GRN2515

Language core I

Lecturer to be appointed

4 points
* 2 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: GRN1425
* Prohibitions: GRN2215, GRN2315, GRN2415 or GRN2615

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have extended and deepened their knowledge of the German language and German culture; improved their knowledge of the finer points of German grammar; extended their vocabulary as much as possible through wide reading of various types of texts, including television and radio materials; acquired practice in using German in both spoken and written form to discuss topics of current interest, based principally on the reading of a wide range of newspaper articles; become familiar with language containing varying degrees of dialect influence; acquired the ability to translate complicated, non-specialist German texts into idiomatic English, and to translate fairly complicated English texts into German. Students should also have gained a knowledge of the relationship between the German language and its speakers, a knowledge of the differences between dialect and standard German, a knowledge of the phonetics of Modern Standard German and a knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet as applied to Modern Standard German.

Synopsis Part 1: Spoken and written German. Areas covered will be politics, history, social issues, environmental issues, humour, literature and literary figures. Attention will also be given to general aspects of daily life, including colloquial language and proverbs, and to technical language. Part 2: Introduction to German linguistics. Introduction to the theory of language as applied to German.

Assessment Written (1200 words): 30%
* Examinations (3 hours): 70%

Prescribed texts

Dreyer H and Schmitt R Lehr- und Übungsbuch der deutschen Grammatik Verlag für Deutsch
Wilkinson E M An introduction to linguistics for Australian students of German I (available from the department)