Communicative Competence Development of Language B - German, level 4

obligatory courses

Compulsory, 3rd year, BA studies. During the third year students continue to study German, as the first language of students’ specialization (B) at level C1 of CEFR at the outset of the course.

The further study of German, as the first language of students’ specialization (B) at level B2+/C1 CEFR at the outset of the course. The course consists of 60 hours in-class in the 3rd year and requires a considerable amount of the student’s individual self-study.

The aim of the course is to further develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in German at the C1 level within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In the third year the teaching process continues to stimulate integrated development of several communicative competences, i.e.: pragmatic, sociolinguistic, intercultural and metalinguistic. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and has been designed for the the Applied Linguistics study programme.

A compulsory course for year 3 BA students with German as the first language of students’ specialization (B)

During the 3rd year of the course, students’ communicative competence in German continues after the 2nd year at an advanced level, equivalent to level B2+/C1 within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The aim of the course is to further develop and improve the students’ communicative competence in German by the end of the 3rd year at a proficient, C1 level within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

During the 3rd year the teaching process continues to stimulate integrated development of several communicative competences, such as the pragmatic competence, sociolinguistic, as well as intercultural and metalinguistic competences, with the continuous focus on the skills of speaking and pronunciation, writing for academic purposes, listening and reading comprehension of general, specialised and academic texts, as well as advanced control over extended vocabulary and grammar structures at the C1 level by the end of the 3rd year. The content of the course conforms to the level of language skills among students and is designed for the studies with the major in Applied Linguistics, especially to professional requirements in academic, glottodidactic and translation domains. During the 3rd year the course focuses on the following thematic areas of communicative skills: Academic writing and reading, grammar, communication and lexis.

These components continue to improve the students’:

- extending lexical competence (by further contributing to their growing control over a vast range of general, specialized and academic vocabulary contained in the 3rd year teaching programme at a C1 level CEFR);

- grammatical competence (by consolidating and further contributing to their growing receptive and productive skills of comprehending grammatically complex texts and utterances and creating such texts and utterances in keeping with grammatical standards covered by the 3rd year teaching programme);

- phonological competence (by further contributing to the development and practice of the correct articulation in German, proper intonation and fluency);

- discursive competence in speech and in writing (by further contributing to their growing skills of composing logically, grammatically and stylistically consistent and complex texts and utterances at C1 level).

- functional and sociolinguistic competence (by further contributing to the development of the skill of applying the appropriate forms of expression to communicative situations and its recipients in the context of selected cultural and academic aspects associated with German at a C1 level)

Contact hours (in-class): 60 hrs

Self-study/individual work:

- working with assigned texts – 15 hrs

- practical grammar assignments – 5 hrs

- preparing oral presentations and written assignments – 20 hrs

- revising and preparation for the end-of-year exam – 10 hrs

Self-study/individual work total: 50 hrs

In the event of inability to conduct the traditional in-class lessons, the course’s contact hours will be conducted remotely with the use of the devices recommended by the University of Warsaw

Specified individually by particular teachers.

KNOWLEDGE:

The student:

- has the knowledge of the language at C1 level (CEFR), understands its structure and specificity (K1_W01);

- knows morphosyntactic structures, understands oral statements at C1 level, interprets general and specialized written texts at C1 level, knows word definitions, synonyms and idioms, has a grounded knowledge of lexical, grammatical and phonetic issues regarding the German language, as indicated in the course description(K1_W01);

- understands the complexity of the German language at C1 level (CEFR) (K1_W03);

- knows and understands the elements of selected German-speaking countries’ culture, understands the role of language in intercultural and cultural communication (K1_W07, K1_W10);

- knows and understands cultural differences, constituting important factors in the process of creating multicultural societies in the modern world, has a general knowledge of the reality, socio-economic and legal conditions of selected German-speaking countries (K1_W11)

SKILLS

The student:

- possesses linguistic skills at C1 level (CEFR), also in typical professional situations which require the knowledge of techniques, strategies and different communication channels (K1_U05, K1_U09);

- is able to critique cultural texts, search for, analyse, evaluate and select authentic general, specialized and academic texts in German and further develop professional skills in German (K1_U01);

- can identify characteristic cultural elements and correctly interpret phenomena regarding the German language, react properly in every communicative situation while considering the cultural context and using customary expressions (K1_U03);

- can differentiate between the German, Austrian and Swiss variant of Germn pronunciation (K_U05);

- can prepare written assignments on academic level in German on discussed specialized and scientific subjects (K1_U06);

- can prepare speeches in German, using properly selected scientific and academic source materials (K1_U07);

- can set priorities and plan activities in order to perform specific linguistic, communicative and academic professional tasks in German, understands the need of self-study and the necessity of continuous development of skills (K1_U12);

- can solve problems and perform linguistic tasks in German at C1 competence level in conditions which are not fully predictable, through assessing the situation and choosing appropriate methods and tools (K1_U13)

SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCIES

The student is:

- prepared to cooperate and work in a group, assume various roles and respect rules of good communication in German (K1_K06);

- prepared to identify and properly solve communicative dilemmas between German and Polish, which result from the asymmetry in linguistic systems and cultural variety (K1_K01);

- prepared to participate in cultural life in Poland and selected German-speaking countries, promote their cultures while using both traditional and modern forms of communication and media (K1_K03).

- prepared to take measures in inter-linguistic communication in order to preserve the cultural heritage of Poland and Germany, Austria or Switzerland (K1_K04)

Assessment criteria – classes:

Each thematic component is assessed according to the following:

- Continuous assessment (preparedness, activity in class)

- Home assignments

- graded control tests

- mid-term written tests/term papers/oral exams

- preparation and delivery of oral presentations

Grading criteria – classes:

The passing percentage for graded works is 60%. All written tests and assignments during the course are graded according to the following criteria:

0-59% = failed (2.0)

60-67% = satisfactory (3.0)

68-75% = satisfactory plus (3.5)

76-83% = good (4.0)

84-91% = good plus (4.5)

92-98% = very good (5.0)

99-100% = very good! (5.0!)

The oral exams/presentations assess the communicative competence as well as the level of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammatical competence acquired during the 3rd year of the course, and the assessment criteria are as follows:

5.0 – very good: very good linguistic competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, accompanied by the proper phonemes, accent and intonation); extensive vocabulary (uses visibly diverse vocabulary, idioms, collocations and other expressions acquired during the course, uses proper register); very good and clearly thought through structure of delivered statements with clearly identifiable introduction, supporting arguments and conclusion; frequent, fluent and correct use of logical connectors and linking phrases; clearly signalling beginning and closure of an argument; statement coherent with the topic

4.0/4.5 – good/good plus: good linguistic competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, with the use of proper phonemes, accent and intonation; sporadic mistakes in pronunciation, sporadic and isolated errors in grammar); good level of vocabulary (uses diverse vocabulary from the classes, idioms, collocations and other expressions with few and isolated mistakes and errors, and occasional errors of register); good and planned structure of delivered statements that shows clear introduction, supporting arguments and conclusion, with singular losses of fluency and diversion from the main topic; visible use of logical connectors and linking phrases clearly signalling beginning and closure of an argument; statement coherent with the topic

3.0/3.5 – satisfactory/satisfactory plus: satisfactory competence (proper and correct use of grammatical and lexical elements acquired during the course, with the use of proper phonemes, accent and intonation; infrequent or occasional mistakes in pronunciation and grammatical errors are acceptable and do not prevent successful communication); satisfactory level of vocabulary (vocabulary acquired during the classes, idioms, collocations and other expressions, lacks in diversity; visible mistakes and errors, and errors of register); satisfactory structure of delivered statements that shows visible, but not clearly discernible introduction, supporting arguments, and conclusion of the argument; visible losses of fluency and diversion from the main topic; rare or infrequent use of logical connectors and linking phrases signalling beginning and closure of an argument; satisfactory coherence with the topic

2.0 – failed: unsatisfactory linguistic competence (notorious and regular grammatical, lexical, phonetic and pronunciation mistakes); vocabulary insufficient to create coherent statements, frequent errors of register, lack or incorrect use of idioms and collocations; chaotic structure of delivered statements, without discernible introduction, development and conclusion of the argument; lack of logical connection between parts of the argument, lack or incorrect use of logical connectors and linking phrases; visible lack of fluency, jagged or incomplete sentences, clear lack of coherence with the topic

The student is entitled to one retake of every failed graded assessment work at the time designated by the teacher. Unexcused absence during a test or a retake forfeits that attempt.

Assessment and grading criteria – Exam:

In order to take the exam the student must receive passing grades from all the required and graded works/assignments during the course. The exam assesses grammatical, lexical and writing competence. The score is calculated according to the following criteria:

0-59% = failed (2.0)

60-67% = satisfactory (3.0)

68-75% = satisfactory plus (3.5)

76-83% = good (4.0)

84-91% = good plus (4.5)

92-98% = very good (5.0)

99-100% = very good! (5.0!)

The final grade from the course in the USOS is the average of the grades from the exam (50%) and the classes (50%).

Failing the exam results in a failing grade in the summer exam session and the need to retake the exam in the same form during the retake exam session.

Students are required to attend all the classes of the course. Students are allowed to have two unexcused absences per 30 contact hours. When the number of allowed absences is exceeded, the student should ask the teacher to be given additional tasks aimed at making up for the material missed from the classes by that student. If the number of absences is equal to or exceeds 50% of the total number of contact hours, it will result in failing the entire course.