attend a meeting with the TA or TAs of their choice. (Spanish 101 courses share TAs across all sections, so a variety of TAs leads the conversation labs). There are several sections this semester, and TAs will try to set their schedules and meeting times to best accommodate the most students. The schedule is typically available the middle of the first week of the semester after we arrange the schedule with all of the TAs. Attendance is taken for the purpose of verifying students’ Weekly Reports of lab attendance.

It is your responsibility to come prepared for each conversation lab. Because the sessions involve all group members interacting with one another, it is crucial that you come to each session prepared to teach one another.

Discussions

Most weeks, you will answers discussion prompts in which you practice using Spanish and interact with other students. You will NOT be allowed to consult online translators, AI or other Spanish speakers for the discussions. Grading will be based on content, not accuracy. 

Diarios

You will write three Diario (journal) entries based on the current course topics. To receive full credit, you must follow instructions and demonstrate a good-faith effort by doing your own work and using only your textbook or a dictionary as a reference. You will NOT be allowed to consult online translators, AI or other Spanish speakers for Diarios. Grading will be based on content, not accuracy. 

Listening Practice

Each week you will spend time listening to native Spanish from a variety of sources. When possible, you should read along with the words and mimic correct pronunciation. You will submit a brief report of your listening practice on Canvas.

Assessments

Chapter tests

There will be seven chapter tests taken on Canvas using Proctorio. Questions include multiple choice, matching, and fill-in-the-blank, as well as some listening and reading comprehension sections with true/false or multiple-choice questions. The Ch. 7 test will be optional, and the grade can replace another lower exam grade.

Writing Assessments

Three times during the semester, in addition to the chapter test, you will have 60 minutes to write responses to questions using the grammar and vocab. from the previous units. You will not be able to use any outside resources for these writings. You will be graded on grammatical accuracy, vocabulary, and content.

Oral Exams

There are two oral-interview exams. For each exam, you will converse with the instructor or T.A. for about 5 minutes. Your punctuality, fluency/pronunciation, grammar/vocabulary and ability to respond appropriately to the questions will be evaluated.

Final Exam

The final exam is comprehensive, covering chapters 1-7.

Unique Requirements

Exams in this course are remotely proctored and are closed note/book. You will need to install Proctorio on your computer when required to take a proctored exam. The exams will be within Canvas. If you have any problems with the test, please contact the number that you are provided to get immediate help with the exam working properly if needed.

Grading Policies

Class Components and Grading Categories

Grading Scale

Grades will be based on weighted categories with a percentage of the total number of points students may earn from assignments and quizzes, participation in online class meetings, and completion of any other learning activities assigned by the instructor. Grades will be determined as follows:

If you have any questions about any scores on your assignments or about your overall grade, you may check with your instructor. 

University Policies

Academic Honesty

Other than exams, assignments are open book/note. However, you are NOT allowed to use an online translator nor have another person or AI do the work for you! A tutor, a website, AI or a friend may help you review grammar concepts found in an activity or look over your answers and point out patterns of errors, but they can’t do—or even revise—your work! Any violation of the University’s Academic Honesty Policy may result in a failing grade for the affected assignment or a failing grade in the course. In addition, instructors will report academic honesty violations to the Student Honor Office.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Students should NOT use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist with completing any assignments unless they have specific permission and guidance from an instructor. AI tools include ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Bard, CopyAI, Writesonic, Jasper AI, Anyword, GrammarlyGo, and many others. Some teachers may ask students to use AI for specific purposes, but if not, students should assume that they must ask for permission in order to use AI tools or simply not use AI at all. If students aren’t sure of an instructor’s policies on a given assignment, they should ask for clarification. 

 Dishonest uses

• Giving the AI a prompt and submitting what it writes (even just one sentence) as your own work. 
• Combining content from several different AI prompts and submitting as your own work. 
• Having AI help write or revise answers/wording on an assignment.

Permitted uses

• As a tutor to explain grammar concepts or practice vocabulary
• To generate flashcards, study guides, practice tests/quizzes
• As a conversation partner for practice outside of class 

Personal Challenges

1. Dean of Students Office: a central place for students to seek support in navigating personal challenges. 290 Kimball Building, 208-496-9200
2. Counseling Center: licensed counselors who assist students in identifying and resolving emotional, mental, and interpersonal problems. Student Health Center 200, 208-496-9370
3. 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Hotline: Available 24/7 by call or text message, the 988 hotline connects you to a trained crisis counselor who provides free and confidential emotional support and crisis counseling to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress and connects them to resources.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Addressing Sexual Harassment

Other University Policies

Student Honor and Other Policies

Please read through the document called University Policies. It gives important information on topics including the following:

• Student Honor
  • Academic Honesty
  • Student Conduct
    • Sexual Harassment
• Student with Disabilities
• Complaints and Grievances
• Copyright Notice

Go to the Student Resources module to review further resources and information.