Modern Languages Subject Knowledge Spanish Audit

Subject Knowledge Audit: Spanish 

This audit is the first step in your personalised Subject Knowledge Development work; during the year you will work individually on areas of subject knowledge. We begin with grammar here but you will also work on A level topics, set texts and films, choosing areas in which you feel you have gaps in your knowledge or confidence.

  1. Review your knowledge of the following lexico-grammatical points and self-assess your learning and your confidence in explaining the point (very confident = 3; quite confident = 2; uncertain = 1).
  2. Choose three areas about which you are less certain; research these areas to update your knowledge and then make brief notes to show how you would explain the points to learners.  What key points would you need to make to make the lexico-grammatical points clear?
  3. For the three areas about which you are less certain, revise these and produce notes/summaries of the key points for submission to your subject tutor on the first day of the course.   Please do not write more than four pages.

If you are a native speaker, review the extent to which you can give clear, comprehensive guidance about the chosen areas.

Meta-linguistic and cultural challenges  32  1
Draw up a list of useful Proper nouns in Spanish eg la Península Ibérica, el Reino Unido, la Comunidad Europea, Don Quijote de la Mancha,  la Guerra Civil española Include a full list of non-European countries   
Understand the general rules of gender and number. Establish patterns for the formation of the feminine of nouns and adjectives. Explain the use of the masculine article with a feminine noun, eg. el agua.     
Give examples of Spanish use of a singular verb after a group noun (eg. ‘la gente’).     
Contrast the use of the definite article in Spanish and its use in English.     
Contrast the use of the indefinite article in Spanish and its use in English.     
Explore the use of  un / una as opposed to algún / alguna and establish guidelines.   
Understand the concept of Neuter ‘lo’, ‘esto’, ‘lo que’, etc.   and its uses. Explain the difference between ‘qué’ and ‘lo que’. Explore the uses of ‘lo’ + adjective.     
Understand the difference between the Definite article + que and + de.     
Explain how the concept of  ‘some’  is expressed in Spanish. Establish the contrast between  ‘unos /unas’ and ‘algunos/algunas’ .     
When using common verbs in the Present tense, recognise patterns & make analogies. Contrast Present in Spanish with the two English forms (I eat/I am eating/).     
Identify patterns in the conjugation of radical changing verbs and irregular verbs in the present tense.     
Explain how the impersonal forms of the verb ‘haber’ work in all the tenses, eg. ‘hay’ in the present.     
Identify patterns and draw analogies between regular & irregular forms of the simple past (past historic) (Pretérito indefinido).     
Establish the forms and different uses of the imperfect in Spanish.     
Discuss the formulation of guidelines to explain the difference in usage between the simple past (pretérito indefinido) & imperfect tenses.               
Explain the differences between reflexive and reciprocal verbs: nos vestimos, nos escribimos.     
Establish patterns for regular and irregular Future tenses.     
Explore the ways of expressing possibility by using the future and the future perfect.     
Establish guidelines for forming the Present participle. Recognise regular patterns of participles. Identify irregular forms of participles : vuelto, roto, etc.     
Establish the different uses of ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ (to be) with nouns and prepositions.     
Contast between ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ + adjectives. Discuss the cases when it is possible to use either verb and how meaning is affected by this change.     
Explore the concept of transitive / intransitive verbs.     
Establish three groups of  structures: Verb + a + infinitive / verb + de + infin. / verb + infin. Eg: ir +a + infinitive, acabar de + infinitive, querer + infinitive.  Exemplify more complex structures.     
Discuss the uses of Modal auxiliary verbs followed by an infinitive: deber, poder, saber, tener que, querer, haber que (only in the impersonal form: hay que). Explain the contrast between: deber, deber de; also between poder and saber.   
Compare tener que with hay que and deber when expressing obligation.     
Consider how “-ing” can be translated into Spanish with the infinitive.     
Explore the meanings of constructions of the following verbs estar, llevar, ir, venir + gerund.     
Explain how cuando  is used with theimperfect tense.     
Establish when  to use an indicative or a subjunctive in expressions of time (eg. with ‘cuando’).     
 Compare expressions of time using ‘al’ + verb and cuando + verb.     
Illustrate the meaning of acabar de  in the present and imperfect tenses.     
Explore the use of  the past infinitive after después.     
Explore key differences between the Indicative & Subjunctive moods and exemplify their usage.     
Establish a list of  impersonal expressions that are followed by a subjunctive; eg. Es mejor que… quizás, etc.   
Explore the uses of the indicative and the subjunctive  following expressions of opinion and doubt such as : creo que and no creo que     
Translate hace + time +  Present tense in Spanish. Consider the use of the present tense with ‘hace’ and ‘desde hace’ and compare it with the structure ‘hace…que’.  Analyse how the word order is affected.     
Contrast the meanings ‘since’ and ‘for’ of the word ‘hace’  used with present tense and past tense.                         
Consider how Spanish expresses English passive constructions. Explore ways in which Spanish avoids the full Passive voice. Use of passive  ‘se’.     
Formulate guidelines for the formation of the conditional tenses (form ending in –ría).     
Establish the patterns of the three types of conditional sentences (with ‘si’ (if).     
Contrast word order in sentences using verbs such as ‘gustar’ and ‘doler’.     
Explain the rules for agreement in adjectives of quality and colour and analyse the position of adjectives in the sentence. Establish a list of adjectives which might precede the noun. Consider how word order can change the meaning of adjectives, e.g. un pobre hombre vs un hombre pobre and find other examples. Collect culinary examples of “in the style of”  such as a la parrilla, a la brasa,  la madrileña, al chilindrón.     
Explain the Comparative forms of adjectives and adverbs using : más / más que / más de. Identify the irregular comparative forms, such as : ‘mayor’.     
Reflect on how use of gender in possessive adjectives presents particular difficulty for English learners. Differentiate the possessive pronouns ‘mío’ from ‘el mío’, etc. Differentiate the use of possessive pronouns eg el mío, los míos,  as opposed to possessive adjs mi, mis, etc.     
Establish the different ways of expressing a question and consider the word order. List key question words.     
Establish the difference between the interrogatives: qué and cuál.     
Establish how the negative is formed in Spanish. Explore the range of negative sentences in Spanish, including    no… nada, no….ninguno  & no…nunca. Exemplify sentence structure with a negative as subject eg Nadie, ninguno… Illustrate how to make an infinitive negative eg “Prefiero no hacerlo”.     
Consider different ways of accepting apart from ‘sí’.     
Establish patterns for the formulation of adverbs from adjectives Consider the formation of adverbs from adjectives using the ending ‘mente’ and how the adjective forms are affected.     
Establish the difference between bueno & bien / malo & mal .     
Clarify the distinction between algo, alguien & alguno and the negative forms nada, nadie & ninguno         
Clarify the distinction of  ya, aún & todavía     
Discuss the use (or lack of use) of the subject personal pronoun in Spanish.     
Explain the different forms of Personal pronouns and their position in the sentence.     
Consider the use of personal pronouns in cases when they are not gammatically needed, eg: ‘me voy al cine’, ‘Está cartera la compré aquí’.     
Discuss why English pupils find the indirect object pronouns le & les  challenging and also the contrast between direct and indirect pronouns lo, la vs. le, when they refer to people.     
Explore the concepts of ‘leísmo’, ‘laísmo’ and ‘loísmo’ in relation to object pronouns in the 3rd person : ‘le’ / ‘la’/ ‘lo’.     
Explain the preceding direct object rule. Establish patterns for the position of direct object pronouns in negative & interrogative sentences.     
Establish pattern of word order when 2 personal pronouns (direct and indirect) are combined. Explain how ‘le’ becomes ‘se’ in combination with other pronouns.     
Contrast the use of ‘se’ used as reflexive and as personal pronoun.     
Explain how some personal pronouns are used differently in the Latinamerican system; eg, ‘usted’ and ‘ustedes’. And the use of ‘vos’ (voseo) in some countries.   
Establish the pattern of word order in pronoun use in imperatives, including negative commands. Recognise the changes in the imperative forms when followed by a pronoun as in ‘vámonos’ or ‘callaos’     
Explain the position of personal pronouns with infinitives and gerunds.     
Contrast the instances  when prepositions are followed by subject pronouns in Spanish instead of by object pronouns as in English. Eg. : according to him = ‘según él’.     
Explain the difference between él mismo and sí mismo.     
Explain the difference between ’ése’ and ‘aquél’ both meaning ‘that’ in English.     
Consider the uses of relative ‘que’. Clarify the distinction between the relative pronouns: el que / el cual / quien.     
Discuss the uses of ‘se’ in passive reflexive constructions, such as ‘se vende’ and compare with se in impersonal expressions, such us ‘se dice’.     
Explore the different possibilities to form impersonal sentences using: se, uno, la gente,  etc.     
Establish a list of  prepositions in Spanish, especially those which have multiple uses in English:  a, de, en.     
Explain the uses of prepositions which present special difficulties for English learners: ‘a’ + direct object, , conmigo, etc. Clarify the difference between the prepositions ‘ por’ and ‘para’.     
Relate the use of para / por / durante + time ( eg para tres días ). How is dentro de dos meses different?     
Contrast word order in English and Spanish when using the preposition (and possessive) ‘de’.     
Classify connectives into categories of time, consequence, reason & purpose.     
Explain the difference between sí and si. Identify when si no and sino should be used.     
Exemplify the pattern of tenses used with si and compare with tenses in English after “if”.     
Discuss how we can express condition using ‘de’ instead of ‘si’.     
Contrast direct and indirect (reported) speech. Explain how to express reported speech in Spanish.     
Explain how to explain ‘distance away from’  in Spanish. Exemplify descriptions of dimension eg 2 metres wide.     
Explore the rules that affect numbers: agreement  in gender in numbers from 200;  irregular patterns, difference between ‘cien’ and ‘ciento’, etc.     
Explain how to express approximate numbers. Comment on the use of commas & full stops in numbers in Spanish and English. Express fractions in Spanish.     
Know how to use cardinal or / and ordinal numbers in expressions involving time, dates, kings and queens.     
Explain the rules for the position of accents in Spanish and their influence on pronunciation. Identify the cases in which the accent affects the meaning of words. Ensure you know the characters for typing accents in Word.     
Explore the sociolinguistic implications of using tú  or usted  forms of address in different contexts such as the home, the workplace, school and public places such as shops, bars, restaurants, etc.     
Consider the register of different ways of asking for something: quiero / querría / quisiera. Explore the uses of the conditional to make an offer or invitation and accepting or declining.     
Discuss the most common falsos amigos eg sensato = sensible sensible = sensitive.     
Discuss the difference between usage of saber  & conocer. Establish the difference in meaning between pensar  & pensar en.  Distinguish the use of acordarse (de) & recordar.     
Find other examples of the verb/noun pattern representar la obra / la representación de la obra.     
Research homonyms such as: cuarto, planta, educación, etc.     
Consider register at word level eg esposo / marido.     
Consider the register of different letter endings eg un abrazo vs un saludo, le saluda atentamente…     
Research idioms in Spanish eg  caradura, ¡ojo ! Find proverbs which include different categories of words, such as animals:  Aquí hay gato encerrado; Perro ladrador, poco mordedor, etc.     
Illustrate the use of words such as ‘tío’, ‘el botellón’, etc.  in youth culture.     
Investigate the language of IT and draw up a key list of terms for pupils.     
Consider the lexis which for you encapsulates the essence of Spanish culture eg  las fiestas, el flamenco, etc.     
Establish key expressions  for classroom management and also the language of feedback eg Muy bien, excelente, etc