Introductory description

This module will consolidate linguistic skills acquired in the first year and extend them through translation, writing, reading, speaking and listening activities.

A range of assessments will be offered for students to track and reflect on their progress through the provision of regular feedback. Students will also be provided with complementary autonomous learning activities and directed to appropriate activities for self-study in order to develop independent learning strategies.

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.

Writing: Main objectives are to reflect on German Syntax structure and to write more complex sentences. The syllabus is composed of 4 topics which are concerned with current affairs in politics, culture, history, business and society in Germany. The main focus is on composing different texts in German and to learn to reflect and to identify specific grammar points in written German.

Oral: Main objectives are to improve listening and speaking comprehension in German by reading, listening and discussing current affairs in Germany. Further, the aim is to prepare the Year Abroad for both studying and working in Germany. The combination of current affairs in politics, culture, history, society, culture and business as well as the education system, student and work life will offer students the best preparation for your time in Germany.

Translation: Main objectives are to introduce students to a range of German texts from literary pieces to web pages and blogs, from business and economics to poetry. Students produce translation from English into German and from German into English. Aims are to encourage students to reflect on the practice of translation, to consider how best to render each text in a way which is both linguistically accurate and sympathetic to the style and context of the original.

Language in Practice: Main objectives are to apply the grammatical knowledge of Modern German Language I to improve German by doing practical exercises as well as to improve Aural comprehension. The class will function as an umbrella class to revise and apply grammar knowledge in order to improve on translation and writing. Aims are to improve students’ listening comprehension with a specific focus on dialectal and regional variations and to prepare students for the Year Abroad in Germany in Year 3.

Learning outcomes

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

• A solid command of advanced aspects of grammar
• An advanced understanding of modes of written expression
• Advanced reading skills across a range of document types.
• An advanced understanding of the challenges inherent in translation from and into English (syntax, register, idiom)
• Refined and idiomatic listening and speaking skills
• Good understanding of selected aspects of contemporary XXXX society and culture and intercultural issues associated with them
• A systematic approach to proof-reading with due attention to accuracy
• Consolidation of independent language-learning skills

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 build students’ linguistic skills through activities that stimulate authentic target language production and develop sensitivity to the transference of meaning across languages. Students will work towards the production of nuanced, accurate and contextually sensitive materials through a range of language classes and guided independent learning.

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.