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- Hispanic Studies and French BA (RR41)
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Hispanic Studies and French at Warwick
This course will not be available for 2022 entry, but you may be interested in our BA Modern Languages degree.
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- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5fkxT-thSs
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- RR41
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- Bachelor of Arts (BA)
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- 4 years full-time, normally including a year abroad
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- 26 September 2022
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- Modern Languages and Cultures
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- University of Warwick
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Our Hispanic Studies and French (BA) degree enables you to gain expertise in two major world languages and cultures by devoting equal weight to each.
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Hispanic Studies and French is a joint degree that allows you to gain expertise in two major world languages and cultures by devoting equal weight to each.
You will take core modules in Spanish and French language every year, combining these with a range of literary, cultural and political options.
After your first year, you will choose from a large selection of specialist cultural modules. These modules are designed to extend your knowledge and understanding of the literature, culture, society and politics of the Spanish-speaking and the French-speaking worlds.
You will normally spend your second or third year abroad, consolidating and enhancing your learning.
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In your first year, you will take language classes designed to develop your knowledge and understanding of written and spoken French and Spanish. You will also take two core modules exploring cultural topics connected to each of your languages.
In Hispanic Studies, you can choose from ‘Language, Text and Identity’ and ‘Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World’.
In French you will take the core module ‘The Story of Modern France’.
In your intermediate and final years, you will have a core module for both Spanish and French language, and a choice of a selection of other modules.
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We employ a variety of teaching styles within the School of Modern Languages including:
- Lectures
- Seminars (consisting of around 15 students and focussing on student participation)
- Written and spoken language classes in small groups
You will spend the rest of your time:
- Studying independently
- Preparing for classes
- Reading
- Analysing materials set for study
- Writing essays
- Working on your language skills
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Seminars generally involve around 15 students.
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You will have around 12 hours of contact time per week.
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We will track your progress through:
- Language assignments
- Essays
- Presentations
- Portfolio submissions
- Examinations (written and oral)
To help you improve your skills you will receive detailed and personalised feedback throughout your course.
Your intermediate- and final-year marks each contribute 50% of your final degree classification.
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Study abroad
We strongly recommend that you take a year abroad as part of your modern languages degree, if they are able to. If you are unable to take a year abroad you will move to a three-year degree. You will be required to complete further language reinforcement work. You will also be encouraged to spend time abroad in other ways, during vacation times.
You will usually spend your year abroad doing one of three things:
- Working as a language assistant teaching English in a primary or secondary school
- Studying full-time at a partner university in your chosen country
- On a work placement
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AAB to include either French or Spanish
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36 to include 5 in Higher Level French or Spanish
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We welcome applications from students taking BTECs alongside A level French or Spanish
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Year One
Modern Spanish Language 1
Do you have A level or an equivalent in Spanish and want to consolidate, extend and refine your skills to advanced level? This module will equip you with sound grammatical and linguistic foundations, with the aim of increasing your confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. You'll use authentic resources in a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, including books, articles, newspapers, television, music, and podcasts , as well as taking part in our virtual language exchange with students at the Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia, a fantastic way to expand the language and intercultural skills outside the classroom. During the module, students will develop their skills through a combination of classroom sessions, guided learning activities and appropriate self-study resources. Weekly classes will cover reading, language in use, grammar and functional aspects of Spanish such as translation, extended writing and oral expression, which are reinforced through complementary activities on Moodle, our multimedia VLE.
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Modern Spanish Language for Beginners
As a beginner in the acquisition of the Spanish language, you’ll gain a keen grammatical awareness, a sound understanding of cultures and societies across the Hispanic world, and most of all, confidence in reading, listening, speaking and writing in Spanish. Using authentic resources, including newspapers, television and radio, you are expected to end your course able to sustain everyday conversations in Spanish, read authentic texts, follow the gist of TV extracts and write at an intermediate level in Spanish. You'll also work on basic translations to and from Spanish as a means of consolidating your knowledge.
Modern French Language 1
You will deepen your understanding of French grammar and syntax with the help of tutors experienced in facilitating the transition from A-level to university-level competence. You will learn appropriate technical vocabulary and handle complex structures. You will develop the skills required to produce authentic and accurate translations of journalistic material from French to English. Finally, writing in formal French introduces you to the structures and methods used to debate ideas on contemporary issues. You will increase your reading and comprehension skills and develop your ability to exploit texts for vocabulary, idioms, syntax and grammatical structures. Working with a native speaker in small groups, you will discuss topics on contemporary French culture and society, using audio, video and written resources.
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Modern French Language for Beginners
As a beginner in the acquisition of the French language, you will cover the main linguistic skills in speaking, listening, writing and reading. You will focus on gaining grammatical accuracy as well as communicative fluency and competence. By the end of the year, you will be expected to be able to sustain everyday conversations in French, read authentic texts such as newspaper articles, follow the gist of TV/video extracts and be able to write an intermediate range of texts in French. You will also work on basic translations to and from French as a means of consolidating your knowledge.
A Hispanic Studies cultural module:
Language, Text and Identity in the Hispanic World
How has the Spanish language travelled around the world and what happens when it co-exists with other languages? How do writers use language to explore identity, and what happens when they work between two (or more) languages? What skills do we need as readers to interpret the nuances of texts that travel between languages? This module will equip you with an understanding of the cultural and sociolinguistic diversity of the Hispanic world, and a strong grounding in the literary and cultural analysis of texts that address this diversity. The module explores the different varieties of Spanish spoken around the world, along with some of the principal languages that share its territory. It also reads a variety of texts that negotiate national and gender identities across linguistic and cultural borders, with a focus on those that travel between non-hegemonic Hispanic contexts and the Anglosphere.
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Icons and Representations of the Hispanic World
Have you ever wondered where the familiar stereotypes of Spain and Latin America come from? How have they circulated and been received at different times and in different places? And how have Spaniards and Latin Americans represented themselves to travellers, tourists, artists, and even invaders? This course introduces you to a wide range of written and visual icons and representations of the Hispanic world, in both Spanish and English. We investigate topics which, in different ways, pose important questions about studying other languages and cultures.
The Story of Modern France
Why is modern France so deeply invested in the past? What are the milestones in the creation of modern France? How have notions of France and Frenchness been shaped through the stories told about them? These are some of the questions you will explore through close reading of primary sources from major periods and events in French history. You will explore a range of materials, from the cartoons of May 1968 to prints dating back to the French Revolution, and from stories of Charlemagne to films and texts reflecting France’s ongoing preoccupation with its (often controversial) recent past. Equipped with these foundations, you will be well prepared to study further aspects of French and Francophone culture in the later stages of your degree.
Intermediate Year
Modern Spanish Language 2
On this module, you'll extend your competence in Spanish. You'll deepen your understanding of advanced grammatical and linguistic structures, increase the range and sophistication of your vocabulary, and refine your use of register in authentic spoken and written discourse. You'll use resources from a variety of media from around the Hispanic world, and take part in our virtual language exchange with students in Latin America and Spain. At the end of the course, you should have sufficient mastery to discuss different topics, report on your independent reading and support your opinions with solid arguments.
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Modern Spanish Language 2 (Post-beginners)
This module for post beginners follows the first year Module HP102 and seeks to consolidate the language skills gained in students’ first year of study. The aim of this module is to further extend and refine competence in modern Spanish. It covers the main linguistic (oral, aural, written, spoken) skills, and seeks to promote the continued acquisition of grammatical awareness and essential communicative competences. At the end of the course, you will be able to understand discourse about concrete and abstract topics, to give presentations about different topics, to report on the results of your independent reading and research, and to state your point of view and support it with solid arguments.
Modern French Language 2
You will consolidate and develop the productive and receptive language skills you acquired in your first year. By the end of the module, you should have appropriate knowledge of vocabulary and syntactic and grammatical structures to produce written French in two prescribed genres. You will develop your skills in translation to and from French, with a focus on specific translation problems, and increase the accuracy with which you use grammatical structures. In spoken French, you will comprehend and produce structured spoken French on a range of topics of contemporary significance in the context of simulated scenarios.
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Modern French Language 2 (Post-beginners)
You will increase the range of your general and specialised vocabulary in French, improve your speaking, listening and comprehension skills, and develop your ability to translate from French, including through a sound knowledge of grammar, register, semantic nuances and style. There will be opportunities to write in French and to work on materials applicable to real-life situations.
A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (60 credits)
Final Year
Modern Spanish Language 3
This module will consolidate your linguistic skills acquired in the intermediate year and extend them through translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening activities. A range of assessments will be offered for students to track and reflect on their progress through the provision of regular feedback. Students will also be provided with complementary autonomous learning and grammar activities and directed to appropriate activities for self-study in order to develop independent learning strategies.
The aim of this module is to refine fluency in spoken and written Spanish, working towards a C2 standard of the CEFR. Emphasis will be placed on sophisticated translation and writing, as well as oral and comprehension skills, using an appropriate range of complex linguistic structures, vocabulary, register and style.
Modern French Language 3
You will consolidate and develop your ability to write and speak confidently and at a level of intellectual sophistication in correct French. By the end of the course, you should be able to produce a structured written argument on a topic related to your intellectual interests or of cultural concern, in French that is grammatically correct, idiomatic, varied in vocabulary and grammatical structure, and in an appropriate register. You should be able to translate from French to English and English to French accurately, using your detailed knowledge of grammar, vocabulary and idiom, and employing an appropriate register. You will strengthen your skills in pronunciation and intonation and demonstrate these through fluent oral presentation and discussion of an intellectually serious topic.
A selection of optional modules in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (60 credits)
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- There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.