Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

Students must have taken and passed SML1019 – or an equivalent module – in any of the previous three years. The prerequisite is waived for students on the QT19 and Q1R4 degree programmes.
The module is open to other students provided:
(i) Good knowledge of Spanish (including ability to read academic articles in Spanish and ability to pronounce Spanish words correctly)
(ii) Having passed the Stage 1 introductory linguistic modules in SELLL (e.g. SEL1027 and SEL1028 or the equivalent)"

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

In accordance with the overall aims of the degrees offered in the SML, this module aims to build on skills gained at Stage 1, to introduce students to the different varieties of Spanish that are spoken in the world.

Students will learn about varieties of Spanish in the Iberian Peninsula and overseas (primarily Latin America). The course looks at Spanish on a region-by-region basis, but students will be expected to adopt a thematic perspective, using the data to address such issues as creolization, social variation, languages in contact, language change, dialect split and dialect classification.

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics as follows:
1. Castilian Spanish, 2. Andalusian Spanish, 3. Caribbean Spanish, 4. The African contribution, 5. Creole Spanish in the Americas, 6. The Monogenetic Hypothesis, 7. Substrate influence, 8. The Andalusian Hypothesis, 9. Voseo, 10. Mexican Spanish, 11. Central American Spanish, 12. Emphatic 'es', 13. Southern Cone Spanish, 14. Dialect geography

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students will learn about varieties of Spanish in the Iberian Peninsula, varieties of Spanish in the Americas, creole Spanish, the influences on Spanish of indigenous Andean languages and relevant aspects of the history of Spanish.

Intended Skill Outcomes

- Development of ability to think critically about language
- Development of general logic and analytical capabilities
- Ability to selectively obtain information from the Internet
- Ability to use library resources
- Enhancement of practical command of a foreign language

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures and small group teaching will provide hands-on learning support to deliver core technical and conceptual elements of the syllabus. Independent study, including assessment preparation and completion, will develop research skills, argument construction, organization and project management capabilities.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The written exam will test students’ practical ability to analyse and solve problems while under time pressure. The essay will enable students to conduct personal research and to advance an extended argument based on what they have learned from said research.

General Notes

N/A