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Willkommen in Deutsch 2001!! The prerequisite for this course is a C or higher in G1002 or at least 2 years of High school German and permission of the instructor. The course is designed to help you improve and extend your basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in German. You will do so through active preparation for and participation in classroom activities. The four semester introductory language sequence provides you with a solid foundation in the German language and contributes to the development of important critical thinking skills. Further study within our program leads to fluency, literary competence, and greater multicultural knowledge and sensitivity.
Course description: Intermediate German 1, GRMN2001, continues the development of all four basic language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. In the intermediate German sequence (G2001 and G2002), you will read more extensively and learn to deal with the relatively complex German prose of short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, and an abridged novel. Speaking, listening and writing activities will be based on the reading material. You will find that you will have to speak less about yourself and more about general topics: contemporary political and social issues in Germany and the U.S., differences between our cultures, and so on. Learning to speak about such things involves building a bigger vocabulary base. The readings will help you to increase both your active and passive vocabularies and to more fully grasp and more correctly use the German grammar concepts with which you are already familiar. The readings will also teach you something about modern German culture, German literature and film, and German history, and they will help you prepare for classroom discussions and thereby to achieve greater facility in understanding and communicating in conversational German. Finally, you will practice writing – and rewriting – short argumentative and analytical essays.
Learning outcomes: Upon completion of the course students will be able to do the following with varying degrees of competence as reflected by the final grade assigned to each individual student. · Student speaks and writes in German about a variety of authentic language texts (including literary texts and film) and on a variety of topical and cultural issues. · Student uses more complex grammatical structures (conditional, genitive, etc) largely free of error and employs a more complex vocabulary that facilitates conversations about non-personal and abstract topics. Use of previously learned grammar (present, past, case, etc) and vocabulary (talking about oneself and personal issues) at a similar level is presumed since it is a pre-requisite for the course. · Student writes well-organized essays (summaries, expository essays, basic arguments) free of serious grammatical and lexical errors.
Required Texts: · Moeller, Adolph, Mabee & Berger. Kaleidoskop. Kultur, Literatur und Grammatik. 7th Edition. Houghton Mifflin (Textbook only) · Martin, Hansjörg. Kein Schnaps für Tamara. · Films you must see outside of class: Lola rennt, Im Juli, Bandits (You can buy these films on amazon.com, check them out from the library, and/or order them from Netflix or Blockbuster online. You must be able to see them outside of class.)
Method: This class will be conducted almost exclusively in German. Remember that a large part of learning a foreign language is getting through situations where you don’t understand everything that is going on, so if you feel this way in class sometimes, it’s okay. If you feel this way all of the time, it is probably not okay, and you should come talk to me. Use your common sense to make intelligent guesses about those things that you have difficulty understanding. You will find that with a bit of good will and effort, you’ll actually understand more than you initially thought you could. You should strive to speak only German during our 50 minute classes even when asking a fellow student or the instructor what time it is or what page we’re on. In large part the amount that you understand in class will depend directly on how much time you have devoted beforehand to reading the texts, learning the vocabulary, doing the assigned exercises. You should read all texts at least twice, you should consider making vocabulary flash cards, and you should make notes on the readings and the grammar explanations. Class time will be highly structured and relatively fast-paced. There are so many students that I will obviously be unable to tend to all individual concerns in 50 minutes. I have several office hour, however, so I encourage you to come to me in person with any questions about things related to the class content that confuse you, frustrate you, or that you just can’t seem to understand. You should seriously consider participating in extra-curricular activities such as the Kaffeestunde, Stammtisch, and the Film series.
Notes: Participation grades will be assigned in accordance with the following scale: A à Student arrives on time and is always prepared, volunteers answers but does not hog classroom time, answers the majority of questions correctly and without wasting much time, participates well in group-work, remains focused on class activities, does not have to be regularly reminded to concentrate and focus on the activities at hand, rarely uses English, is respectful to both the professor and fellow students. B à Student arrives on time and is almost always prepared, occasionally volunteers and always answers when called on, usually answers correctly and quickly, participates well in group-work, usually works in a focused manner and only occasionally needs to be reminded to concentrate on class work, uses a bit more English that desirable but not every day, is respectful to both professor and fellow students. C à Student almost always arrives on time, is prepared about half of the time, doesn't generally volunteer answers but does answer when called on and answers are sometimes correct, needs regular reminders to focus and concentrate but heeds reminders when given them, lapses into English on a daily basis, is respectful to both professor and students. D à Student averages one late per week, is rarely prepared, follows along in class and attempts to answer when called on but answers are rarely correct, needs daily reminders to focus and concentrate, uses English in every group-work activity, has a tendency to be a bit disruptive, somewhat negative and thus slows classroom activities and progress toward class goals. F à Student is frequently late, often absent (5-9 times), rarely prepared, inattentive in class, asks time wasting questions about aspects of the course already covered in class during his/her absences, slows down class-room activities because of lack of preparation, hinders other students' progress in group work, is disrespectful and lacks understanding for the classroom environment. NOTE: If your cell phone goes off more than twice during the semester, you cannot receive higher than a C for participation. If your cell phone goes off more than 4 times, you will be asked to withdraw from the course and you will receive an F for participation.
Extra Credit: Extra credit may be offered occasionally but only to the class as a whole and only for activities/events directly related to learning outcomes for the class. Requests for individual extra-credit opportunities will not be considered.
Honor Code: All aspects of the UWG Honor Code laid out in the Student Handbook and Undergraduate Catalog apply.
Plagiarism Policy: The State University of West Georgia defines plagiarism as "the purchase and/or use of ghost-written papers and reports, or incorporating into a report, term theme, research paper, or project, ideas and information obtained from another person without giving credit to the person from whom such information was obtained" (Faculty Handbook, Section 207). This definition applies equally to electronic, print, and verbal sources. Plagiarism is grounds for failing this course. Furthermore, using an on-line translation service or friends, family, and/or native speakers to correct and change your German before submitting papers, projects, homework is a form of plagiarism and thus grounds for failing this course.
G2001, Schedule for Fall 2008 What follows is a general schedule for the whole fall semester. You will be given a more detailed schedule with homework assignments and due dates for each segment of the course. I reserve the right to make small changes to the syllabus if necessary. I will announce the same in advance.
Contract (for your personal records): I will prepare for and participate in class in a manner that is productive for both myself and my classmates. I will try to speak German at all times and understand that if I disrupt class in any way (talking English in group activities, demonstratively displaying bad moods, refusing to cooperate and participate), I may be considered absent. I understand that all the work I submit must be my own. I will not use an on-line translation service nor friends and family to correct any of my work in advance. I understand that such actions constitute academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade and/or further disciplinary actions. I understand that I may not submit work completed for another class for credit in this class. I understand that attendance is important and that I am responsible for everything I miss when I skip class. I know that quizzes and homework assignments cannot be made up and that I should not ask for an exception to be made since exceptions for individuals can lead to unfairness. I understand that if I will miss or have missed an exam, I must contact my professor as soon as possible to see if it is possible to negotiate a make-up. If I have not contacted the professor before she returns the graded exams, I have relinquished the possibility of a make-up. I understand that coming to class late and/or leaving class at any point during the 50 minute period is disruptive for my colleagues and professor and I will do so only in extreme circumstances. I understand that two lates is equivalent to an absence and will be counted as such. I understand that I may not use or have cell phones or beepers turned on, even on vibrate mode, during class – under no circumstances. I understand that if a phone call is of such importance that I must be able to receive it immediately, I should use one of my absences and receive the call at home. I further understand that I may not use a laptop or other electronic devices (including a translator) during class periods. I understand that absences are my own business and need not be discussed with the professor because there are no excused absences in this class. All absences affect my performance and my grade both directly and indirectly. I know that I will automatically fail the class should I amass 10 absences on or before December 5th, 2008. I understand that my finances, my job, my personal relationships, and my Hope Scholarship cannot play a role in the assigning of my grade and that my grade must be based on what I do and how well I do it in this course. I understand that if I have dire personal circumstances, I may talk to the professor and the Dean about a hardship withdrawal from all of my classes. I understand that for all official correspondence with the professor, I must e-mail her/him from my university e-mail account in order to make it easier to identify the sender of the e-mail and to avoid unnecessary security or virus risks. I know that I am responsible for keeping track of information sent by the professor to my westga.edu account. I understand that I must make a C or better in this course to enroll in German 2002. I have read and understood the syllabus and how I will be evaluated in this course. I have read and understood this contract or have asked questions about those aspects that I did not understand. I will do my best to follow these guidelines and to accept the professor's attempts to follow them and help me follow them.
*The course has been designed with an awareness of and attention to the National Standards for Foreign Language Learning. |
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Deutsch 2001, Herbst 2008 Section 01 (MWF 10:00-10:50, Pafford 206) and & 02 (11:00-11:50, Pafford 302)
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Professor: Dr. Muriel Cormican Office: Cobb Hall 119 Office Hours: MWF 9:00-9:50, 1:30 -3:20 and/or by appointment. E-mail: mcormica@westga.edu Tel: 678-839-5955 |