This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

ATS3102 - German dialects and dialectology

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

German Studies

Coordinator(s)

Dr Heinz Kreutz

Offered

Not offered in 2016

Synopsis

This unit introduces German dialects and dialectology. The course will explore traditional methods (speech atlases, dialect maps) and structural dialectology, and provide students with a background in regional and historical dialectology. The students will also be introduced to contemporary dialectology: social dialects, dialect as a group identity marker (youth, age and gender), sociology of dialects with particular reference to dialect and central processes of societal change, dialect and standard language, and dialect and the education system.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to read and interpret traditional dialect maps and to use traditional dialect atlases effectively; have an working knowledge of the geographical distribution of German dialects; have a basic understanding of the role the German language plays in modern German society; relate this understanding of variation in German to their language acquisition experience. They will acquire have a better understanding of the diversity of the German language as a result of having contrasted dialects with standard German, and be equipped with a base for further studies in the area of German linguistics.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 70%
Exam: 30%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.