Introductory description

This foundation module in Modern German Language for post beginners follows the first year Module GE103 and seeks to consolidate the language skills gained in students’ first year of study. It covers the main linguistic (oral, aural, written, spoken) skills, and seeks to promote the continued acquisition of grammatical awareness and essential communicative competences.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Classes integrate the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – with an emphasis on
form by targeting some essential structures for intensive practice within a communicative
context.
Students will also practice some elementary/intermediate translation. All these activities will
entail students´ self-study to broaden vocabulary and aural understanding.
Grammar points covered:

1. Pronunciation, alphabet, introducing oneself, regular conjugations, the verb ‘sein’.
2. Subject pronouns, definite and indefinite articles, numbers, conjunctions, colours and
   adjectives, the verb ‘haben’.
3. Gender and number of nouns, demonstrative and possessive adjectives, questions: wo?,
   woher?, wer?, was?, wen?, wann?, the accusative case.
4. Separable verbs, regular verbs in the perfect tense.
5. Reflexive verbs and pronouns, adjectives of origin and numerals.
6. Modal verbs, the dative case.
7. Prepositions of place and movement (Wechselpräpositionen).
8. Irregular verbs in the present tense and past tense, word order (weil, dass, etc).
9. The future tense (werden).
10. The passive tense (present tense), the genitive case.
11. Comparatives and superlatives.
12. The passive tense (perfect tense).
13. The imperfect tense, the pulperfect tense..
14. The indefinite article and pronouns (jed-, kein-, all-, viel-, wenig-).
15. Adjective endings 1.
16. Adjective endings 2.
17. Relative sentences and pronouns.
18. The subjunctive 1.
19. The subjunctive 2.
20. Sentense constructions: ‘(sich) lassen’, ‘sowohl-als auch’, ‘weder-noch’, ‘Je-desto‘.
21. Indefinite articles: ‘manch-‘, ‘einig-‘, Relative sentences and pronouns using the genitive
    case.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• demonstrate individual skills in writing and reading in German, and some cross-lingual awareness through translation.
• single out and discuss, when necessary, specific problems of grammar and syntax
• demonstrate familiarity with different language variations and register
• demonstrate a strong command of basic structures of German grammar and their use in various contexts
• demonstrate competence in different registers
• demonstrate skills of aural comprehension and oral communication over a wide range of topics
• identify and discuss intercultural awareness in the German context and German-English-speaking contexts
• Adequate language competence in written and spoken German so as to enable a student to follow courses (of an appropriate level) at a university in a German-speaking country and/or to take up a work placement in a German speaking country.

Indicative reading list

Oxford German Dictionary or Collins German Dictionary
Anna Buscha, Szilvia Szita: Begegnungen (B1+) Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch

International

All modules delivered in SMLC are necessarily international. Students engage with themes and ideas from a culture other than that of the UK and employ their linguistic skills in the analysis of primary materials from a non-Anglophone context. Students will also be encouraged to draw on the experiences of visiting exchange students in the classroom and will frequently engage with theoretical and critical frameworks from across the world.

Subject specific skills

This module will develop students’ linguistic skills through engaging with primary materials in the target language. It will build students’ capacity to engage with aspects of German culture through analysis of this primary material and through seminar discussion aimed at deeper critical thinking. In particular, students’ awareness of modern German language will be enhanced through lectures and seminars which engage in scholarship in the field.

Transferable skills

All SMLC culture modules demand critical and analytical engagement with artefacts from target-language cultures. In the course of independent study, class work and assessment students will develop the following skills: written and oral communication, creative and critical thinking, problem solving and analysis, time management and organisation, independent research in both English and their target language(s), intercultural understanding and the ability to mediate between languages and cultures, ICT literacy in both English and the target language(s), personal responsibility and the exercise of initiative.