SINCLAIR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Course Syllabus, Winter Quarter 2005
Spanish for Law Enforcement– SPA 297
Instructor: Officer Steven Bice E-mail:
Department Office: 3240 Secr. Phone:(Mrs. Ginn) 512-2844
Course Information:
Division: Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department: Humanities, Government, and Modern Languages
Department Office: 3240
Course Title: Spanish for Law Enforcement
Course Number: SPA 297
Credits: 3 Credit Hours of Electives in Humanities
Prerequisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Suggested: None
Course Description:
This course is designed for the student interested in learning to speak with Hispanics in the professional capacity of a law enforcement officer. Oral practice is stressed and discussions center on the understanding of the language within its cultural context. 240 minutes of supplementary work will be required of the student. The nature of this supplementary work will depend on the result of the Learning Styles Assessment (see below), but may consist of any of the following:
-attending cultural presentations -going to conversation tables
-interviewing native speakers -attending the language lab
-doing independent research -additional writing activities
-service learning opportunities
Course Objectives:
1. To apply rules of pronunciation, grammar, and lexicon to unfamiliar material.
2. To internalize a large amount of vocabulary and a number of different discourse functions that make it possible to ask and answer simple spoken communications.
3. To understand and use the following grammatical functions in a professional capacity: present tense, imperative, imperfect, and preterit.
4. To understand some cultural differences that may affect professional communication with Hispanics.
Upon Completion:
The student will have been provided the knowledge & skills to:
- correctly pronounce the Spanish alphabet & use it to spell common names.
- cite common arrest expressions in Spanish
- work with numbers, days of the week, and months of the year
- identify danger expressions, parts of the body, street & drug terminology
- use common expressions of courtesy, emergency situations, stabilizing hostile situations,
- work with a report or similar professional law enforcement form & generate a list of questions in Spanish that could be used to elicit necessary information
- identify basic hand gestures & cultural expressions
Course Requirements (Course Survival Skills):
The focus of this class is oral proficiency and the assessments reflect that.
Every student is expected to prepare ahead of time all of the homework assignments in the text so that he/she may get the full benefit of the instructional activities in every class. Depending on the results of the Learning Styles Assessment, your instructor may provide a number of possible suggestions as to how you can best prepare for this material.
We will cover approximately 1 lesson out of the main textbook every class meeting. You should spend time outside of class previewing the materials that will be studied. Also, due to the large amount of regular and highly irregular action verbs, the author of this text will try to get you to learn, you will have to spend a large amount of time out of class studying them. Also, you will be expected to recognize and memorize the meaning of certain cognate words that Spanish and English share.
Course Rationale:
This course is designed for people who want a introduction to Spanish conversation without undertaking a university-parallel series. Spanish is one of the fastest-growing languages spoken in the United States and a working knowledge of Spanish will enhance any career or professional interest. The study of a foreign language also enhances critical thinking, cultural understanding, and improves language skills in general.
According to the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages, it takes about 90 hours of instruction to advance a learner to an Intermediate level of language proficiency in all 4 areas (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). By focusing on speaking proficiency in the limited contexts of your profession, it is possible to make advances in less time.
According to the ACTFL, intermediate speakers of a language are characterized the ability to:
• participate in simple, direct conversations on generally predictable topics related to daily activities and personal environment
• create with the language and communicate personal meaning to sympathetic
interlocutors by combining language elements in discrete sentences and strings
of sentences
• obtain and give information by asking and answering questions
• sustain and bring to a close a number of basic, uncomplicated communicative
exchanges, often in a reactive mode
• satisfy simple personal needs and social demands to survive in the target lan-
guage culture
Calculation of course grade:
Component points (out of 1000) % of total grade
Inventory of Learning Styles 25 2.5%
Independent Learning Strategy 75 7.5%
Vocabulary Quizzes (2) 100 (50 each) 10%
Written Homework (5) 100 (20 each) 10%
Individualized Professional Survey 200 20%
Mid-term Assessment 250 25%
Final Assessment 250 25%
Inventory of Learning Styles (25 points)
Each student will take the Learning Styles Assessment given on the webpage for the class. These Assessments will be used to generate a list of Individualized Learning Goals. Each student will be responsible for making an appointment with the instructor after having taken the LSA. You can find these assessments on the my.Sinclair webpage
Independent Study Contract (75 points)
Each student will be responsible for 240 minutes of supplementary work outside of class.
The nature of this supplementary work will depend on the result of the Learning Styles Assessment (see below), but may consist of any of the following:
-attending cultural presentations -going to conversation tables
-interviewing native speakers -attending the language lab
-doing independent research -additional writing exercises
-service learning opportunities
Vocabulary Quizzes (50 points each)
Quizzes will involve three sections: selection of vocabulary by category, short answer, and dictation. The first quiz will focus on words from Ch. P & 1 and the second on words from Ch. 4, 6 & 7.
Written Homework (100 points)
These will be assigned from the textbook & turned in for a grade. Students should turn these assignments in on time. Late assignments will be accepted only at the instructor's discretion.
Individualized Professional Survey (200 points)
Students will bring in a form from their workplace that is commonly used for applicants. If students do not currently work in a law enforcement setting, it is their responsibility to contact a law enforcement agency and find a form that they would typically fill out in the course of their normal duties. The form must have at least 10 fields of information that an interviewee would provide. Each student will work with the instructor's guidance to develop a list of questions that can be used to elicit the answers necessary to complete the form.
●The form is due on week 3. (50 points for finding & turning in the form)
●The rough draft of the list of questions is due on week 6. This will be accompanied by a sound recording of the student reading those questions.
(75 points for turning in both components)
●The final version of the list of questions is due on week 9. This will be accompanied by a new sound recording of the student reading the revised list of questions. (75 points for turning in both components)
Mid-term and Final Oral Assessments (250 points each)
The oral assessments are simulation exercises that will be used to evaluate the student's ability to converse in Spanish with a native speaker. A native or near-native speaker will interact with the students in a conversation. The student will act out the role of a law enforcement officer engaging in dialogue with a Hispanic citizen.
The criteria of evaluation will be: pronunciation, appropriate content, appropriate engagement of the speaker, and comprehension of the information obtained as a result of the conversation.
Required Attendance Policy:
Due to the highly interactive nature of the learning process that is needed to master a foreign language, your attendance and participation is expected in all classes!
-Two absences will drop your earned grade average 5% (one half of a letter grade).
-Three absences will drop your earned grade average 10% (one letter grade).
-No student who misses 4 or more classes under any circumstances, excused or otherwise, will be allowed to pass the class.
You may excuse up to three absences only by discussing them with the instructor and by handing in all of the homework assignments covered in class on the days of the absences in writing. All of these assignments are due in within one calendar week of the absence. No missed assignments will be accepted any later than the last week of classes.
Required Text:
-Spanish for Law Enforcement, Jarvis & Lebredo, Houghton Mifflin, 6th Ed.
(0-395-96304-4) [available in bookstore]
Optional texts and ancilliaries:
-Spanish Phrasebook for Law Enforcement & Social Services Professionals
(0-395-96310-9) [should have been bound with textbook if bought new]
-Spanish for Law Enforcement audio [available for use in Language Lab]
(AUDIO CDs 0-618-03237-1) (Cassettes 0-39596345-1)
-Spanish for Gringos Level II [available in bookstore].
A non-required but highly recommended text:
Almost every student will benefit from purchasing an adequate Spanish/English, English/Spanish bilingual dictionary. An adequate bilingual dictionary is one that includes a minimum of 60,000 to 80,000 entries. Some good ones are produced by Langenscheidt, AMSCO, Vox, and the University of Chicago.
The Modern Languages Lab (Room 2321) has:
-“on the shelf” copies of the CDs that accompany the textbook used in class
-a fast connection to the Internet and to an on-campus multimedia “server”.
- access to DVD, CD ROM, Microsoft Word 7.0, Powerpoint, Excel, and Iomega Zip Drives from the computer workstations.
-access to ONE free copy of any Web page, Microsoft Word document, or any Powerpoint presentation they need for any modern language project. Extra copies should be duplicated by the students in the Learning Resources Center (LRC) on the lower level of campus.
-new software packages and streaming multimedia will be added quarterly to the lab. You will be given a guided tour of the language lab on the first day of class.
Other types of reference materials:
Many other types of bilingual dictionaries, tapes, records, full length feature video-taped movies, novels, short stories, comic books, and a variety of other materials to supplement your study of Spanish are available in the Learning Recourse Center (LRC), located on the lower level of the campus. Look in the SUBJECT CATALOGUE under SPANISH for a complete listing of these materials.
Make-up examinations:
Examinations should be made up no later than one week after the date on which it was taken in class. These exams are permitted only at the instructor's discretion.
Institutional Policies:
All other student regulations are contained in the Student Handbook for this academic year. It is available from the Student Activities office in Building 10. Please consult this document to receive all updated information on all topics of interest to you.
Other information:
If you have any questions about any other aspect of this course, or any questions about anything written above, please contact me before or after class, or make an individual appointment with me at a time mutually convenient to both of us. Thank you. I hope this turns out to be both a challenging and profitable course for you.
Steven Bice, Instructor in Spanish, Sinclair Community College.
Week Day Chapter Assessments & grammatical topics
1 P Learning styles assessment
Greetings, numbers, sounds of Spanish
2 1 SER / TENER / Interrogatory words
Writing names, taking personal information
3 2 Present tense; Vocab Quiz #1
Citizen requests, dealing with children, foot patrol
4 3 Helping verbs
Responding to calls
5 4 Commands
Emergency response / dispatch
6 review Midterm assessment
Routine traffic stop
7 6 Object pronouns
Reading the Miranda warning
8 7 Imperfect tense, progressives
Sobriety test
9 12 /13 Preterit tense
Traffic division & accident report
10 - Vocab Quiz #2; review
Controlling the conversation; danger situations
F - Final assessment
Interview of a crime witness