69462 - German Language and Culture III (First Language)

Learning outcomes

The student - is able to understand and produce a wide range of written texts and complex oral discourse in German, expressing himself/herself fluently and spontaneously

Course contents

It will be a journey through the centuries of German culture, with the constant comparison between past and present, capturing significant moments when German language and culture made evolutionary (or regressive) leaps. Knowing these crucial moments, recognizing their importance for the development of culture, knowing the circumstances that influenced these significant moments and seeing the multiple expressions in the present will be the purpose of this course.

The fields (of choice) to be explored and deepened will be history, politics, art, theater, music, poetry, writing, architecture, medicine, etc. - at the choice and care of the students following their interest.

The work will be done in groups, consisting of research, discussion among themselves on which fields to focus on, working out the content, providing a glossary to others, formulating and presentation in German, explaining why their choices were made and highlighting the evolutionary significance and impact for modern German culture.

By the end of the course, each group presents its project, in the form of a digital book or PowerPoint presentation, in which it compares the old and the new-for example, a poem of Hermann Hesse to the poem of a Poetry Slam, the language of the medieval to Kietzdeutsch, a 70ies song to a modern Rap, an era of painting to modern Street Art works (comparing artists by also elaborating their curriculum), the Kaiserreich to modern Europe, the introduction of compulsory education and today's school system, women's right to vote and today's Genderdiscussion. ..

Readings/Bibliography

Individual research materials

Teaching methods

The didactics of the course will mainly use group work (research and presentation) alternating with lectures on more specific topics.


The teaching and learning process is dynamic and requires the active participation of the student.


Attendance is mandatory at 70%.

Assessment methods

In-progress verifications (without grade): Preparation of presentations and written texts, with individual correction and evaluation.


End-of-module oral test: On the basis of one text written by the student, of a total of 1000-1200 words, to be handed in before Christmas by e-mail to the lecturer, an interview is held in German on the materials used and prepared both during the course and for the writing of the written texts, with verification of comprehension and ability to explain.

The evaluation criteria are:

- knowledge, organization and personal reworking of the content;
- morphosyntactic correctness;
- lexical property and variety;
- communicative effectiveness;
- clarity and correctness of pronunciation.

Evaluation of student-produced papers will also be based on the following criteria:

- quality, complexity and accuracy of the activities performed
  (work preliminary, consultation of online and offline resources,
  steps of revision) in order to produce the papers, with relevant
  documentation.

Teaching tools

Computer/Internet/Whiteboard

Office hours

See the website of Monika Hengge