Participation

Preparation prior to class leads to informed and active participation in class (campus students) and participation in online tasks (external students); short class presentation and dialogue exercises (C1 Sprechen).

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Listening skills: Students will work towards understanding extended speech and follow even complex lines of argument even if the topic is not entirely familiar; to understand general spoken language at normal speech rate even if the accent is unfamiliar; to extract specific information and follow the significant points in an oral utterance; to understand relatively long radio talks and interviews; to understand the majority of films in standard dialect.
• Reading skills: Students will work towards understanding a wide range of written texts, including longer, more complex factual texts, commentaries and reports; clearly identifying and extracting information from a wide range of sources, including statistical information. Students will have developed strategies to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context; to understand frequently used set expressions.
• Speaking skills: Students will be able to express themselves spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions; use language flexibly and effectively for social purposes; produce an oral presentation in order to present argument for or against something; negotiate decision-making processes taken from an everyday life-context with a partner. They will be working towards expressing themselves spontaneously and fluently when stating their own opinions on increasingly complex subjects; formulating their thoughts and views precisely and making detailed contributions to a discussion.
• Writing skills: Students will be able to write a clear, well-structured text, interpreting or expressing points of view at some length; write about increasingly complex subjects; write in a style appropriate to the reader in mind; express and justify opinions and give arguments supporting their point of view; explain and compare ideas presented to them in a text which presents familiar content to them; use appropriate devices to ensure the smooth flow of a piece of writing most of the time; produce a text with few grammatical mistakes that would substantially interfere with the reader’s understanding. Students will be working towards expressing themselves clearly and logically in essays on complex issues, choosing the right kind of expression to appeal to the reader.

Assignments

Assignments work towards the C1.

They provide you with opportunities to develop:

• Reading skills: Students will work towards understanding a wide range of written texts, including longer, more complex factual texts, commentaries and reports; clearly identifying and extracting information from a wide range of sources, including statistical information. Students will have developed strategies to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context; to understand frequently used set expressions.
• Writing skills: Students will be able to write a clear, well-structured text, interpreting or expressing points of view at some length; write about increasingly complex subjects; write in a style appropriate to the reader in mind; express and justify opinions and give arguments supporting their point of view; explain and compare ideas presented to them in a text which presents familiar content to them; use appropriate devices to ensure the smooth flow of a piece of writing most of the time; produce a text with few grammatical mistakes that would substantially interfere with the reader’s understanding. Students will be working towards expressing themselves clearly and logically in essays on complex issues, choosing the right kind of expression to appeal to the reader.

Tests

The Tests are timed tasks and provide opportunities to apply newly acquired vocabulary, grammatical structures, including across a range of formats (e.g. written and audio). They largely align with the progression of language acquisition facilitated by the textbook.

Reflective Task

This task is designed for students to be able to express and share their personal linguistic development as well as their transferable skills as part of a course-based portfolio. This document has several components in both English and the target language. It contains a record of formal and informal language learning experiences, reflective passages on intercultural encounters that have influenced the student's studies. You will also include a guided self-assessment of your current language abilities and formulate your goals for further language learning.

Final Test Online

Students will take a final test online in Week 13. This is a revision test that  is based on the content and the skills developed during the semester. This examination is compulsory. All students enrolled in this unit are required to sit for this test in Week 13 at the time designated in iLearn.

On-time submission of assessment tasks

The assessments tasks are compulsory in this unit. Each assessment task has a due date and students are expected to submit their work on time. Further details are specified on iLearn.

Late Assessment Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

Classes

For current updates, lecture times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetables website: https://timetables.mq.edu.au/

'Internal students' (Enrolment mode special circumstance)

Students attend 2 x 2 hour synchronous tutorials per week: 4 hours of tutorials. There are no lectures in this unit. Please go to eStudent to register in one of the classes on offer.

'External students' (Enroment mode fully online / virtual)

External students do not need to register in any particular classes. All classes are recorded and made available afterwards in iLearn. 

Required and recommended texts (we continue working with the textbook from German Studies 5):

• Perlmann-Balme et al (2008): em neu Abschlusskurs. Kursbuch neu (Deutsch als Fremdsprache - Niveaustufe C)1.  Ismaning: Max Hueber Verlag. (ISBN 978-3-19-501697-1)
• Orth-Chambah, J. et al.(2008):  em Abschlusskurs. Arbeitsbuch neu (Deutsch als Fremdsprache Niveaustufe C1) Ismaning: Max Hueber Verlag. (ISBN 978-3-19-511697-8)

• Dreyer, H. &  R. Schmitt: Lehr- und Übungsbuch der Deutschen Grammatik - Neubearbeitung: 'Die neue Gelbe'. (Taschenbuch), Ismaning: Verlag für Deutsch – latest edition

Recommended texts

• Terrell, P. et al, Collins German-English, English-German (Großwörterbuch Deutsch-Englisch, Englisch-Deutsch)

• Götz, D., Haensch, G. & H. Wellmann, Langenscheidts Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Berlin/München: Latest edition.

There are copies of each available at Macquarie University Library.

Recommended online dictionary

• http://dict.leo.org
• http://www.dict.cc

Technology used and required

GRMN German Studies 6 has an iLearn site - accessible to both the campus students and the external students: Login is via: https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/ Is my unit in iLearn?: http://help.ilearn.mq.edu.au/unitsonline/ to check when your online unit will become available.

Technology

Students are required to have regular access to a computer and the internet. Mobile devices alone are not sufficient. For students attending classes on campus we strongly encourage that you bring along your own laptop computer, ready to work with activities in your online unit. The preferred operating system is Windows 10.

Please contact your unit convenor before the end of Week 1 if you do not have a suitable laptop (or tablet) for in-class use.

• For central technical support go to:  http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/
• For student quick guides on the use of iLearn go to:  https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/tools-and-resources/ilearn/ilearn-quick-guides-for-students

Students will systematically work through Modules (Lektionen) 6-10 of the textbook. There is also a focus on materials to train and prepare students for the external C1 examination in accordance with the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference of Languages). This C1 exam is an additional qualitfication and is offered as an option to the students in this unit at the end of semester. It is conducted by the Goethe Institute.

Here is a general overview of the semester - a detailed semester schedule including the program for each class, the assessment tasks and due dates as well as the C1 training materials is made available in iLearn.