31308 - German Linguistics and Language 3

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will have an extensive knowledge of the metalanguage and key concepts of a descriptive linguistic approach to the German Language; in addition the student's practical competence (in all four language abilities) will have reached European level B2.

Course contents

he course has two parts:
1. - 30 hours of formal classes during the 1st semester

2. - A language learning course through the whole year (responsible: Dott.ssa Nissen

The course German Linguistics and Language 3 carries 9 credits. These 9 credits are registered as a block (they cannot be broken up) at such time as the student has completed all sections of the exam (i.e. those relating to the lecture course and those relating to the practical language component (see below)). Students are reminded that they have to undertake all parts of the exam irrespective of their linguistic level: no exemption is given on the basis of certificates issued by other institutions. The only exception concerns students who are native speakers of German or who did their school-leaving exam (maturità, Arbitur) in the German language. These students are exempted from the practical language component of the course.

Groups for language classes 3rd Year students:
Gruppo A: Dott.ssa NISSEN (A – L)
Gruppo B: N.N. (M – Z)
Gruppo C: Dott. DE MARTINO: maintenance course for level B2+ for students with a level higher than B1 or after an Erasmus stay in a German speaking country

1.) The aim of the main course (formal classes) is to give a sociolinguistic description of contemporary German and to introduce students to some basic concepts in this field.The course will start by reviewing the distribution of German worldwide as an official language and as a minority language, and will introduce the concept of German as a pluricentric language with the focus on its national varieties. The concept of Umgangssprache (colloquial language) will be analysed as a diaphasic and a diatopic sub-standard.

Special attention will be given to 1) the distribution of German as first language and its multi-modal use in different situations, 2) the notions of standard language, of variety and register, 3) certain phenomena of language contact between German and other languages.

Language learning 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 third year, students should have reached at least B2-level:
Oral production (speaking): He/she can give clear, systematically developed descriptions and presentations, with appropriate highlighting of significant points, and relevant supporting detail. Oral reception (listening): He/she can understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, social, academic or vocational life. Only extreme background noise, inadequate discourse structure and/or idiomatic usage influences the ability to understand. Written production (writing): He/she can write clear, detailed texts on a variety of subjects related to his/her field of interest, synthesising and evaluating information and arguments from a number of sources. Visual reception (reading): He/she can read with a large degree of independence, adapting style and speed of reading to different texts and purposes, and using appropriate reference sources selectively. Has a broad active reading vocabulary, but may experience some difficulty with low frequency idioms.

Readings/Bibliography

Main course

Reading

Eva-Maria Thüne/Simona Leonardi: "Das Deutsche aus plurizentrischer Perspektive" – unpublished Reader 2022

Further readings
1) "Aspekte der des deutschen Wortschatzes" kap. 1
2) Ammon, Ulrich / Bickel, Hans & Lenz, Alexandra Nicole. 2016. Variantenwörterbuch des Deutschen, Berlin/München/Boston: De Gruyter, selected pages
3) Ammon, Ulrich. 2015. Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt. Berlin/München/Boston: De Gruyter, selected pages
Tutti i testi si trovano on-line su Virtuale

all texts will be available on-line (in Virtuale)

Videos of the MOOC 'German in a pluricentric perspective' available on the platform https://www.federica.eu

Lezione 1, Lezione 2 Unit 1, Lezione 3 Unit 1 e Unit 2, Lezione 5

Web-sites
• Atlas zur Aussprache des deutschen Gebrauchsstandards (AADG) <http://prowiki.ids-mannheim.de/bin/view/AADG/>
• Atlas zur deutschen Alltagssprache (AdA) <http://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de>
• Variantengrammatik des Standarddeutschen http://mediawiki.ids-mannheim.de/VarGra/index.php/Start

Language learning 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.

Teaching methods

The main course is part of the project of innovative didactics of the University of Bologna and will combine place-based formal classes with online educational materials and opportunities for interaction.

Students unable to attend the lectures (lezioni frontali) of Lingua e linguistica tedesca 3 (German language and linguistics 3 - BA degree course) can find information about a self-study programme (didattica integrativa) in Virtuale.

Language learning course (esercitazioni di lingua)
Lessons are interactive requiring the students' direct participation. We have 3 different learning groups each of which corresponds to a different initial level of learner competences. Special support will be given to very advanced students, with a course starting on B2+ -level.

Assessment methods

Assuming that in the 2023 summer session, examinations will be conducted in presence, the modalities will be as follows:

Main course
Written exam at the end of the course (75 min.) test with different types of questions based on the analysis of German as a pluricentric language. Assessment criteria: capacity of expression (completeness and accuracy of contents), coherence of presentation. A prototype of the exam will be available on-line in "Materiale didattico" (Insegnamenti On-line). The final grade will also take account of the result the practical language part (50%)

Language learning course (esercitazioni di lingua)

Exams are the same for both attending and non-attending students. The exercises include a written and an oral test. Passing the written test is a condition for taking the oral test.


The written exam (75 minutes) consists of two parts:

Part 1 ("Grammatik und Wortschatz"): 30 questions, each with a missing part. You have to complete the missing parts (marked either by gaps or by dashes replacing the missing letters) or choose the right solution from the 4 alternatives proposed (only one of the alternatives is correct). You have 30 minutes. The questions assess grammatical competence and vocabulary.
The second part ("Textproduktion") consists of the production of an argumentative text ("Stellungnahme") on one of the two proposed topics. You have 45 minutes. The use of a dictionary is not permitted. The following criteria are taken into account in the assessment: lexical adequacy, grammatical correctness, textual coherence and pragmatic competence in the student’s writing.

N.B. An example of the written test is available on the "Virtual" platform (virtuale.unibo.it).

For the oral exam (approx. 15 minutes), students have to choose a topic from one of the course books used during the language courses. They have to prepare three articles (not from the course books and not from Wikipedia), three grafics and three fotos related to the choosen topic and expose and discuss the topic with the help of the forementioned material. Assessment criteria are phonetic, lexical and grammatical competence as well as fluency and the ability to use strategies in order to overcome communication problems.

Further information:
https://lettoratonissen.wordpress.com/responsabile-3-anno-esercitazioni-di-lingua-e-linguistica-tedesca

The final mark of the course “Lingua e Linguistica Tedesca 3” will be the average mark between the lezioni frontali exam's result and the esercitazione mark.

Teaching tools

power point presentations, videos, texts

Office hours

See the website of Eva-Maria Christina Charlotte Thune