Prospectus

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German 2 Upper-Intermediate

Course
2018-2019

Admission requirements

This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme who have passed German 1 Intermediate.

Description

In this course you learn how to handle successfully a variety of more complex social situations you may encounter in daily life in Germany.
The course is designed to bring students with a good grounding in German to an (upper-) intermediate level.
You learn to cope with daily informal but as well formal situations of communication in speaking and writing, and to perform such tasks as talking about daily affairs, giving comments on information, giving your opinion, make your point, agreeing and disagreeing in a discussion, reading complex texts about social, cultural and political issues, giving a short presentation and writing an essay.
These learning targets are acquired by using the textbook and through a wide range of real-life situations, performed either individually or in groups. Grammar, cultural topics, current issues and pronunciation are main concerns, too.

Course objectives

This course enables the student to achieve level B1/B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
This course is the second course in a series of three language acquisition courses within the International Studies program. The final objective of this course series is to obtain an intermediate level of proficiency in German, aimed at communication with people in the region in everyday social situations and enabling students to follow current affairs in the region via various media.

Skill CEFR Level
Reading B2
Writing B1
Listening B1+
Speaking B1

Timetable

The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website.

Mode of instruction

Tutorials

Three two-hour tutorials every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent will result in a lowering of the participation grade with 0.5 for every absence after the first three (3) times.

Course Load

Total course load for this course is 10 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), which equals 280 hours, broken down by:

  • Attending classes (6 hours per week over 12 weeks): 72 hours

  • Preparing for classes, exams and extra activities: 202 hours

  • Assessment hours (exams and other assessment): 6 hours

Assessment method

Assessment

  • Written exams, quizzes, in-class oral/listening performance.

Weighing

Partial grade Weighing
Reading 20%
Writing 20%
Listening 20%
Speaking 20%
Participation 20%

End Grade

  • To successfully complete the course, please take note that the End Grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the in-class oral and listening performance, and written exams.

  • The End Grade needs to be a 6.0 or higher to pass the course.

Resit

If the End Grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), there is a possibility of retaking the full 80% of the exam material (reading, writing, speaking, and listening). No resit for the tutorial (participation) is possible.

Retaking a passing grade

Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2018 – 2019.

Exam review

How and when an exam review takes place will be determined by the examiner. This review will be within 30 days after official publication of exam results.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used for this course. Students are requested to enroll on Blackboard, but only after correct enrolment in uSis.

Reading list

  • Begegnungen Deutsch als Fremdsprache B1, Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch (+CD), by Anne Buscha und Szilvia Szita, Schubert Verlag ISBN: 978-3-941323-20-9

  • Erkundungen Deutsch als Fremdsprache B2, Integriertes Kurs- und Arbeitsbuch (+CD), by Anne Buscha, Susanne Raven und Gisela Linthout, Schubert Verlag ISBN: 978-3-929526-96-7

  • Reader on Cultural Studies, Interkulturelle Kommunikation, which will be distributed in the first week of the course.

To support student’s selfstudy the following book can be recommended:

  • B-Grammatik, Übungsgrammatik Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Sprachniveau B1/B2 (+CD), by Anne Buscha und Szilvia Szita, Schubert Verlag, Leipzig, 2010. ISBN 978-3-941323-10-0

Registration

  • Enrolment through uSis for Tutorials is mandatory.

  • Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.

  • General information about uSis is available here.

Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs

Not applicable.

Contact

E.L. Groot MA

When contacting lecturers or tutors, please include your full name, student number, and tutorial group number.

Remarks

This course uses an integrated communicative language learning method. Therefore active participation in the classroom activities is essential for successful learning outcomes.