Students who enter this course will already be capable of achieving the outcomes of the Emerging Competent Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. Students who take this level should already be familiar with most of the complex structures and linguistic functions that will be covered. They should not be surprised, however, to find that they will need to review these aspects of the language to develop greater fluency and more sensitivity to subtle and underlying linguistic and cultural meanings.
Students entering this level can succeed in a wide range of university courses designed for native speakers, provided they have met any prerequisites. Before registering, they should consult with the appropriate IES Abroad academic advisor on course selection.
By the end of this course, students will be fully able to meet the demands of living and working in the host culture. They will be able to communicate accurately, vividly, and expressively with their hosts on most topics. Students who succeed in this course will be able to function in a professional setting and to undertake further personal or professional projects in the host culture. Students will be able to understand local cultural attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns well enough to make informed choices about which cultural features they would like to adopt or need to adopt in order to live harmoniously in the local culture.
Prerequisites:
Proficiency at a level equivalent to IES Abroad’s Emerging Competent Abroad, as determined by placement test.
Attendance policy:
All IES courses require attendance and participation. Attendance is mandatory per IES policy. Any unexcused absence may count against your final grade. Any student who has more than three (3) unexcused absences will receive an “F” as the final grade in the course. Absences due to sickness, religious observances, and family emergencies may be excusable at the discretion of the Center Director. In the case of an excused absence, it is the student’s responsibility to inform the Academic Officer of the absence with an Official Excused Absence Form, as well as any other relevant documentation (e.g. a doctor’s note), and to keep a record thereof. This form must be turned in as soon as possible before the class, in the case of a planned absence, or immediately after the class, in the case of an unplanned absence, in order for the absence to be considered excused. It is also the student’s responsibility to inform the professor of the missed class.
Students can download the Official Excused Absence Form on Moodle. QUIZZES MISSED DURING UNEXCUSED ABSENCES CANNOT BE MADE UP!
Learning outcomes:
Students who are placed in this level should have achieved the outcomes in the Emerging Competent 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 Competent 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 express their own ideas, perspectives, and arguments thoroughly and yet tactfully, using language proficiency, sociolinguistic skills, and cultural knowledge.
B. Students will be able to perform any activity (social, academic, professional) a local student of their age, skills, and background would do with a considerable degree of success.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to recognize and appreciate the beauty and richness of language when they hear it.
B. Students will be able to understand nearly all speakers on a wide range of complex topics, including their digressions, side comments, and humor.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to talk about abstract ideas and concepts, engage in agreement or disagreement, and defend their opinions with supporting evidence.
B. Students will be able to use the language for a wide range of presentational and creative purposes.
C. Students will be able to use an extensive variety of colloquial expressions and humor effectively.
D. Students will be capable of varying their language to make subtle and complex distinctions (e.g. formality and informality) with a wide array of native speakers.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to read and understand a broad range of academic resources and popular texts from the local community (print or online).
B. Students will be able to understand the main ideas and supporting details when reading many works of literature and nonfiction with some assistance at times.
C. Students will be able to recognize and appreciate the beauty and richness of the written word.
V. Writing
A. Students will be able to write academic texts that describe, relate, report, compare and contrast, analyze, and summarize with a high degree of precision and accuracy on a wide range of topics.
B. Students will be able to distinguish between the written style and the spoken style, and will be able to use the written style effectively with little assistance.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, discussions, group work, private study, field studies, oral presentation
Required work and form of assessment:
Quiz 1 10%
Quiz 2 10%
Participation, homework & Berlin project 30%
Class project (including oral presentation & 3 written assignments) 30%
Final exam 20%
content:
Week
Content
Assignments
Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)
Week 1
(intensive)
1.Functional:
· Introducing yourself
· Talking about personal identity
2.Grammatical:
· Local prepositions
3.Vocabulary:
Getting to know each other
“Typically Freiburg”
4.Culture:
· Shopping in Freiburg
· „Decoding Freiburg”
· Information about Freiburg
· Berlin: now and then
Interviewing class mates in order to get to know each other
Asking about motivation for learning German
Field study: shopping in Freiburg
Field study: More about Freiburg
Field study: Berlin Project “Jewish Museum”
I.A., I.D.,
II.B., III.A., III.B.
Week 2
Field Trip Berlin-Prague
Field study: Berlin Project “Jewish Museum”
Week 3
1.Functional:
Talking about the Field trip
Stating an opinion
2.Grammatical:
Verb valency
3.Vocabulary:
Verbs with Dative
4.Culture:
Feedback Berlin Project
Class Project Freiburg
Group presentation Field Trip
Discussion: Berlin Project
Reading: Freiburg
Class Project
I.A., I.C., I.D.,
III.B., IV.B.
Week 4
1.Functional:
Giving advices
Making a suggestion
2.Grammatical:
Subjunctive II
3.Vocabulary:
“Money and ethics”
4.Culture:
Class Project Freiburg
Role-play ”Ratschläge geben”
Interview: money and ethics
Class Project
I.B., I.C.,
II.B., III.A., III.B.,V.A.
Week 5
1.Functional:
Review for quiz
Reported speech
2.Grammatical:
Review for quiz
Subjunctive I
3.Vocabulary:
Review for quiz
4.Culture:
Class Project Freiburg
Review for quiz
Quiz 1
Class Project
I.A.,III.D.,V.B.
Week 6
Field Trip Institutions Paris-Brussels
Week 7
1.Functional:
Comparing
2.Grammatical:
Feedback Quiz 1
Comparison
3.Vocabulary:
Feedback Quiz 1
Being a college/university student
4.Culture:
Class Project Freiburg
Studying in Germany and the USA
Feedback Quiz 1
Interviewing German and American class/flat mates
Reading: “Studium in Deutschland”
Class Project
I.A., I.B., I.C.,
III.B., IV.B., IV.C., V.A.
Week 8
1.Functional:
Expressing pros and cons
2.Grammatical:
Relative clauses
3.Vocabulary:
Job and profession
4.Culture:
Job and profession in Germany and the U.S.
Discussion: Working Conditions in Germany and the U.S.
I.B., I.C.,
III.B., III.C.,
V.A., V.B.
Week 9
1.Functional:
Review for quiz
2.Grammatical:
Review for quiz
Passive voice
3.Vocabulary:
Review for quiz
4.Culture:
Class project Freiburg
Review for Quiz
Quiz 2
Class Project
I.B.,
III.B.,
V.A., V.B.
Week 10
1.Functional:
Common phrases (Redewendungen)
2.Grammatical:
Feedback Quiz 2
Conjunctions
3.Vocabulary:
Common phrases
Feedback Quiz 2
4.Culture:
Dialect and common phrases
Class Project Freiburg
Feedback Quiz 2
Listening Comprehension on Moodle
Class Project Presentation
I.B., I.C.,
II.A.,
III.D.
Week 11
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
Declination of adjectives
3.Vocabulary:
Ecology
4.Culture:
Green City Freiburg
Reading: “Abenteuerspielplatz für Erwachsene”
I.B., I.C.,
III.B., III.C.,
IV.B.
Week 12
Field Trip member states
Week 13
1.Functional:
Discussing and distinguishing
2.Grammatical:
Time expressions
3.Vocabulary:
Character qualities
4.Culture:
“Typically” German?
German Movie “Almanya”
Discussion: Cultural differences/
stereotypes
Reading: “Typisch Deutsch”
Interviewing flat mates
I.A., I.C.,
II.B., III.B., III.D., IV.B.
Week 14
1.Functional:
· review for final exam
2.Grammatical:
· review for final exam
3.Vocabulary:
· review for final exam
4.Culture:
t.b.a.
Review for final exam
Week 15
Final exam
Required readings:
Handouts for German 451 – Mirjam Wenk
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Mirjam Wenk earned her degree in Social Pedagogy at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg. She has completed a Teacher Training Course at the International House Freiburg to teach German as a Foreign Language. She has taught German as a Foreign Language since 2003, at several language schools in Freiburg, in Thessaloniki (Greece), at International House Freiburg and for AYF (Acadamic Year Freiburg). She is currently a teacher trainer and a language instructor at IES Abroad Freiburg, and she coaches people with a migration backround in Freiburg at a program of the European Social Fund for Germany.
Students who enter this course will already be capable of achieving the outcomes of the Emerging Competent Abroad level as defined by the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. Students who take this level should already be familiar with most of the complex structures and linguistic functions that will be covered. They should not be surprised, however, to find that they will need to review these aspects of the language to develop greater fluency and more sensitivity to subtle and underlying linguistic and cultural meanings.
Students entering this level can succeed in a wide range of university courses designed for native speakers, provided they have met any prerequisites. Before registering, they should consult with the appropriate IES Abroad academic advisor on course selection.
By the end of this course, students will be fully able to meet the demands of living and working in the host culture. They will be able to communicate accurately, vividly, and expressively with their hosts on most topics. Students who succeed in this course will be able to function in a professional setting and to undertake further personal or professional projects in the host culture. Students will be able to understand local cultural attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior patterns well enough to make informed choices about which cultural features they would like to adopt or need to adopt in order to live harmoniously in the local culture.
Proficiency at a level equivalent to IES Abroad’s Emerging Competent Abroad, as determined by placement test.
All IES courses require attendance and participation. Attendance is mandatory per IES policy. Any unexcused absence may count against your final grade. Any student who has more than three (3) unexcused absences will receive an “F” as the final grade in the course. Absences due to sickness, religious observances, and family emergencies may be excusable at the discretion of the Center Director. In the case of an excused absence, it is the student’s responsibility to inform the Academic Officer of the absence with an Official Excused Absence Form, as well as any other relevant documentation (e.g. a doctor’s note), and to keep a record thereof. This form must be turned in as soon as possible before the class, in the case of a planned absence, or immediately after the class, in the case of an unplanned absence, in order for the absence to be considered excused. It is also the student’s responsibility to inform the professor of the missed class.
Students can download the Official Excused Absence Form on Moodle. QUIZZES MISSED DURING UNEXCUSED ABSENCES CANNOT BE MADE UP!
Students who are placed in this level should have achieved the outcomes in the Emerging Competent 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 Competent 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 express their own ideas, perspectives, and arguments thoroughly and yet tactfully, using language proficiency, sociolinguistic skills, and cultural knowledge.
B. Students will be able to perform any activity (social, academic, professional) a local student of their age, skills, and background would do with a considerable degree of success.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to recognize and appreciate the beauty and richness of language when they hear it.
B. Students will be able to understand nearly all speakers on a wide range of complex topics, including their digressions, side comments, and humor.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to talk about abstract ideas and concepts, engage in agreement or disagreement, and defend their opinions with supporting evidence.
B. Students will be able to use the language for a wide range of presentational and creative purposes.
C. Students will be able to use an extensive variety of colloquial expressions and humor effectively.
D. Students will be capable of varying their language to make subtle and complex distinctions (e.g. formality and informality) with a wide array of native speakers.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to read and understand a broad range of academic resources and popular texts from the local community (print or online).
B. Students will be able to understand the main ideas and supporting details when reading many works of literature and nonfiction with some assistance at times.
C. Students will be able to recognize and appreciate the beauty and richness of the written word.
V. Writing
A. Students will be able to write academic texts that describe, relate, report, compare and contrast, analyze, and summarize with a high degree of precision and accuracy on a wide range of topics.
B. Students will be able to distinguish between the written style and the spoken style, and will be able to use the written style effectively with little assistance.
Lectures, discussions, group work, private study, field studies, oral presentation
Quiz 1 10%
Quiz 2 10%
Participation, homework & Berlin project 30%
Class project (including oral presentation & 3 written assignments) 30%
Final exam 20%
Week
Content
Assignments
Corresponding Learning Outcome(s)
Week 1
(intensive)
1.Functional:
· Introducing yourself
· Talking about personal identity
2.Grammatical:
· Local prepositions
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
· Shopping in Freiburg
· „Decoding Freiburg”
· Information about Freiburg
· Berlin: now and then
Interviewing class mates in order to get to know each other
Asking about motivation for learning German
Field study: shopping in Freiburg
Field study: More about Freiburg
Field study: Berlin Project “Jewish Museum”
I.A., I.D.,
II.B., III.A., III.B.
Week 2
Field Trip Berlin-Prague
Field study: Berlin Project “Jewish Museum”
Week 3
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Group presentation Field Trip
Discussion: Berlin Project
Reading: Freiburg
Class Project
I.A., I.C., I.D.,
III.B., IV.B.
Week 4
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Role-play ”Ratschläge geben”
Interview: money and ethics
Class Project
I.B., I.C.,
II.B., III.A., III.B.,V.A.
Week 5
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Review for quiz
Quiz 1
Class Project
I.A.,III.D.,V.B.
Week 6
Field Trip Institutions Paris-Brussels
Week 7
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Feedback Quiz 1
Interviewing German and American class/flat mates
Reading: “Studium in Deutschland”
Class Project
I.A., I.B., I.C.,
III.B., IV.B., IV.C., V.A.
Week 8
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Discussion: Working Conditions in Germany and the U.S.
I.B., I.C.,
III.B., III.C.,
V.A., V.B.
Week 9
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Review for Quiz
Quiz 2
Class Project
I.B.,
III.B.,
V.A., V.B.
Week 10
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Feedback Quiz 2
Listening Comprehension on Moodle
Class Project Presentation
I.B., I.C.,
II.A.,
III.D.
Week 11
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Reading: “Abenteuerspielplatz für Erwachsene”
I.B., I.C.,
III.B., III.C.,
IV.B.
Week 12
Field Trip member states
Week 13
1.Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4.Culture:
Discussion: Cultural differences/
stereotypes
Reading: “Typisch Deutsch”
Interviewing flat mates
I.A., I.C.,
II.B., III.B., III.D., IV.B.
Week 14
1.Functional:
· review for final exam
2.Grammatical:
· review for final exam
3.Vocabulary:
· review for final exam
4.Culture:
Review for final exam
Week 15
Final exam
Handouts for German 451 – Mirjam Wenk
Mirjam Wenk earned her degree in Social Pedagogy at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Freiburg. She has completed a Teacher Training Course at the International House Freiburg to teach German as a Foreign Language. She has taught German as a Foreign Language since 2003, at several language schools in Freiburg, in Thessaloniki (Greece), at International House Freiburg and for AYF (Acadamic Year Freiburg). She is currently a teacher trainer and a language instructor at IES Abroad Freiburg, and she coaches people with a migration backround in Freiburg at a program of the European Social Fund for Germany.