88072 - German Language I And Laboratory

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students should reach a minimum level of A2 (Council of Europe framework) for spoken German, while the ideal level is B1, and a minimum level of B1 for reading comprehension – ideal level B2. Students should be able to understand written texts of average difficulty regarding the disciplines of the degree course and to understand a news broadcast and make a simple oral report on it.

Course contents

The course consists of a 30-hour course and a 40-hour workshop.

The 40-hour workshop offers practical exercises in written and spoken German, focusing on grammatical and communicative topics of particular relevance to the German language (German verbal system, subjunctive I and II, use of prepositions, in-depth semantics and terminology, organisation of written and spoken discourse, etc.).

The course includes the reading and analysis of texts dealing with topics relevant to the degree course, in particular on the structure and language of the political system in contemporary Germany as well as on the main events of recent German history, in order to develop a basic socio-political vocabulary in German and to provide the main concepts of German political and cultural life.

The choice of certain study topics will also take into account the real interests of the participants.

Readings/Bibliography

Course:

U. ENGEL, Deutsche Grammatik, Heidelberg, Julius Groos, 1988.

U. ENGEL, Kommunikative Grammatik. Deutsch als Fremdsprache, München, Judicium Verlag, 1993.

G. WAHRIG, Deutsches Wörterbuch, Gütersloh, Zanichelli/Bertelsmann, 1997

W. MACCHI, Dizionario delle lingue Italiano e Tedesco, voll. I e II, Firenze/Milano, Sansoni, 1998

G. DEVOTO/G.C. OLI, Dizionario della lingua italiana, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1971

The texts to be analysed will be provided by the lecturer and can be found on "Teaching Resources on Virtuale".

Workshop:

Anne Buscha, Syilvia Szita: Begegnungen. Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch A1+, Schubert-Verlag, Leipzig

Anne Buscha, Syilvia Szita: Begegnungen. Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch A2+, Schubert-Verlag, Leipzig.

Grammatik – ganz klar! Grammatica con esercizi A1-B1, Hueber Verlag.

Teaching methods

The language laboratory offers practical exercises to enhance written and oral German skills, deepening the fundamental aspects of German grammar at A2/B1 level.

The course aims to provide students with the necessary tools for understanding and interpreting German texts, both written and oral, of medium complexity. The course takes place mainly in German and is aimed at students with an A1/A2 level of language knowledge.
The topics dealt with in the texts will be presented by the teacher, who will introduce the fundamental terminology and grammatical structures necessary for their comprehension and elaboration, as well as the most suitable strategies for their assimilation as contents in German language. In order to stimulate and strengthen oral expression skills, the participants will be asked from time to time to present orally in German and in synthesis the topic addressed in the previous lesson.
In addition to written texts, topics will also be presented by means of videos of various types (news reports, interviews, documentaries, political satire).

Assessment methods

The knowledge acquired during the workshop and in the course will be proofed by an intermediate written test in the middle of the course and by a test at the end of the course. These tests will consist of grammatical exercises (for the grammatical knowledge acquired in the workshop) and closed and open questions on the topics covered in the course.

The final oral test, to be held at the regular end-of-course session, will consist of a brief exposition (in German) of a topic of choice among those covered during the course, followed by a brief interview on general personal issues.

More detailed information on the assessment tests will be provided during the course.

Non-attending students can find detailed information about content and procedure of the final exam in a special document called "Exam program for non-attending students" available on "Teaching Resources on Virtuale" in the section "Allegemeine Infos".

Teaching tools

Mono- and bilingual dictionaries, PC with video projector, network resources.

Office hours

See the website of Bruno Persico