Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Paper SP B1

Use of Spanish

Teaching

There will be one weekly class for this paper that will form the core of your Part I language course. Attendance is obligatory. The class is designed to encourage the active use of the language in reaction to both spoken and written Spanish. Your knowledge of grammar and syntax will be reinforced and built upon in this class, and you will be shown how to extend your vocabulary and improve your writing style.

You will need to obtain a copy of the following book: Uso de la gramática española, (nivel avanzado), Francisca Castro (Ed. Edelsa, Spain, latest edition), ISBN 978-84-7711-7148. Please note that there is a New Edition of this book published in February 2011 (Cambridge bookshops Heffers and Waterstone's stock it or you can acquire it online). If you have already purchased the previous edition, please do not worry as you will still be able to use it.

The recommended grammar (although it is not compulsory to buy it) is: A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, John Butt and Carmen Benjamin (London: Arnold, latest edition); ISBN 0-340-81033-5.

Examination

The three-hour examination paper will consist of a variety of linguistic exercises, divided into two sections:

Section A (45%): grammatical exercises and a translation from English into Spanish (a passage of 150-200 words).

Section B (55%): a text in Spanish (700 words maximum) with related vocabulary and writing questions to test your reading comprehension skills and ability to summarise and write an argued response to the text.

The exam is designed to assess:

1. your understanding of grammar, syntax and vocabulary;
2. your translation skills;
3. your reading comprehension skills;
4. your ability to summarise an argument clearly;
5. your ability to respond critically to a text;
6. your inventiveness with writing and argumentative skills by means of a guided composition in reaction to a text.

Needless to say, you will be required to write your answers in Spanish.

From Michaelmas 2010 (for Tripos 2011), the format of this paper is changing. There is a copy of the specimen paper in the MML Library and you can also see it online on this PDF file, please click here. PLEASE bear in mind the new format when you refer to past papers for revisions, etc.