Overview

This module involves an introduction to Galician through the study of key areas of grammar (verbal tenses, nouns, adjectives, prepositions, etc.), idiomatic register, and general vocabulary. Through selected in-class texts, students will also be introduced to Galician culture, literature, and sociolinguistics. The course is highly recommended for students who intend to do their year abroad (or part of it) in the historical city of Santiago de Compostela (the capital of Galicia) and its university or the cities of Vigo and A Coruña.

Books: Boullón Agrelo, Ana; Monteagudo Romero, Henrique; García Cancela, Xermán, Diccionario normativo Galego-Castelán (Vigo: Galaxia, 1994). Gómez Guinovart, Xavier, Dicionario moderno inglés-galego (Vigo: 2.0 editora, 2012). Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego (Vigo: Real Academia Galega & Instituto da Lingua Galega, 2004). Pérez Barreiro, Servando, Dicionario completo galego-inglés, inglés-galego (Vigo: Cardeñoso).

Webpages: Dictionary English-Galician, Galego-Inglés: http://sli.uvigo.es/dicionario/index.html Galician dictionary by the Real Academia Galega: http://www.realacademiagalega.org Linguakit: https://linguakit.com/full_analysis

Articles: O’Rourke, Bernadette, ‘The Galician Language in the Twenty-First Century’, in A Companion to Galician Culture, ed. by Helena Miguélez-Carballeira (London: Tamesis, 2014), pp.73-92. Thompson, John Patrick, ‘Portuguese or Spanish Orthography for the Galizan Language? An analysis of the Conflito Normativo’, in Contemporary Galician Cultural Studies: between the local and the global, ed. by Kirsty Hopper & Manuel Puga Moruxa (New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2011), pp. 143-165.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -40-49%: For the award of credit, students should demonstrate a satisfactory comprehension of the various grammatical areas studied, and an ability to implement them at a basic level.

-good -50-69%: For the award of higher grades, students should demonstrate a solid comprehension of the various grammatical areas studied, and an ability to comprehend and produce the language confidently.

-excellent -70+%: For the award of the highest grade, students should demonstrate a detailed comprehension of the various grammatical areas studied and should demonstrate that considerable independent work has been done with a view to reaching an advanced knowledge of the language.

Learning Outcomes

• Communicate competently on basic issues in Galician

• Demonstrate an ability to produce short creative pieces of writing in Galician, using basic tenses, vocabulary, and key grammatical construction.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the main historical events and debates related to the Galician language.

• Read and pronounce Galician texts with confidence.