30976 - German Language and Linguistics 1 (B)

Course contents

Formal classes

The course aims to introduce students to the study of the German language, focusing on:

1) Sociolinguistic aspects
2) morphosyntactic aspects.

1) From a sociolinguistic perspective, the following topics will be addressed:
- German in the world: dissemination and legal status of the language
- German as a pluricentric language
- The concept of variety and language variant
- The national varieties of German
- German in contact with other languages


The reference bibliography for this part is indicated under Bibliography - point 1).

From a linguistic perspective, the focus will be on the morphosyntactic characteristics of German, addressing the following themes:
- Inflection
- Wortarten / discourse parts (especially verbs, nouns and adjectives)
- Word formation

These issues will be addressed on the basis of texts that will be analyzed in the classroom. The aim is to initiate a conscious reflection on the structural characteristics of German in comparative key with Italian and facilitate the reading and understanding of written texts.

The reference bibliography for this part is indicated under Bibliography - point 2).

Language learning course

The part language course aims to develop the student's linguistic pragmatic, and sociolinguistic competence in German. All German language courses are based on the theoretical and methodological principles described by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR). At the end of the first year, students should have reached A2-level:

Oral production: Can give a simple description or presentation of people, living or working conditions, daily routines, likes/dislikes, etc. as a short series of simple phrases and sentences linked into a list.

Written production: Can write a series of simple phrases and sentences linked with simple connectors like ‘and', ‘but' and ‘because'.

Listening comprehension: Can understand enough to be able to meet needs of a concrete type provided speech is clearly and slowly articulated.

Reading comprehension: Can understand short, simple texts on familiar matters of a concrete type which consist of high frequency everyday or job-related language.

Readings/Bibliography

Main course

The slides are available on "Insegnamenti OnLine" (iol.unibo.it).

1)

Nied Curcio, Martina (2016): La lingua tedesca. Aspetti linguistici tra contrastività e interculturalità. Roma: UniversItalia:

chapter 6: "Il tedesco in contatto con le altre lingue”, p. 223-285

• The chapter is available on "Insegnamenti OnLine" (iol.unibo.it).

Thüne, Eva-Maria/Elter, Irmgard/ Leonardi, Simona (2005): Le lingue tedesche. Per una descrizione sociolinguistica, Bari, Graphis

chapter 1: “Il tedesco nel mondo”, p. 3-47

chapter 2: “Le varietà nazionali”; p. 47-83

• The book is available in the library of the Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne (Via Cartolerie, 5).

2)

Schüler-Duden (1998): Grammatik. Eine Sprachlehre mit Übungen und Lösungen. 4. aktualisierte und erw. Auflage. Hg. von der Dudenredaktion. Bearbeitet von P. Gallmann und H. Sitta. Mannheim et al., Dudenverlag.

Chapters: Laute und Buchstaben; Wort und Formenlehre; Das Verb; Das Nomen; Das Adjektiv; Die Wortbildung.

 

• The book is available in the library of the Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne (Via Cartolerie, 5).

 

Language learning course (esercitazioni linguistiche):

classes A and B:

Begegnungen A1+ Schubert-Verlag (disponibile presso la Feltrinelli di Piazza Ravegnana).

classes C and D: The bibliographic references will be comunicated at the beginning of the course.

class E:

Aspekte Neu B1 Plus (Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch)

In addition, two handouts will be available for preparation for oral and written tests:

1) "Lingua e Linguistica Tedesca 1 / Esercitazioni - Vorbereitungsmaterialien für die schriftliche Prüfung".

2) "Lingua e Linguistica Tedesca 1 -/ Esercitazioni, esame orale - Informationen zur Prüfung und Materialien".

The handouts will be available at the copyshop "Ecrire" (Via Cartolerie, 18).

Teaching methods

Main course formal lessons, group work, exercises

Language learning course (esercitazioni linguistiche): Lessons are interactive requiring the students' direct participation. We have different learning groups each of which corresponds to a different initial level of learner competences. For this reason we ask all students to enter their names on one of the placement lists. Students with previous knowledge of German can provide one of the acknowledged certificates or have to take the placement test.

Further information will be published on the website of the School (http://www.scuolalingue.unibo.it/it).

Assessment methods

Main course 

The final exam is written (70 min). Starting from a short text, students have to identify, denominate and/or explain the notions and categories introduced in the course. Assessment criteria: completeness and accuracy of contents. Dictionaries are not allowed.

Language learning course (esercitazioni linguistiche)

Final exams are written and oral. Students must pass the written part before taking the oral exam.

The written exam comprises three parts. The first part (30 min) will assess vocabulary range and control as well as grammatical accuracy (multiple choice test). The second part (45 min) will assess the level of comprehension of written texts through a choice of short texts (blogs, e-mails, short newspaper articles, advertisements, instructions, etc.) and related exercises (multiple choice, right-wrong, etc.). The third and final part (30 min) will assess the level of written production. Students will be required to produce a written text (formal/informal letter or similar) along given key issues. Assessment criteria are lexical and grammatical competence, textual coherence and pragmatic competence.

In order to pass the written exam, students have to pass each part with a minimum of 60% (18/30).

During the oral exam the students have to discuss topics presented in the language learning course.

Assessment criteria are phonetic, lexical and grammatical competence as well as fluency and the ability to use strategies in order to overcome communication problems. The topics chosen for the oral and written exams are relevant to the study of the German language and the culture of the German speaking countries/communities. The assessment of correctness, range and control is relative to the level required for the first year.

Exams are the same for attenders and non-attenders.

The final mark of the course “Lingua e Linguistica Tedesca 1” will be the average mark between the lezioni frontali exam's result and the esercitazione mark.

 

Teaching tools

 power point presentations, exercises

"Insegnamenti OnLine": iol.unibo.it

Links to further information

http://www.unibo.it/SitoWebDocente/default.htm?upn=barbara.ivancic%40unibo.it&TabControl1=TabContatti

Office hours

See the website of Barbara Ivancic