MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS
Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996
Published by Monash University
Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia
Caution
Copyright © Monash University 1996
ISBN 1320-6222
Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
German
Courses in German studies are designed both for students wishing to specialise
in German studies (language, linguistics, literature and their relation to
culture and society), and for those requiring a broad education in the
humanities and social sciences. The first-year subjects offer a general
introduction; in later years a number of options are arranged around core
courses. Practical language study is an integral part of all courses.
Objectives
Teaching and learning in German studies take place in three areas: language
learning; the culture and intellectual life of the German-speaking countries;
and linguistics from a German language perspective.
The Department of German Studies attracts students from different faculties and
a variety of language backgrounds, each with different vocational interests.
For this reason, the courses offered must be general in nature, while at the
same time providing the opportunity to specialise in one or all of the three
areas on which this department focuses.
Language learning
The major objective is to provide the environment for students to develop, or
develop further, their communicative competence in German, which includes
grammatical, discourse, sociolinguistic and strategic competence. Equal
emphasis is placed on the four primary language learning skills of speaking and
listening, reading and writing, and students are set progressive targets for
linguistic competence. Students beginning German at Monash have the opportunity
to access the more advanced courses of the post-VCE stream at third-year level.
The competence aimed at for students majoring in German is a good level of
achievement in the internationally recognised Mittelstufenprüfung. This
requires an ability to speak German with sufficient fluency and accuracy to
participate in conversation of both social and abstract types, to understand
the main elements of all standard speech, to express oneself effectively in
writing and to read with adequate understanding a range of German text types.
Culture
The university study of a language subject must include the study of the
culture - in its broadest sense - of the countries and societies that use the
language. Students are expected to develop a coherent overview of German
culture and German intellectual life. This knowledge is to be added to and
deepened with progression through year levels. Specific knowledge of key texts,
writers and thinkers as well as central or recurring themes and problems in
German cultural life is to accompany this progression.
An understanding of the specificity of the German-speaking culture(s) and their
contribution to European civilisation is part of this overall objective. A
narrow focus on purely literary culture is avoided in the attempt to develop a
broader understanding of what `culture' includes. Students must therefore
progressively learn to deal with a range of literary text types presented from
a sociohistorical perspective, and to identify the specificities of German
culture.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the systematic study of the nature and use of language in
general. The study of linguistics from a German perspective establishes the
link between the learning of the German language through learning about the
German language, its structure, nature and applications. By examining the
structure of German, and the ways in which it differs from English, students
are expected to develop insight into processes of acquisition, differences
between situational usage (register), and the relationship between language and
society. The fundamental learning aim can thus be viewed in terms of achieving
an understanding of the relationship between language and culture both from a
contemporary and a historical perspective.
General objective
Students majoring in German should have the capacity and the desire to continue
to develop and use the knowledge and skills gained during their studies.
Courses
First year
Two different first-year sequences are offered. A first-year sequence, except
with the permission of the head, will normally consist of GRN1030 followed by
GRN1040 or GRN1070 followed by GRN1080. GRN1030 and GRN1040
(Introductory German) are for students with little or no knowledge of the
language. GRN1070 and GRN1080 (Language and literature) assume that students
have reached pass standard in German at least at Year 11 level or its
equivalent. Other students may be admitted with the permission of the head of
the department.
Minor sequence
A minor sequence comprises either (i) GRN1070 and GRN1080 followed by
the language core subjects GRN2110 and GRN2120 and the culture core subjects
(GRN2310 and GRN2320 in 1996); or (ii) GRN1030 and GRN1040 followed by
the language core subjects GRN2270 and GRN2280 and the reading subjects GRN2290
and GRN2300.
Major sequence
A student wishing to complete a major sequence in German will take
either (i) GRN1070 and GRN1080 followed by the language core subjects
GRN2110 and GRN2120 and the culture core subjects (GRN2310 and GRN2320 in 1996)
in second year. The third part of the major comprises the language core
subjects GRN3010 and GRN3020 together with the third-year culture core subjects
and one additional subject at either second or third-year level; or (ii)
GRN1030 and GRN1040 followed by the language core subjects GRN2270 and GRN2280
and the reading subjects GRN2290 and GRN2300 in second year. The third part of
the major comprises the language core subjects GRN3110 and GRN3120 together
with the third-year culture core subjects GRN3290 and GRN3300.
Optional subjects
Extra subjects (options) are available at both second and third-year levels.
Normally the appropriate language core is the pre- or corequisite for the
culture core offered in the same semester, and the culture core is the pre- or
corequisite for any options taken. Under special circumstances the appropriate
option may count as part of a minor sequence.
The attention of students is also directed to the programs of the centres for
Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, European Studies, and Women's
Studies, some subjects of which, with the permission of the head, may be taken
as part of their German course.
At the discretion of the department, native speakers educated in a German
speaking country may be permitted to participate in higher level language
work.
Students who have already taken language work at a higher level will take
another subject in second and third year or undertake additional language work
to the satisfaction of the department.
Students wishing to participate in the overseas studies scheme at a German
university should seek information from the department.
Graduate work
The fields in which the department desires to sponsor research are:
+ studies in literature and related fields in all epochs of German,
Austrian and Swiss culture; comparative literature and literary theory;
+ studies in German linguistics, especially morphophonology, syntax,
historical linguistics, history of linguistics, history of German,
dialectology; German sociolinguistics and second language acquisition; German
for special purposes;
+ German and European studies.
Service course
The Department of German Studies offers a service course (GRN0020) for staff
members, graduate students and fourth-year students from Arts and other
faculties who wish to acquire a reading knowledge of German for academic
research. Participants can expect upon completion of the course to read texts
of medium difficulty with the aid of a dictionary. This course is not offered
for credit towards a degree. Information is available from the department.
First-year level
+ GRN1030 Introductory German I
+ GRN1040 Introductory German II
+ GRN1070 Language and literature I
+ GRN1080 Language and literature II
Second to fourth-year levels
In second and third years students are offered in each semester a culture core
and a language core (both of which are compulsory) and additional subjects in
German culture and linguistics. The culture cores operate on a two-year
cycle.
Several non-core subjects (options) are also offered each year. These include
second, third and fourth-year levels. In all options assignments will be set
and assessed at the appropriate year level.
Second, third and fourth-year level subjects are only offered on the Clayton
campus.
Second-year level
+ GRN2110 Language core I
+ GRN2120 Language core II
+ GRN2130 Culture core: the age of Goethe I - the discovery of the self
+ GRN2140 Culture core: the age of Goethe II - the discovery of history
+ GRN2210 German syntax
+ GRN2230 German dialects and dialectology
+ GRN2270 Language core and German linguistics I
+ GRN2280 Language core and German linguistics II
+ GRN2290 Reading German texts I
+ GRN2300 Reading German texts II
+ GRN2310 Culture core: modern German literature and society I
+ GRN2320 Culture core: modern German literature and society II
+ GRN2410 The contemporary novel
+ GRN2430 Second language acquisition and attrition
+ GRN2470 German literature 1871-1918
+ GRN2530 Medieval German language and historical linguistics
+ [[breve]]GRN2660 Business German I
Third-year level
General prerequisite: Sixteen points of German at second-year level.
+ GRN3010 Language core I
+ GRN3020 Language core II
+ GRN3110 Language core I
+ GRN3120 Language core II
+ GRN3130 Culture core: the age of Goethe I - the discovery of the self
+ GRN3140 Culture core: the age of Goethe II - the discovery of history
+ GRN3170 German drama, theatre and society
+ GRN3190 Medieval language and literature
+ GRN3210 German syntax
+ GRN3230 German dialects and dialectology
+ GRN3290 German culture and society 1750-1900
+ GRN3300 German culture and society 1900-1990
+ GRN3310 Culture core: modern German literature and society I
+ GRN3320 Culture core: modern German literature and society II
+ GRN3350 The cultural critics
+ GRN3370 Language and society: sociolinguistics from a German
perspective
+ GRN3390 German phonology and morphology
+ GRN3410 The contemporary novel
+ GRN3430 Second language acquisition and attrition
+ GRN3470 German literature 1871-1918
+ GRN3530 Medieval German language and historical linguistics
+ [[breve]]GRN3660 Business German I
+ GRN3750 Women and German writing
+ GRN3770 German for business and trade
+ GRN3990 Language study abroad program
Fourth-year level
All fourth-year level students must take subjects to a total value of
forty-eight points. Literature honours students must take GRN4020 and GRN4030,
GRN4600 and GRN4610, GRN4620 and at least one further subject from GRN4180,
GRN4200, GRN4360, or GRN4660. Students may choose one relevant subject from
another department or from the centres for Comparative Literature and Cultural
Studies, European Studies, or Women's Studies.
Linguistics honours students must take GRN4020 and GRN4030, GRN4380, GRN4640
and at least one further subject in German linguistics. They may take one
relevant subject, normally at fourth-year level, from another department.
Combined honours may be taken in German and another discipline provided that
all honours requirements have been met in both disciplines and subject to the
approval of the heads of both departments/centres.
The due date for the submission of final coursework and the thesis by students
to the department/centre is the last day of the final semester of the honours
program (Friday 7 June in first semester 1996 and Friday 1 November in second
semester 1996).
Any request for an extension of time of more than one week must be submitted to
the Committee for Undergraduate Studies no later than two weeks before the end
of the final semester.
With the permission of the head of the department, fourth-year students may
complete a part of their course at a university in a German-speaking country.
In cooperation with the overseas university, the department will draw up
courses for students studying away from Monash (see below under German study
abroad program). Normally, students studying overseas will do so during the
northern winter semester, from October to March, preceding their fourth year.
Students intending to do this are required to make early arrangements with the
department.
+ GRN4020 Language core I
+ GRN4030 Language core II
+ GRN4180 German drama, theatre and society
+ GRN4200 Medieval language and literature
+ GRN4360 The cultural critics
+ GRN4380 Language and society: sociolinguistics from a German
perspective
+ GRN4400 German phonology and morphology
+ GRN4600 Theory and practice of literary criticism I: the theory
+ GRN4610 Theory and practice of literary criticism II: the practice
+ GRN4620 Honours thesis
+ GRN4640 Honours thesis
+ GRN4660 Special reading course in German
+ [[breve]]GRN4760 Women and German writing
+ GRN4780 German for business and trade
+ GRN4990 Language study abroad program
Graduate studies
For postgraduate courses offered by the department, please refer to the Arts
graduate handbook for 1996.
| Details of studies - metropolitan campuses Part 1
| Arts Undergraduate handbook
| Monash handbooks
| Monash University