31187 - German Language and Linguistics 2 (B)

Learning outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be versed in metalanguage; in particular they will have acquired some knowledge of several aspects of one of the analytical and descriptive models of the German language. Their knowledge of the language will be at the level B1 in all four skills.

Course contents

Erasmus students intending to attend the course are requested to contact Prof. Rieger (marie.rieger@unibo.it).

 

This course includes the following parts:

1. Lezioni frontali: lectures in linguistics taught by the course professor. This component is made up of a total of 30 hours (6 hours per week) held within the first semester.
2. Esercitazioni di lingua: German language course with native German speaking teachers held during the first and the second semester (4 hours per week). For further information reguarding the 2nd-year language course, please, contact Christiane von Stumpfeldt (christiane.vonstumpfeldt@unibo.it).

 

PLEASE NOTE:

The 9 ECTS credits for German Language and Linguistics 2 are indivisible and will only be awarded once all the required assessments for both lectures and language courses have been passed (see also below).

All students must complete all partial assessments, regardless of their level of proficiency, even if this has been certified by external qualifications. Only those whose mother tongue is German or who hold a school-leaving certificate issued by a German-speaking institution are exempt from the seminar assessments.

 

Lezioni frontali

The course is held two times: the course (A) is held in German in the first part of the first semester and is aimed at students with a good pre-knowledge enabling them to follow and participate actively in German; the course (B) is held in Italian in the second part of the first semester and is aimed at those students who had been absolute beginners in the first year.

Students are free to choose which of the two courses to take. The markings A and B for the leszioni frontali do NOT coincide with the markings for the language class groups (esercitazioni).

The aim of the "lezioni-frontali-part" is to provide an in-depth insight into the rules of German syntax. In a nutshell, one can say that syntax deals with the organisation of the sentence. Especially with regard to the internal structure of complex sentence constituents and the order of sentence constituents, the German and Italian languages differ significantly from each other. This also has an impact, for example, on the possibilities that each of the two systems provides for emphasising certain sentence constituents. Particularly suitable for explaining the rules of German syntax in a simple and coherent way is the theory of Dependenzielle Verbgrammatik (DVG), i.e. Grammar of Verbal Dependency. The DVG is in turn based on the so-called Valency Theory. In the course you will learn the basic features of these theories so that you can better understand and apply the rules of German syntax.

As a basis, the course uses the electronically available volume "Die Struktur des deutschen Satzes. Eine Einführung in die Dependenzielle Verbgrammatik für Studierende mit Ausgangssprache Italienisch. Teil I: Der einfache Satz" " (see bibliography: Rieger 2008). During the lessons we will work through the rules together using examples and you will also be provided with a series of exercises (on Virtuale). At the end of each thematic unit, the corresponding PP presentation will also be uploaded on virtuale.

 

Language course (esercitazioni di lingua)

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 second year, students should have reached at least B1-level:

Oral production (speaking): S/he can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward description of one of a variety of subjects within his/her field of interest, presenting it as a linear sequence of points.

Aural reception (listening): S/he can understand straightforward factual information about common everyday or job related topics, identifying both general messages and specific details, provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally familiar accent.

Written production (writing): S/he can write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within his field of interest, by linking a series of shorter discrete elements into a linear sequence.

Visual reception (reading): S/he can read straightforward factual texts on subjects related to his/her field and interest with a satisfactory level of comprehension.

 

Division of language classes:

The language classes (esercitazioni) take into account the students’ varying levels of proficiency at the start of the academic year. For the second year, there will be three groups:

Group A: students who took the courses for absolute beginners last year. The course is taught by Sandro De Martino.

Group B: for students who took courses C and D last year (De Martino). The course is taught by Christiane von Stumpfeldt.

Group C: for advanced-level students with external qualifications (at the time of first year enrolment) who took the Group E course last year (Kurzeder). The course is taught by Enrico Mina.

Readings/Bibliography

Lezioni frontali

Course and exam are based on [download:  https://virtuale.unibo.it]:

Rieger, Marie A. (2008): Die Struktur des deutschen Satzes. Eine Einführung in die dependenzielle Verbgrammatik für Studierende mit Ausgangssprache Italienisch. Teil I: Der einfache Satz. Bologna: Biblioteca Digitale dell'Università di Bologna.

Powerpoint presentations are used during lessons. Together with exercises, they will be available at the end of every thematic unit. [download: https://virtuale.unibo.it]

 

Basic references for further reading for interested students are: 

Bianco, M.T. (1996): Valenzlexikon Deutsch-Italienisch. Dizionario della valenza verbale, Heidelberg: Julius Groos. [Testo bilingue: Sala consultazione della Biblioteca del Dip. LLSM]

Lo Duca, M.G. (2007): “Il modello valenziale in L1 [= in italiano]”, in: C. Siviero (a cura di): Lingue e verbi a confronto. Fare grammatica in L1, L2, L3, Azzano San Paolo (edizioni junior), 45-49.

Rieger, M. (2007): “Il modello valenziale in L2 [= in tedesco]” in: C. Siviero (a cura di) : Lingue e verbi a confronto. Fare grammatica in L1, L2, L3, Azzano San Paolo (edizioni junior), 49-54.

Rieger, M. (2012): “Valenz und Wortstellung”, in: Fischer, Klaus/Mollica, Fabio (Hgg.) (2012): Valenz, Konstruktion und Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Frankfurt a.M. et al. (Peter Lang), 207-234.

Rieger, M. (2012): “Valenz und Wortstellung”, in: Fischer, Klaus/Mollica, Fabio (Hgg.) (2012): Valenz, Konstruktion und Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Frankfurt a.M. et al. (Peter Lang), 207-234.

Italian examples are based on:

Prandi, Michele (2006): Le regole e le scelte. Introduzione alla grammatica italiana, Bologna (UTET).

Sabatini, Francesco/Camodeca Carmela/De Santis, Cristiana (2011): Sistema e testo. Dalla grammatica valenziale all'esperienza dei testi, Torino (Loescher Editore).

Language course (esercitazioni di lingua)

The chosen textbooks follow the CEFR's theoretical and methodological principles and are suitable for university students. Each learning group will adopt a book corresponding to its initial competence level:

Gruppo a (De Martino): Kurs DaF B1 (publisher: Klett)

Gruppo b (von Stumpfeldt): Akademie Deutsch Band 3 con Zusatzmaterial 3 (publisher: Hueber)

Gruppo c (Mina): Kompass DaF - B2 (publisher: Klett)

 

Teaching methods

Lezioni frontali

The method adopted will be interactional-inductive. Students are required to participate when the central concepts will be elaborated from text examples. The approach adopted will also be contrastive (Italian-German).

Language course (esercitazioni di lingua)
Lessons are interactive requiring the students' direct participation. We have 4 different learning groups each of which corresponds to a different initial level of learner competences. For absolute beginners we offer special support during the first and second year, with courses of 6 hours a week (instead of the used 4).

Assessment methods

Please note:

• All exams are the same for attenders and non-attenders.
• All exams are in-person.
• Registration for exams is mandatory and must be completed using the designated online registration forms (Alma Esami).
• AI can be a useful tool to support independent study by providing in-depth analysis, summaries, and self-assessment exercises. With regard to assessment, the use of AI is prohibited during in-person exams. Any use of AI constitutes a violation of academic integrity.

 

Lezioni frontali

The final assessment consists of a written exam covering the material studied during the course. Specifically, students will be required to analyze sentences by applying the theoretical concepts learned during the course:

The exam—held in person but administered via the EOL platform—lasts 40 minutes. It consists of two parts: the first focuses on simple sentences, and the second on complex sentences. The first part consists of 15, the second of 16 questions. Each correct answer is worth 1 point; incorrect answers are simply worth zero. The minimum score required to pass the exam is 14 out of 31 points.

During the course, a series of exercises similar to those on the final exam will be provided. Exercises and “Probeklausuren” (mock exams) will be made available on the platform Virtuale.

Language course (esercitazioni di lingua)

The exam of the language classes (esercitazioni) include a written and an oral assessment. Passing the written assessment is a prerequisite for taking the oral assessment.

The written assessment consists of two parts:

Part One: Grammar and Vocabulary

30 questions, each with a missing part. The student must fill in the missing parts (marked either by blanks or by dashes replacing the missing letters) or choose the correct answer from the four options provided (only one of the options is correct). The student has 30 minutes to complete this section. The questions assess grammatical competence and vocabulary mastery.

Part Two: Text Production

Production of a written text based on predefined guidelines (a forum post, an informal or formal email, or similar).

Duration: 30 minutes. The use of a dictionary is not permitted.

The following criteria are taken into account in the evaluation: lexical appropriateness, grammatical correctness, textual coherence, and pragmatic appropriateness.

To pass the written exam, students must achieve a score of at least 60% (18/30) in each of the two parts.

 

In-course exam (written assessment)

Starting in the 2026/27 academic year, the written portion of the exercises may also be taken in the form of two IN-COURSE EXAMS structured as follows:

In the first in-course exam, which will be offered during the winter session (January 2026), students may take the grammar section (duration: 30 minutes; proficiency level B1.1)

In the second in-course exam, which will be offered toward the end of the second semester, students may take the text production section (duration: 30 minutes; proficiency level B1.2).

Only students who have passed the first in-course test will be eligible to take the second. Upon passing both, the written portion of the course will be considered complete, and students will only need to take the oral exam, starting with the regularly scheduled exam sessions in the summer 2026/2027 session.

Students who have not taken or not passed both in-course exams must take the written exam according to the regular exam schedule (total duration: 60 minutes; proficiency level B1.2), starting with the exam session of the 2026/2027 summer session.

Specific registration lists for the in-course exams will be available on Alma Esami.

 

Oral Exam

The oral exam consists of an interview (duration: 15 minutes) during which the candidate must present and discuss a topic covered in the context of German language studies. The following criteria are taken into account in the evaluation: appropriate vocabulary, grammatical accuracy, phonetic accuracy, fluency of expression, and the ability to use appropriate strategies to overcome communication challenges.

The content selected for the assessments is relevant to the study of the German language. In accordance with the QCR, the evaluation of parameters such as accuracy, breadth, and appropriateness is relative to the required level of proficiency.

Sample written exams and more detailed information about the oral exam will be available on the platform Virtuale.

 

Grades

The language course mark will be the average mark between the oral and written exams' results.

The final mark of the course “Lingua e Linguistica Tedesca 2” will be the average mark between the lezioni frontali exam's result and the esercitazione mark.

Students may reject the final grade for German Language and Linguistics 2 only once. After rejecting the final grade, students must retake all three partial exams (written exam for lezioni frontali + written + oral exam for esercitazioni).

 

Please note:

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: we suggest that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and your professor immediately to work together to find the most effective strategies for attending classes and/or preparing for exams.

Any requests for accommodations must be made at least 15 days before the date of the exam, by sending an email to the lecturer and copying (Cc) the email address [disabilita@unibo.it](mailto:disabilita@unibo.it ) (in case of disability) or [dsa@unibo.it](mailto:dsa@unibo.it ) (for students with Specific Learning Difficulties).

 

Teaching tools

The lezioni frontali use power point presentations.

Office hours

See the website of Maria Antoinette Rieger