Practical language learning in the region/Word in culture - German B1 3224-SWKNB1
German communication workshops on the B1 level are aimed at
activating the skills of linguistic expression and communication in foreign
language as well as to enrich German vocabulary. The course is proposed
in the form of conversation/discussion on different topics offered for
students, pertaining the everyday life (including colloquial speech and
other styles not considered by textbooks), cultural events and
communication in future jobs according to the profile of a graduate.
The thematic scope of the course comprises new lexis connected with
communicative situations as well as cultural events/selected cultural
elements of the countries from the relevant language area (cultural events,
peculiarities).
1. Let's get to know each other: me and others, what unites us and
what divides us
2. At university in Germany (arrival, formalities)
3. At university in Germany (making friends and looking for a flat)
4. Together or separately: the advantages of living alone and with
others, solving conflicts
5. Interpersonal relations in the past and today. Internet relations:
chance or threat
6. How to ask for help, express your opinion, give arguments:
dialogue practice
7. Let's talk about desires, dreams, wishes: Practical mode
8. Travel report, events: Repetition of past tense
9. Economic emigration: Pro and contra
10. Are we immune to stress? Slow life as an alternative
11. Sharing economy - does it work?
12. Offers from the catalog: Let's plan a trip around Germany
13. Offers from the catalog: Let's plan a trip around Austria
14. Another country, other people, different mentality: How to deal
with it?
15. Cultural differences: cont.
16. Around culture: What we read and why. Books in paper or
electronic form
17. Meeting with German literature (e.g. H. Heine, Loreley)
18. Around culture: Going to the museum, to an exhibition / art in
urban space
19. Around culture: Meeting with a German film
20. How to express a taste, disapproval, opinion (oral judgments and
reviews)
21. Around culture: Germany - a country of poets and thinkers?
22. Meeting with a German song
23. About German in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
24. Proverbs, German idioms
25. Everyday culture: With ecology for your brother
26. Labor market and cultural studies: opportunities, job offers,
concerns and hopes
27. How to prepare for a job interview and effectively do it
28. Writing a cover letter
29. Work: what motivates us, how to shape relationships
30. How to avoid a blunder: Still about interculturality
There are also other topics related to students' interests / proposed by
students.
Course is conducted through discussing different topics based on priorly
given texts or handouts delivered by the lecturer, working in groups and
pairs, individual work (substantially supported by the lecturer).
Training of different language skills will be conducted as follows:
Speaking: individual monologic utterances related to the topics which
were discussed during the semester, dialogs, role-playing-games.
Listening: different types of texts (dialog, monolog w various
communicational situations) and tasks adjusted to the level.
The use of a language: vocabulary and grammar exercises indicating the
degree of proficiency in the course content.
Writing: an opinion in the written form related to the topics which were
discussed during the semester.
Student workload includes:
Classroom participation – 30 hours (1 ECTS)
Preparing for classes – 30 hours (1 ECTS)
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
A student is practicing without having to fear his/her speech
communication on the intermediate/advanced level:
On completing the course, the student:
KNOWLEDGE:
- makes use of knowledge of culture of a given lingusitic region;
acquired during the course;
- a graduate knows and understands at an intermediate/advanced
level the sophisticated nature of a language;
- one has sufficient vocabulary at an intermediate/advanced level
(with particular focus on the vocabulary included in Full
description);
- one has knowledge at intermediate/advanced level about the
description of a language system;
- one knows selected issues (See: Full description).
SKILLS
- one can communicate in simple and routine tacks within the topics
listed in Full description;
- one can recognise familar words and messages in selected, simple
materials of different types as well as in verbal comunication;
- one understands and paraphrases information contained in
selected, simple materials of every life (See: Full description),
sums up and draws conclusions;
- writes conventional personal and formal letters, such as emails,
invitations, CV, application letters;
- narrates past, present and planned events relating to his/her own
life (with particular focus on the vocabulary and topics included in
Full description), both orally and in writing, using basic
vocabulary;
- one presents information in oral and written form using certain
language constructions.
COMPETENCES:
- one is able to collaborate in pair as well as in a group of people;
- one knows learning strategies and understands the need for
lifelong learning;
- one knows basic social norms and their relevant verbal and
nonverbal reactions which are obligatory in the definite cultural
and linguistic area;
- one detects cultural differences and demonstrates the tolerance for
users of other languages.
With regard to the specialised learning outcomes upon completion of
the student:
1) knows and understands to an intermediate level the complex
nature of the German language including the
cultural context of Germany and Austria (K1_W09, K2_W09, reference
P6S_WG Scope and depth, P6S_WK Context/conditions,
effects, reference P7S_WG Scope and depth, P7S_WK
Context/conditions, effects);
2) is able to use German at B1 level
according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
(K1_U09, K2_U09, reference to P6S_UK Communicating /
receiving and creating statements, spreading knowledge in
scientific community and using a foreign language,
reference to P7S_UK Communicating / receiving and
creating statements, spreading knowledge in
scientific community and using a foreign language);
3) is able to apply modern communication and
information technologies in his/her work (K2_U11, reference P6S_UU
Learning / planning own development and development of others
).
Assessment criteria
I. The organization of classes:
According to The detailed rules of studies at the Faculty of Applied
Linguistics (The Resolution No. 114 by the Faculty of Applied
Linguistics Board of 19 December, 2017):
1) Attendance at all classes, covered by the plan, shall be compulsory (§
9 (2).
2) It is not possible to have a resit if the reason of failing the credit was
noncompliance with the requirement to participate in them. In such a
case a student can be conditionally registered in an successive stage of
study and can repeat the failed course.
According to the University Foreign Language Teaching System (the
Resolution No. 119 from 17 June, 2009).
3) In case of 30 hours in semester, 2 absences without justifying are
acceptable. Missed classes must be made up in accordance with the
requirements of the lecturer. The requirements are provided by the
lecturer during the first class.
II. Assessment criteria:
The final mark comprises the following elements:
Substantive participation in the class (40%)
Presentation of the topic fixed by the lecturer (60%)
It must be taken into account that in order to complete the course
successfully a student needs to demonstrate achievements in every the
above mentioned categories (a student who receives the 0% in one of
the categories, won't complete the course, which means that he/she did
not demonstrate any activity in none of them).
The unsatisfactory grade can be awarded as a result of unsatisfactory
learning achievements based on partial grades
Grading system:
99 – 100% - 5 (excellent)
93 - 98% - 5 (very good)
87 - 92% - 4,5 (fairly good)
77 - 86% - 4 (good)
71 - 76% - 3,5 (satisfactory plus)
60 - 70% - 3 (satisfactory)
Additionally, the workshop lecturer introduces the detailed principles and
criteria of credit during the first class.
Bibliography
1. Grammatik und Konversation.
Arbeitsblätter für den Deutschunterricht,
Klett, 2014
2. Grammatik aktiv, Cornelsen, 2018
3. Sicher im Alltag und Beruf, Hueber, 2019
4. Wechselspiele, Langenscheidt, 2001
5. Deutsch üben. Hören und Sprechen B1,
Hueber 2013.
6. https://www.dw.com/de/deutsch-lernen/s-
2055
and others.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: