Spanish Studies/ Hispanistik/Spanisch – (B.A.)

Contents

The Bachelor programme Spanish/Hispanic Studies comprises sound foundation studies in the Spanish language and pertinent area studies, as well as the literature of Spanish-speaking countries, preparing students for all the aforementioned career fields.

The programme focuses in particular on teaching students the following knowledge and skill-sets:

* above average receptive and productive command of the Spanish language (spoken and written), including skills which enable differentiated communication on complex specialist topics
* the opportunity to receive an introduction into Portuguese and Catalan
* skills which enable adequate behaviour in intercultural situations within the context of the Romance world, and how to advise others
* the competence to be able to become quickly acquainted with different areas of international relations
* an overview of the most important areas of linguistically grounded description and analysis of Spanish and its variants, including relations to other Romance languages and the contrastive analysis to German
* insights into slected areas of literature and media studies (specialisation possble in hispanophile literature and culture within the context of post-colonial studies, literature and culture theory, especially the Romance contexts, including media theory, gender issues and feminist literature studies in Romance literature)
* historically and politically grounded understanding of processes and events in selected countries of the Romance-language world
* competence to analyse and make critical appraisal of literary and medial texts, as well as proofreading, copy reading and editorial work involving literary and academic texts
* competence in adequate specialist presentations and communication techniques and the necessary written and spoken competence in the Spanish language

For students on the BA programme who intend to become teachers: foundation knowledge in intercultural learning, the didactics of Spanish and multi-lingual didactics, as well as training and practice with methodological-didactical techniques in language lessons taught in schools.

Specialisations in one of these fields are possible by choosing a second subject and a corresponding element of General Studies acceptable to the field.

A module "Language and Work - Foundations of Applied Linguistics" is an integrated component of studies, in which students are familiarised with concrete career perspectives, also outside of school teaching.

Student majors who do not intend to go into teaching (Lehramt) must take an aditional Romance language; whereas those training to be teachers attend courses in didactics.

Area foci/ modules for advanced specialisation

The areas of Spain and Hispanoamerica are weighted equally in importance and with regard to the courses offered. Specialisations in the literature or linguistics of Spain and Iberoamerica are possible. The individual module descriptions determine the respective course objective.

General Studies

General Studies account for 25% of the study programme. These courses train key competences for subsequent career fields. By building their own individual specialities, students are able to shape and amplify their academic profile.
School-related studies for trainee teachers - general, incl. studies in education In this programme area, subject-related studies in the field of teacher training are supplemented with courses dealing with teaching practice. This programme area comprises 25% to 50% of studies in the field of teacher training, depending on the type of school envisaged. It encompasses the following topics: studies in education, subject didactics, internships and key qualifications.

Work practicals

* teaching practice (Lehramt)
* student majors must undertake a compulsory work placement during their first-stage studies (does not apply to students studying for Lehramt); students may elect to undertake an additional work placement during their first-stage studies.

Semester abroad

A semester at a university abroad (continuous 6 months) is compulsory for all students studying the subject as their major; it is recomended that students undertake this semester abroad in their second year of studies.

Students studying on the programme as a subsidiary subject must complete a compulsory 4-month period abroad (this can be divided into different stays), either at a universty abroad, as a work experience, or some other form of stay that is relevant for language acquisition and acceptable to the field.