Advanced German 1 (LL214)
Summary
Level:
This Module is offered to students with 4-5 years' study of German (rusty A level or equivalent) or who have successfully completed the Intermediate German Module.
Main Objectives:
- to improve skills in communication and listening comprehension with respect to specific issues by consolidating and extending the students' knowledge and use of German grammar, syntax and vocabulary
- to extend skills in reading comprehension and composition by exploring various types of German texts i.e. descriptive, argumentative, literary
- to develop skills in critical reading
Assessment Scheme:
3 exams and an oral test. Students requiring 30 CREDITS are required to do an additional exam.
Weighting:
24 CREDITS or, with additional assessed work: 30 CREDITS
Teaching:
One seminar per week of 3 hours' duration over 25 weeks plus 2 hours independent learning per week
Availability/Location of module within courses:
This module is available as an approved option in undergraduate programmes for departments in the Faculties of Arts, Sciences and Social Studies, commencing Week 2, Term 1. It is available as a day-time or an evening module.
Course Description:
By the end of the Module the students should be able to describe facts and procedures at some length, to argue their own point of view and to express criticism. Writing and speaking activities will be supported by authentic written and spoken material focussing on aspects of life and culture in German speaking countries. Students will also be encouraged to read regularly the newspapers and magazines available in the Language Centre to keep up to date with events in the German speaking world.
Topics
- Education and work;
- German-speaking countries;
- the arts;
- the economy;
- the media;
- the European Union;
- equal rights;
- aspects of German history.
Grammar and Syntax
- Consolidation of word order;
- adjectival endings;
- comparative and superlative;
- genitive case;
- modal verbs;
- seperable verbs;
- verbs with prepositions;
- imperfect and future tenses;
- the conjunctions;
- relative clauses;
- the passive, present and perfect subjunctive;
- indirect speech;
- use of present and past participles as attributive adjectives.
Course Text books:
- "Brennpunkt/New edition", C. Sandry and J. Somerville, Nelson, 2000.
Additional Material
- "Grundstufengrammatik", M.Reimann, Heuber, 1996
- "English Grammar for Students of German", C.Zorach and C.Melin, Olivia and Hill Press, 1994
- Dictionary, The Collins English/German - German/English Dictionary, Klett, 1989
- "Langenscheidts Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache", Langenscheidt, 1997
Teaching:
One session per week of 3 hours' duration
Following the lessons of the course book Brennpunkt, each topic will be studied for several weeks. Where appropriate, video tapes and audio-cassettes will be provided to enable students to acquire fluency and accuracy in both oral and written German. Students will also be encouraged to avail themselves of the open access facilities of the Language Centre e.g. computers, satellite TV, audio tapes, etc.
Assessment:
Students will be required to complete, in class, three tests of work, one in each term. In total, these tests will represent 50% of the final mark.
The tests will include a range of skills including aural comprehension, reading comprehension, composition, grammatical competence, short translations and conversation.
At the end of the module, there will be a 3 hour examination paper, consisting of a written comprehension with multiple tasks, and a composition in German. The examination will count as 50% of the final mark.
The use of a bilingual dictionary is allowed.