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Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
115
Spanish
COURSE CODE:
PLACES 2011:
POINTS 2010:
DEGREE AWARDED:
TR001 (TSM)
41
440*-535*
B.A.
TSM points:
See note on page 28
Special Entry Requirements:
Leaving Certificate
HC3
In a language
other than English
Advanced GCE (A-Level)
Grade C In a language
other than English
Spanish (TSM) cannot be studied as a single honor
course.
It must be combined with one other subject within the two-
subject moderatorship (TSM) programme. TSM is a joint
honor programme. Both subjects are normally studied for
three years and one subject only is studied in the fourth
year. An honors degree is awarded in both subjects. For
subjects that combine with Spanish see page 92.
Alternatively, Spanish may be selected as one of the two
languages studied in the European studies programme,
see page 58. Spanish can be studied ab initio (from
beginner level) in both TSM and European Studies.
See also:
TR090: Business studies and Spanish, page 42
Is this the right course for you?
Spain, currently one of Europe’s leading industrial nations, was
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the foremost Western
power, and Spanish is today the native language of over four
hundred million people. In terms of the number of countries –
more than twenty – in which it is officially spoken, it is second
only to English. If you are interested in reading and in the
language and culture of Spain and Spanish America, then
this is a course you will enjoy.
Course content
Spanish at Trinity College is taught by a variety of methods to
equip you with a comprehensive range of skills in the accurate,
fluent and sensitive understanding and use of the written
and spoken language. If you are a beginner the teaching
provided offers a realistic opportunity for you to reach the same
standard within a year as those who have studied the language
previously.
The development of the skill of textual analysis through
close and careful reading, together with the organisation and
expression of ideas in written and verbal form, are integral aims
of the department.
The Junior Freshman year
The primary focus of the Junior Freshman (first) year is to
establish and consolidate your competence in understanding
and using the Spanish language. Students studying Spanish
ab initio (from beginner level) attend nine hours of classes per
week, while non-beginners attend seven hours of classes.
The course covers four main areas:
n
Introduction to language study
n
Language classes (beginners attend seven per week and
non-beginners attend six per week). These comprise classes
in grammar, text analysis, practice in speaking and listening
to Spanish
n
Introduction to modern Spain
n
Literature: close study of a different range of modern
Spanish and Spanish-American literature, based on five
texts
Years two and three
You will continue with language tuition taking three classes
each week:
n
Spanish language
n
Syntax and vocabulary of Spanish
n
Spoken Spanish
Starting in the Senior Freshman (second) year and extending into
the Junior Sophister (third) year you follow courses in Hispanic
linguistics and the literature of the Spanish Renaissance,
modern Spain and modern Spanish America. A course on
the history of early-modern Spain is also given. Each of these
courses in the second and third years are semester-long
courses. The format is one lecture followed by one tutorial
per week. Students are encouraged to give oral presentations
on the texts followed.
The Senior Sophister year
If you elect to study Spanish in the Senior Sophister (fourth)
year, you will work more independently and with significant
freedom of choice. As well as studying Spanish language, theory
of translation and medieval Spanish literature, you will choose
two other subjects from a range of special subjects. These
include contemporary prose fiction, Spanish and Latin American
cultural politics, and a course in the literature of exile. You will
also research and write a dissertation under the supervision of a
member of the department on either a given topic or one that is
of special interest to you.
Assessment
Essays submitted throughout the year are combined with written
and oral examinations at the end of each year.