Foreign Language Honors Courses have distinctive features that set them apart from regular Foreign Language courses. In addition to being engineered to meet the objectives established for regular courses, honors courses are deliberately more challenging and academically enriched. The courses are designed with self-motivated individuals in mind as greater independence and responsibility are expected from the students; the material is covered at a faster pace, more in depth, and with higher academic rigor. Due to the small number of students, there will be more interaction with classmates and with the instructor. Honor students should anticipate and be ready to participate in lively classroom discussions.

The courses will be taught exclusively in the target language and they will focus on the use of the language for active communication. Students will be provided plenty of opportunities for developing and improving listening/speaking proficiency, reading/writing skills, and cultural awareness. Besides using the assigned textbook, your instructor will provide you with authentic texts of different kinds: literary works, magazine and newspaper articles, films, recordings, etc.

Your instructor may also assign two to three projects like research papers, creative writings, community service, and class presentations. Sample projects may, for instance, include:

• READING: Keep a reading portfolio. Articles should be selected by the student to reflect their area of interest and to promote independent inquiry.
• WRITING: Keep a writing portfolio. They can be dialogues, summaries/reactions to articles/literary works/films, short biographies of famous people from the target language, etc.
• SPEAKING: Regularly present oral reports or dialogues. Make a presentation of the cultural research and/or community service projects
• LISTENING: Keep a movie and/or music portfolio.
• CULTURE AND SOCIAL AWARENESS: Cultural research project and presentation- Community service project and presentation

Foreign Language honors courses are currently available for Spanish 1 (SPAN 1411) and Spanish 2 (SPAN 1411). Enrollment is restricted. Please contact the Honors Program at 512-223-6555 or honors@austincc.edu for enrollment information. The Honors Program Office is located at the Riverside Campus in Room 2280, Building A. Visit the ACC Honors Program online for more info.