Spanish B2

Upper intermediate level of Spanish

Total Course Hours: Approximately 150-180 hours

Course Objectives: (Based on Instituto Cervantes Guidelines)

• Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.

• Interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party.

• Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

Module Structure:

Each module focuses on a theme and integrates:

• Goals: What the student will achieve.

• Functions: What the student will be able to do with the language.

• Grammar: Grammatical structures.

• Vocabulary: Key vocabulary.

• Skills Development: Listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Module 1: Social Issues and Debate

• Goals:

• Discuss complex social issues.

• Express and justify opinions in a debate.

• Analyze arguments and counterarguments.

• Functions:

• Discussing controversial social topics (e.g., immigration, globalization, political systems).

• Expressing nuanced opinions and justifying them with detailed arguments.

• Analyzing different viewpoints and identifying bias.

• Formulating counterarguments and refuting opposing viewpoints.

• Participating in formal and informal debates.

• Grammar:

• Review of B1 grammar.

• Subjunctive (all tenses, advanced uses).

• Conditional sentences (mixed and hypothetical).

• Passive voice (advanced structures).

• Discourse markers for argumentation (e.g., en primer lugar, por otro lado, sin embargo, en conclusión).

• Vocabulary:

• Vocabulary related to social issues (e.g., la desigualdad, la discriminación, la justicia social).

• Vocabulary for expressing opinions and argumentation (e.g., sostener, refutar, argumentar, matizar).

• Abstract vocabulary (e.g., el concepto, la teoría, el principio).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding complex debates, lectures, and documentaries.

• Speaking: Participating in debates, presenting arguments, and defending a point of view.

• Reading: Analyzing opinion pieces, academic articles, and reports.

• Writing: Writing argumentative essays, formal letters, and reports.

Module 2: The World of Work and Professional Life

• Goals:

• Discuss complex work-related issues.

• Negotiate and persuade in professional contexts.

• Analyze different management styles.

• Functions:

• Discussing job market trends, labor laws, and workplace issues.

• Negotiating salaries, contracts, and working conditions.

• Persuading colleagues, clients, or superiors.

• Analyzing different management styles and organizational structures.

• Describing complex professional situations and challenges.

• Grammar:

• Advanced use of modal verbs (e.g., deber, poder, tener que, soler) to express obligation, possibility, and habit with nuance.

• Complex sentence structures (e.g., relative clauses with subjunctive, adverbial clauses).

• Connectors for formal writing and presentations (e.g., por consiguiente, no obstante, cabe destacar).

• Vocabulary:

• Vocabulary related to the workplace (e.g., el ascenso, el despido, la jornada laboral).

• Business and economic vocabulary (e.g., la inversión, la rentabilidad, la globalización).

• Vocabulary for negotiation and persuasion (e.g., negociar, persuadir, convencer, ceder).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding business presentations, meetings, and negotiations.

• Speaking: Participating in meetings, giving presentations, and negotiating.

• Reading: Analyzing business reports, contracts, and professional articles.

• Writing: Writing business proposals, formal emails, and reports.

Module 3: Science and Technology

• Goals:

• Discuss scientific and technological advancements.

• Explain complex technical concepts.

• Analyze the impact of technology on society.

• Functions:

• Discussing recent scientific discoveries and technological innovations.

• Explaining complex technical concepts and processes in a clear and concise manner.

• Analyzing the social, ethical, and environmental impact of technology.

• Speculating about future technological developments.

• Grammar:

• Impersonal constructions (advanced).

• Passive voice in scientific writing.

• Hypothetical periods (advanced).

• Vocabulary:

• Scientific vocabulary (e.g., la hipótesis, el experimento, la teoría).

• Technical vocabulary (e.g., el algoritmo, la innovación, la nanotecnología).

• Vocabulary for describing processes and mechanisms.

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding scientific presentations, technical explanations, and documentaries.

• Speaking: Explaining technical concepts, discussing the impact of technology.

• Reading: Analyzing scientific articles, technical manuals, and reports.

• Writing: Writing scientific reports, technical documentation, and essays on the impact of technology.

Module 4: History and Culture

• Goals:

• Analyze historical events and their impact.

• Discuss cultural phenomena and artistic expressions.

• Compare and contrast different cultural perspectives.

• Functions:

• Analyzing historical events, social movements, and their long-term consequences.

• Discussing various forms of cultural expression (e.g., literature, art, music, film).

• Comparing and contrasting different cultural perspectives and values.

• Interpreting cultural symbols and meanings.

• Grammar:

• Advanced use of narrative tenses.

• Subjunctive in complex sentences expressing opinions, doubts, and desires related to historical and cultural events.

• Use of linguistic resources to express condition and hypothesis about past events.

• Vocabulary:

• Historical vocabulary (e.g., la época, el acontecimiento, la revolución).

• Cultural vocabulary (e.g., el patrimonio, las costumbres, las tradiciones).

• Vocabulary for analyzing art and literature (e.g., el simbolismo, la metáfora, el estilo).

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding historical documentaries, lectures on art and culture, and film analyses.

• Speaking: Discussing historical events, analyzing cultural works, and presenting cultural perspectives.

• Reading: Analyzing historical texts, literary works, and cultural studies.

• Writing: Writing essays on historical or cultural topics, writing critiques of artistic works.

Module 5: The Environment and Sustainability

• Goals:

• Discuss complex environmental issues.

• Evaluate different approaches to sustainability.

• Argue for environmental protection.

• Functions:

• Discussing complex environmental problems (e.g., climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution).

• Evaluating different approaches to sustainability and environmental protection.

• Formulating arguments in favor of environmental protection policies.

• Analyzing the economic, social, and ethical dimensions of environmental issues.

• Grammar:

• Advanced conditional sentences to discuss hypothetical scenarios and consequences.

• Language of speculation and probability in the context of future environmental outcomes.

• Connectors for expressing cause and effect in complex environmental contexts.

• Vocabulary:

• Specialized vocabulary related to environmental science (e.g., la sostenibilidad, el ecosistema, la huella de carbono).

• Vocabulary for discussing environmental policies and activism (e.g., la regulación, la protesta, el desarrollo sostenible).

• Vocabulary for describing complex environmental processes.

• Skills Development:

• Listening: Understanding in-depth discussions on environmental issues, scientific presentations, and debates on sustainability.

• Speaking: Presenting arguments for environmental protection, participating in debates on environmental policy, and discussing sustainable solutions.

• Reading: Analyzing scientific reports, environmental policy documents, and articles on sustainability.

• Writing: Writing research papers, policy proposals, and persuasive essays on environmental topics.