German Language In Context: Independent Abroad Iii

(Formerly GR305 Advanced German)

Center:

Freiburg

Program(s):

Freiburg - Language & Area Studies

Discipline(s):

German Language

Course code:

GR 353

Terms offered:

Fall

Spring

Credits:

Language of instruction:

German

Instructor:

Heidrun Tremp Soares and Uta Rothmund

Description:

Students who enter this level are able to accomplish everyday needs required to live in a new culture. In this course, students will develop independence and autonomy so that, when communication does break down, they have enough tools at their disposal to resolve these challenges on their own. Students should welcome correction and guidance from their instructors, hosts, and others in the community as they progress. They will also begin to recognize their own and their peers’ errors.

By the end of this course, students will begin to converse at a rate of speed approaching normal conversation. They will be creative, more spontaneous and self-reliant as they solve problems, interpret texts, negotiate, and express their opinions, likes, and dislikes in the culture. Although students will still make errors and experience communication breakdowns, they are much more likely to resolve these on their own. Students will understand a variety of colloquial expressions and slang, and will be able to understand a wider variety of native speakers from different backgrounds. By the end of this level, students will be capable of achieving the learning outcomes outlined below.

Prerequisites:

Proficiency at a level equivalent to IES Abroad’s Emerging Independent Abroad, as determined by placement test.

Learning outcomes:

Students who are placed in this level should have achieved the outcomes in the Emerging Independent Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication.

By the end of the course, students will be able to achieve the outcomes for the Independent Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:

I. Intercultural Communication

A. Students will be able to identify and describe at a basic level key host cultures, subcultures, habits, norms, and behaviors in a variety of settings, and they will be aware of the risk that generalizations can lead to stereotypes.
B. Students will be able to discuss the validity of their own cultural beliefs, behaviors, and values by contrasting and comparing them with those of the host cultures.
C. Students will be able to interpret gestures and body language, and they will integrate some of those nonverbal actions into their interactions with native speakers.
D. Students will know how to meet socio-cultural norms in a variety of transactional events.

II. Listening

A. Students will be able to understand most spoken communications of moderate complexity (media, speeches, music, conversations, etc.) on a wide range of concrete everyday topics as well as abstract topics covered in classes.
B. Students will be able to understand most native speakers from a variety of backgrounds and limited experience with non-native speakers, and they will comprehend common colloquial expressions and slang.

III. Speaking

A. Students will be able to speak on and discuss a wide range of concrete everyday and personal topics, abstract topics covered in classes, as well as other topics of particular interest to them.
B. Students will be able to participate, initiate, and respond actively in a wide variety of interactions (field studies, interviews, community interaction, CORE).
C. Students will be able to narrate sequences of events with a notable degree of accuracy.
D. Students will be able to give presentations on topics related to the host culture.

IV. Reading

A. Students will be able to read and understand a wide variety of articles, stories, and online texts using background knowledge to aid their comprehension.
B. Students will be able to read and understand the key ideas of academic texts on familiar topics with assistance.

V. Writing

A. Students will be able to meet most everyday writing needs (notes, text messages, formal and informal letters, emails, chats, online forums).
B. Students will be able to write essays for class that narrate, describe, report, compare, contrast, and summarize on a wide range of topics with an increasing degree of grammatical and lexical accuracy.
C. Students will be able to edit their own and their peers’ writing for common errors.

Method of presentation:

Lectures, discussions, group work, private study, field studies, oral presentations

Required work and form of assessment:

Intensive Course:

Final Exam

Semester Course:

Midterm Exam 10%

Tests (grammar and vocabulary) 10%

Presentation, participation, homework 30%

Written Assignments 20%

Final Exam 20%

content:

Week

Content

Assignments

Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)

INTENSIVE COURSE

Week 1

1.Functional:

· Introducing yourself and others

· Getting to know the City-Center

· Conducting interviews

· Describing places and directions

2.Grammatical:

· Local prepositions and adverbs

· Indirect questions

· wissen vs. kennen vs. können

· legen/liegen; stehen/stellen;…

· Review and practice: Past tense-forms, oral and written usage, Past participles

3.Vocabulary:

Getting to know each other
Important dates of Freiburg’ s history
Freiburg for students/ free time activities
German geography and neighbors
Nations and Countries
First impressions

4.Culture:

· Shopping in Freiburg

· „Decoding Freiburg”

· Museum of Freiburg’s History

· Monuments

Writing:

Written summary of first impressions in Freiburg/ Germany

Oral:

Interviewing class mates in order to get to know each other

Asking about directions and finding places; getting information

Describing personal experience of former stays in Germany, Austria or Switzerland

Quiz “Bundesländer”

Field studies:

Exploring the Freiburg City-Centre

Museum of Freiburg History

Class project

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.B.

IV.A.

V.A.

Week 2

1.Functional:

· Structuring a text

· Describing people and objects

· Describing activities in past tenses

2.Grammatical:

· Review: Adjective forms and declensions – Comparison

· Temporal relations – prepositions, adverbs, clauses

· Relative clauses (all cases, with

preposition, relating pronouns: wo, woher, wohin)

3.Vocabulary:

· Forms of communication

· landscapes, nature, places in town and region

· Character traits

4.Culture:

· City as Text

· Freiburg Münster

· Freiburg’s economy –visit of an enterprise

Reading:

Schwarzwald, Bodensee, Dreiländereck

Info text: German people and other Europeans

Writing:

Formal and informal letter

Oral:

Presentation of an American university, town or enterprise

Field studies:

City as text

Freiburg Münster

Freiburg’s economy –visit of an enterprise

Class project

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.B. III.D.

IV.A. IV.B.

V.A.

Week 3

1.Functional:

· Conducting interviews

· Talking about real/ unreal conditions

· Polite forms of asking, expression of wishes

· Talking about goals

2.Grammatical:

· Dative verbs

· Reflexive verbs

· Konjunktiv II

· Final clauses

3.Vocabulary:

· Nationalities and professions

· Traveling

· Relations between people/ nations

4.Culture:

“Typically Freiburg/ Germany”

· Studying in Freiburg

Readng:

Newspaper articles: reading and presentation in class

Oral:

Interviews

Fictional interview with a University-teacher/ professor

Class project

Quiz: Freiburg

Core-goal-setting-unit

Final exam OIL

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.B.

IV.A.

V.A.

SEMESTER COURSE

Week 4

1.Functional:

Getting to know each other

2.Grammatical:

• Review of Past tenses

• Correction of text production

3.Vocabulary:

Adjectives for describing people and feelings

• Relationships

As needed

4.Culture:

• Freiburg – a new and unknown

environment

Reading:

Tausend Spiegel

Listening:

Tausend Spiegel

Writing:

Optimists vs. pessimists

Oral:

How do I feel/ behave in new or unknown situations?

I.B. I.C.

II.A.

III.B.

IV.A.

V.A. V.C.

Week 5

1.Functional:

Stating an opinion, how to agree and disagree

2.Grammatical:

Prepositions
Genitive

3.Vocabulary:

• Relationships

• Sayings

• Adjectives

As needed

4.Culture:

• Dating and relationships in Germany

Reading:

Wer ist wie ich?

Writing:

A love story

Oral:

What characteristics do I expect my (future) partner to have?

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.B.

IV.B.

V.A.

Week 6

1.Functional:

• How to argue and deal with conflicts in a private context

How to give a presentation

2.Grammatical:

• Correction of text production

• Verbs with prepositions

3.Vocabulary:

• Adjectives

As needed

4.Culture:

Idioms/ common phrases
Comparison relationships in Germany vs. the U.S. (age to marry, divorce rate etc.)

Reading:

Wir reden gerade so nett.

Writing:

Dialogues

Oral:

Discussion about relationships

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.A. III.C.

IV.B.

V.A. V.C.

Week 7

2.Grammatical:

Correction of text production
Verbs with prepositions
Review of causal clauses

3.Vocabulary:

Adjectives
As needed

CORE II

I.A. I.B.

III.A. III.B.

Week 8

1.Functional:

Talking about historical events

2.Grammatical:

Concessive clauses
Conditional clauses

3.Vocabulary:

• Adjectives

As needed

4.Culture:

• The impact of German history

Presentations (topics related to Germany in comparison to the U.S.)

Reading:

Erich Fried – eine kurze Biographie

Es ist, was es ist (Poem)

Oral:

How to deal with history?

Presentations

Listening:

Was es ist (Mia)

I.A. I.B.

II.A.

III.B.

IV.A.

V.A.

Week 9

1.Functional:

· Talking about clichés and prejudices

· Talking about patriotism

2.Grammatical:

Connectors

3.Vocabulary:

• Adjectives

As needed

4.Culture:

• Understanding reasons for cultural differences

Presentations (topics related to Germany in comparison to the U.S.)

Reading:

Distanz zum Land

Writing:

Patriotism in the U.S.

Oral:

Group discussion: Typical German – typical American

Interviews with German students

Midterm Exam

I.A. I.B.

II.A. II.B.

III.C. III.D.

IV.B.

V.A. V.B.

Week 10

1.Functional:

Talking about Heimat

2.Grammatical:

Final clauses
Infinitive with zu

3.Vocabulary:

• Adjectives

• Sayings

As needed

4.Culture:

• Body language

Presentations (topics related to Germany in comparison to the U.S.)

Reading:

(Zweite) Heimat Deutschland?

Writing:

What is Heimat to me?”

Oral:

What is Heimat?

Presentations

Listening:

Two Germans in the U.S.

I.B. I.C. I.D.

II.A. II.B.

III.C. III.D

IV.B.

V.B.

Week 11

1.Functional:

Describing processes

2.Grammatical:

Past participles
Passive voice (present tense)

3.Vocabulary:

• Adjectives

As needed

4.Culture

Presentations (topics related to Germany in comparison to the U.S.)

Writing:

Describing processes

Oral:

Presentations

I.B. I.C. I.D.

II.A. II.B.

III.C. III.D

V.B.

Week 12

1.Functional:

• Interpreting quotes, expressing

opinion about abstract and

philosophical questions

2.Grammatical:

Passive voice (past tense)
Passive with sein and werden
Correction of text production

3.Vocabulary:

As needed

4.Culture:

Presentations (topics related to Germany in comparison)

Writing:

My favourite quote

Oral:

Group discussion – Quotes

Presentations

I.B. I.C. I.D.

II.A. II.B.

III.C. III.D

IV.B.

V.B. V.C.

Week 13

Tuesday

9am – 11am

CORE III

Final

I.A. I.B. I.C

III.A. III.B.

V.A. V.B.

*Subject to changes depending on level and progress of class*

Required readings:

Selection of short texts; Handouts for GR 353