Program Overview
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Contact: Department of World Languages and Cultures
Location: Candelaria Hall
Email: HSS@unco.edu
Website: www.unco.edu/hss/world-languages-cultures/
Advising Information:
Students must consult with their assigned major advisor each semester prior to registering.
To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.
The program consists of four parts:
- Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
- Required Major Credits
- Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) Credits
- University-Wide Credits
*For Educator licensure majors, PTEP coursework counts towards the minimum of nine upper-division UNC credits (300-400).
Program Description:
Students develop a functional proficiency in the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) with an appreciation and understanding of the civilization and culture of the Hispanic world. Students become competent secondary school teachers of Spanish.
Program Admission Requirements:
Academic Good Standing
Program Requirements:
- All Spanish language courses to be counted for the major and minor must be beyond the first year level.
PTEP Program Requirements:
Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.
If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.
- Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #1 (Enrollment in this checkpoint will result in a one-time program fee, assessed to student accounts to pay for assessment software. This checkpoint will also require an out-of-pocket payment - to the chosen approved vendor - to obtain a fingerprint background check, which is required by the Colorado Department of Education.)
- Completion of Full Admission to PTEP – referred to as Checkpoint #2
- Completion of Application for Student Teaching – referred to as Checkpoint #3
- Completion of content specific PRAXIS test prior to Student Teaching
- Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the STE Director.
- All PTEP Field Experiences and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
- Student Teaching outside the supervision of UNC Faculty may or may not be approved.
- Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they were once students or where they have a close relative attending and/or working. Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.
Please work with your content advisor to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout your program.
Program Recommendations:
It is recommended that Spanish majors take HIST 118 and MAS 337 or ENG 337.
Degree Requirements — 120 Credits
1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits
To complete the degree in 120 credits as outlined, the program recommends the below LAC courses that also count toward the 42 required major credits.
Any additional coursework completed outside of the recommended list below may extend the length of the program of study.
Written Communication — 6 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Written Communication courses
Mathematics — 3 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Mathematics courses
Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [IS] — 15 credits
To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.
SPAN 201 Intermediate Spanish I (3 credits) and SPAN 202 Intermediate Spanish II (3 credits) are recommended to fulfill both the Arts & Humanities and International Studies requirements and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
MAS 100 Introduction to Mexican American Studies (3 credits) is recommended to fulfill both the Social & Behavioral Sciences and U.S. Multicultural Studies requirements and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
MAS 110 Contemporary Chicano Literature (3 credits) is recommended to fulfill both the Arts & Humanities and U.S. Multicultural Studies requirements and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.
See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses
Natural & Physical Sciences — 7 credits
Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.
See Natural & Physical Sciences courses
See Liberal Arts Curriculum
2. Required Major — 42 credits
Intermediate Spanish — 6 credits
Take both of the following courses:
| SPAN 201 | Intermediate Spanish ILAA4LAIS | 3 |
| SPAN 202 | Intermediate Spanish IILAA4LAIS | 3 |
Mexican American Studies — 3 credits
Choose one of the following courses:
| MAS 100 | Introduction to Mexican American StudiesLAB3LAMS | 3 |
| MAS 110 | Contemporary Chicano LiteratureLAA2LAMS | 3 |
Advanced Spanish — 6 credits
Complete one of the following options:
Non-Heritage Speaker Option
Heritage Speaker Option
| SPAN 310 | Spanish for Native Speakers | 3 |
| | and | |
| SPAN 312 | Written Spanish for Native Speakers | 3 |
The Heritage Speaker courses must have program approval through a placement exam.
Advanced Language & Culture Studies — 27 credits
Take all of the following courses:
| SPAN 304 | Introduction to Hispanic Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 305 | Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics | 3 |
| SPAN 455 | Literature for Children and Adolescents | 3 |
| SPAN 470 | Spanish for Oral Proficiency | 3 |
Choose five of the following courses:
(at least two courses must be 400 level)
| SPAN 303 | Spanish Conversation | 3 |
| SPAN 321 | Spanish Civilization and Culture | 3 |
| SPAN 331 | Latin American Civilization and Culture | 3 |
| SPAN 341 | Mexican and Mexican American Civilization and Culture | 3 |
| SPAN 405 | Spanish Phonetics and Dialects | 3 |
| SPAN 450 | Masterpieces of Spanish Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 451 | Masterpieces of Latin American Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 457 | Masterpieces in Chicano/a Literature | 3 |
| SPAN 459 | Hispanic Drama | 3 |
3. Required PTEP — 38 credits
Phase I (5 credits taken concurrently)
| EDFE 170 | Introduction to Field Based Experience | 1- 3 |
| EDF 366 | Conceptions of Schooling: Context and Process | 3 |
Phase II (8 credits taken concurrently)
| EDFE 270 | Field Based Experience | 2 |
| EDSE 360 | Adaptation, Modification, and Integration of Curriculum for the Secondary Exceptional Learner | 3 |
| PSY 347 | Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers | 3 |
| | or | |
| PSY 349 | Educational Psychology for Secondary Teachers | 3 |
Phase III (11-14 credits taken concurrently)
| ECLD 340 | Academic Language/Literacy Development in the Content Areas at the Secondary Level | 3 |
| ECLD 360 | Second Language Acquisition | 3 |
| EDFE 370 | Advanced Field Based Experience | 1- 3 |
| WLC 441 | Methods of Teaching World Languages in K-12 | 3 |
ECLD 340 may be taken outside of Phase III.
Phase IV (14 credits)
Students wishing to be licensed must have obtained a grade of 3.0 or better in WLC 441.
It is recommended that Spanish majors take HIST 118 and either HIST 314 or HIST 315.
All Spanish language courses to be counted for the major and the minor must be beyond the first year level.
Courses with the SPAN prefix are taught in Spanish and courses with the HISP prefix are taught in English.
4. University-Wide Credits — 9 credits*
Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for this degree at UNC; for this degree, that will typically be 9 credits.
*Note: Students who apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum and the major requirements will have an increased number of university wide electives to apply to this degree. See your advisor for details.