INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS
Objectives for Students Pursuing a Minor in French, German, or Spanish
SPEAKING: Ability to interact creatively and effectively with native speakers in most everyday social situations. Speech may still be characterized by errors in grammar, pronunciation and intonation. Students begin to demonstrate an ability to circumlocute and are thus able to participate more competently in conversations. Most native speakers should understand students at this level, even though words and sentences may need to be repeated.
LISTENING: Ability to understand brief conversations involving social and personal needs, such as spontaneous conversations, telephone exchanges, and radio and television programs. Misunderstandings may arise. Understanding may still be uneven, but the general meaning of of the conversation and many details should be understood.
READING: Ability to comprehend the main ideas of texts and to scan for factual information in short texts regarding familiar topics and areas of personal interest. Students may grasp main ideas of more complicated texts through repeated readings, although complex grammatical structures may still impede full understanding.
WRITING: Ability to create coherent paragraphs and short themes on a variety of familiar topics and areas of personal interest. Signs of rhetorical style and persuasive argument are evident, although still inconsistent. Despite occasional errors in grammar and word selection, student writing samples should be understood by most native speakers.