UNIVERSITÀ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE 20123 MILANO

UNIVERSITÀ CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE
20123 MILANO - LARGO A. GEMELLI, 1
SeLdA Servizio Linguistico d’Ateneo
Spanish Language Qualification Exam – a.y. 2016-2017
Text under revision. Not yet approved by academic staff.
INDEX
COURSE AIMS ......................................................................................................................................... ........ p. 1
COURSE CONTENT ........................................................................................................................................... p. 2
READING LIST .................................................................................................................................................. p. 3
TIMETABLE ......................................................................................................................................... p. 4
NOTES .............................................................................................................................................. p. 4
DESCRIPTION OF QUALIFICATION EXAM ................................................................................................... p. 5
ORAL EXAM DATES .............................................................................................................................. p. 6
VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE WRITTEN TEST ................................................................................................. p. 6
PREPARING FOR THE EXAM .................................................................................................................. p. 6
COURSE AIMS
The course aims to deliver the morphosyntactic bases of Spanish that students need to achieve
level B1 of the European Framework of Reference for Languages.
As well as covering basic grammar, the course therefore aims to enable students to:
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understand the main points of clear, standard language on familiar subjects;
infer the main point of many radio or TV programmes;
understand written texts in mostly everyday language or related to their professional
sector;
deal with most situations likely to arise whilst traveling in an area where the language is
spoken;
take part in conversations on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to
everyday life;
describe experiences, events, the plots of books and films, and tell a story;
briefly justify and explain opinions and intentions.
To attain these skills, students must learn and develop receptive and productive communicative
skills as well as the fundamental vocabulary for expressing themselves in everyday situations
related to the main topic areas.
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COURSE CONTENT
In order to achieve these objectives, the course entails:
A)
THE STUDY, KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF BASIC GRAMMAR:
 Fonética y ortografía.
 Translations determinados and indeterminados. Use the form y.
 Género y número de nombres y adjetivos.
 Pronombres: personales sujeto, reflexivos, complemento directo, indirecto e
interrogativos.
 Adjetivos y pronombres: posesivos, demostrativos, indefinidos, relativos e interrogativos.
 Diferencia entre hay / está (n).
 Verbos reflexivos, pronominales e impersonales.
 Números cardinales y ordinales.
 Muy/mucho.
 Comparativos y superlativos.
 Diferencia entre ser/estar.
 Key regular and irregular verbs.
 Tiempos verbales del Indicativo: Presente, Pretérito imperfecto, Pretérito perfecto
compuesto, Pretérito indefinido, Pretérito pluscuamperfecto, Futuro y Condicional.
 El Imperativo (afirmativo y negativo). Imperativo + pronombres.
 Perífrasis: Ir a + infinitivo; Haber/tener + que + infinitivo; Deber + infinitivo; Volver a /
acabar de + infinitivo; Estar a punto de + infinitivo. Estar + gerundio.
 Adverbios de lugar, tiempo, modo, cantidad, etc.
 Principales preposiciones y conjunciones.
 Diferencias gramaticales básicas entre el español y el italiano.
B)
LEARNING KEY VOCABULARY TO EXPRESS ONESELF IN EVERYDAY LIFE SITUATIONS:
 Saludos, despedidas y presentaciones.
 Países y nacionalidades.
 La familia y la descripción de personas.
 Profesiones y lugares de trabajo.
 Partes del día y acciones habituales. Expresiones de frecuencia.
 La casa (descripción de las partes, mobiliario y objetos).
 La ciudad. Nombres de establecimientos y lugares públicos. Indicadores de dirección.
 Ropa (prendas de vestir, tallas y colores).
 Partes del cuerpo.
 Alimentos y bebidas.
 Actividades del tiempo libre y lugares de ocio.
 Días de la semana, meses del año y estaciones.
 Tiempo atmosférico.
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C)
Viajes y servicios.
Medios de transporte.
Medio ambiente.
Marcadores temporales de pasado y futuro.
Aficiones y deportes.
Principales “falsos amigos” entre el español y el italiano.
DEVELOPING SKILLS IN SPEAKING, READING, LISTENING AND UNDERSTANDING WITH THE SUPPORT OF AUDIOVISUAL AND MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES :
through both tutor-led and independent learning activities related to everyday scenarios.
READING LIST
Classroom text book for the BEGINNERS courses
C. MORENO, V. MORENO, P. ZURITA, Nuevo Avance Básico, A1-A2 Ed. SGEL, 2015.
Classroom text book for the INTERMEDIATE course
R. PINILLA, A. SAN MATEO, ELExpress, Nueva edición, Ed. ELI-SGEL, Bologna. (Libro del
alumno+Cuaderno de ejercicios)
Optional and/or recommended texts
G. BOSCAINI, Sin duda, Grammatica della lingua spagnola. Versione contrastiva, CIDEB, Genoa,
2010.
F. CASTRO, Uso de la gramática española, Nivel elemental. Nueva edición. Edelsa, Madrid, 2010.
AA.VV., Gramática básica del estudiante de español, Ed. Difusión, Madrid, 2005.
Recommended dictionaries
L. TAM, Dizionario Italiano-Spagnolo/Spagnolo- Italiano, Hoepli, Milan, 1997.
C. MALDONADO GONZÁLEZ (editor), Clave: diccionario de uso del español actual, SM, Madrid,
1999.
For additional information, clarification or advice, students are encouraged to
contact the Spanish language coordinator, lecturers, and language consultant.
The secretary or assistants present during the computerised test cannot
provide guidance and advice about syllabus, reading list, or qualification exam.
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TIMETABLE
 All Spanish Language courses for daytime Faculties are a semester in duration.
Students can choose to attend in semester 1 or 2.
 There is no registration prior to the courses. Students who intend to follow the course
should attend in class with their chosen group.
 The Intermediate level course is available in semester 2 only, and is aimed at those who
already have a basic knowledge of the language and to students who were absolute
beginners who, having attended in semester 1, need to work through the syllabus to
consolidate their knowledge.
 The Spanish course for the Service Management programme (Faculty of Economics and
Business Management) is only available in semester 1 at the Viale Murillo site.
 The lessons timetable is available on the SeLdA website and SeLdA notice board, together
with the name of the teacher for each course.
NOTES
 Students are encouraged to consult the SeLdA website or the SeLdA notice boards , 2/A Via
Morozzo della Rocca, 5th floor, for information on groups, course schedule and
qualification exams.
 The written and oral tests assess communicative competence in Spanish (speech acts in
context) rather than grammatical knowledge only. Therefore, class attendance is strongly
recommended as well as additional preparation at the Centro per l’Autoapprendimento
(CAP) (self-learning centre), 2/A Via Morozzo della Rocca, where computer-based, audiovideo facilities and educational material are available, and where it is possible to create
personalised courses under the guidance of a language consultant, available weekly.
 It is recommended, at the end of the courses, to check for any updates to the syllabus and
respective reading list.
Non-attending students are strongly encouraged to use the information
contained in this syllabus and other documents available on the site, to inform
and prepare themselves adequately for the exam.
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DESCRIPTION OF QUALIFiCATION EXAM
Students are assessed by means of a computer-based test, which, if passed, will be followed by
an oral exam.
1) COMPUTER-BASED TEST (DURATION: 60 MINUTES)
The test has two main parts:
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Reading comprehension: (20 questions)
a) reading two texts of about 150 words followed by True/False questions;
b) reading ten short texts with multiple choice answers.
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“Communicative knowledge” section, divided into lexical and grammatical parts:
a) vocabulary exercises, in which students must demonstrate knowledge not only of
the fundamental vocabulary but also of the various contrasting features between
Spanish and Italian (25 questions);
b) exercises on linguistic forms in context: students must apply the different
grammatical elements in a given context (25 questions).
Students must achieve a minimum score of 50/70 to qualify for the oral exam.
No dictionaries are allowed.
2) ORAL EXAM
Students must demonstrate the ability to hold a conversation by interacting with the teacher
and another candidate on a familiar topic, expressing themselves simply yet clearly and mostly
correctly about an everyday situation.
The oral exam will have the following structure:
 students' introduction;
 conversation/interaction with another student through a role-play activity or the
presentation of a topic chosen by the teacher.
Students’ listening comprehension skills will also be assessed along with the quality of their
spoken language.
Mock exams are available in electronic format at the Centro per
l’Autoapprendimento (CAP) (self-learning centre).
PLEASE NOTE: INTERIM TESTS
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Students who attend lessons may sit the written part of the examination in the form of interim
tests (prove intermedie) at the end of each term, thus not having to sit the end-of-year written
examination.
Students who attend less than 60% of lessons will not be allowed to sit any of the interim tests
and will have to take their exam in the scheduled examination sessions.
Students who pass the three interim tests shall not sit the written exam at the end of the year;
they will only take the oral exam on one of the scheduled dates.(Check dates and rooms at
"Calendario degli esami – Foreign Language Spanish” on the SeLdA webpage)
Students who have neither obtained the pass mark in the three interim tests nor attended lessons
will have to take both the written and the oral exam on the dates indicated for the End-of-Year
Exam.
FORMAT OF THE INTERIM TESTS
Reading comprehension: 10 questions
Grammar: 10 questions
Vocabulary: 10 questions
Total: 30 points. Pass mark: 18 points.
A pass mark in each of the interim tests is necessary to pass the written examination.
ORAL EXAM DATES
The dates of the oral exams are indicated alongside the dates of the written exam on the SeLdA
webpage and on the SeLdA notice board (fifth floor, Via Morozzo della Rocca site).
Official exam dates are given on the SeLdA webpage and notice board, and correspond to the day
of the computer-based test. Registration on the computer-based test is valid for any of the oral
exam dates in the same examination session.
Only students who pass the written test may take the oral exam, in the same session.
VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE WRITTEN TEST
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Once students have passed the computer-based test, they must complete the qualification by
taking the oral exam within the same examination session, after which period the written test
expires and students will need to re-takeit in a later exam session.
EXAM PREPARATION
SeLdA offers several preparation courses for the qualification exam, designed to offer
maximum scheduling flexibility so that all students can attend. Students are strongly encouraged
to take full advantage of these courses and attend regularly.
Those who still cannot attend lessons should take advantage of the Centro per
l’Autoapprendimento (CAP) (self-learning centre), as should attending students wishing to prepare
more thoroughly.
At the CAP, on the third floor of the Via Morozzo della Rocca site, it is possible to create
personalised courses under the guidance of a language consultant, available weekly.
In addition to the course texts and recommended texts, the CAP library offers print and
multimedia materials for self-study, as well as the opportunity to practice the computer-based
tests. These practice exams are a useful tool for establishing one’s individual starting points in
terms of the requirements of the syllabus, for understanding the structure of the test and
assessing the final level of preparation. It is important, at the end of the practice, for students to
analyse its result and identify the areas that need further preparation before the exam.
Students may, at any time, contact the language consultant during office hours, also
without an appointment.
Those who fail the computer-based test are strongly encouraged to attend the paper show for
failed tests and contact the course coordinator, the language consultant or a teacher to shed light
on their individual difficulties and resolve any doubts.
GRADUATING students are strongly advised to check the SeLdA exam timetable to best
plan their own examination and DEGREE session, avoiding taking the exam on the final
SeLdA exam slot, so that they may have the opportunity to retake the test, where
necessary, without delaying their graduation.
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