Undergraduate certificate
Undergraduate Certificate (Spanish)
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What will I study?
Overview
50 point program (6 months full-time)
Four compulsory subjects (50 points).
For more details please see the Handbook entry.
Explore this course
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this undergraduate certificate.
Compulsory
Complete these subjects.
- Spanish 1 12.5 pts
This subject provides students with the necessary language and intercultural skills to communicate in everyday situations in Spanish through project-based and object-based assessment tasks and in-class activities. Students work together to curate an online exhibition, engaging with authentic cultural materials, such as visual artworks, to develop their reading, listening and speaking skills, as well as their digital literacy. Students are afforded a taste of the richness of the Hispanic World while developing workplace skills such as problem-solving, team work, clear communication, curation, information literacy and professionalism. Students are introduced to the grammatical structures and vocabulary that allow them to converse in a number of informal situations, and which will connect them to the societies and cultures of the global Spanish-speaking community. Students develop writing strategies that enable them to produce a number of descriptive, personal texts, such as emails, letters and family profiles. They are encouraged to develop personal awareness and an understanding of diverse cultural identities that make up the Hispanic world.
Part of the assessment of this subject will contribute to the ePortfolio students develop in their Spanish and Latin American Studies subjects. This digital platform offers students the opportunity to showcase relevant workplace skills and digital and intercultural competencies in the target language, as well as individual interests and ideas.
- Spanish 2 12.5 pts
In this subject, students continue to be exposed to the diversity of the Hispanic World through project work and speakers from the community, and to critically reflect on their own awareness and understanding of the cultural identities of the Hispanic World. Students also learn to converse in a variety of situations that progressively become less personal and more related to the world around them. Spanish 2 equips students with more sophisticated language and intercultural skills to engage with authentic materials such as songs, film, social media and short written texts designed to develop an appreciation of the wide range of identities that make up the Hispanic World. Students work on a project involving an interview with a member of the Hispanic community, which fosters both their intercultural skills and their reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. Writing strategies such as editing, summarizing and persuasive techniques prepare students to produce a number of texts including summaries, essays, biographies and blog entries using present and past tenses to describe personal experiences. Important cultural information about food, travel, migration, festivals, personal relationships and working life in the Hispanic World will support students in communicating appropriately. Students also develop their digital literacy as well as a number of skills relevant to a workplace environment, such as problem-solving, team work, clear communication, interviewing, information literacy and professionalism.
Part of the assessment of this subject will contribute to the ePortfolio students develop in their Spanish and Latin American Studies subjects. This digital platform offers students the opportunity to showcase relevant workplace skills and digital and intercultural competencies in the target language, as well as individual interests and ideas.
Compulsory
Complete these subjects.
- Languages at Work 12.5 pts
Learning a language involves not only linguistic and cultural proficiency but also the development of skills in areas valued by industry: intercultural competence, communication and digital literacy. This subject offers students the opportunity to develop these skills by engaging with an industry collaborator in target-language communities in Australia. Students will work in teams to progress an existing project, in consultation with the industry partner. The subject brings together students from a mix of language majors and is taught in English, but will result in some assessable outcomes in a target language.
The subject comprises three phases: 1) three initial weeks of seminars (delivered in English to students in all language streams) which introduce students to team- and project-work strategies, workplace culture, career pathways, as well as the industry partner’s project; 2) eight weeks of collaborative work in response to a project brief, under close supervision and to a schedule of reporting deadlines, documenting progress through an online platform; and 3) the presentation of project outcomes to an audience of industry specialists, community members and peers.
- Hispanic Cultural Studies 12.5 pts
The subject allows students to sharpen their skills in listening, speaking, reading, writing and research through an integrative learning experience that involves using the Spanish language to critically examine key cultural texts from the Hispanic world.
Cultural texts studied may include films, literature, art works, propaganda and/or archived ephemera, which act as catalysts for discussion, critical thinking and insight in relation to the Hispanic world. Texts examined chronicle issues and events of historical and political significance, while touching on shared cultural themes.
Through a close reading of Spanish-speaking cultural products of various kinds, students will develop an appreciation for the particular powers of each mode of representation. This subject also introduces students to basic research methods in Hispanic Cultural Studies, such as archival work, translation, interviewing, and the study of primary and secondary sources.