German 102:
Elementary German, continued
Spring 2004
Vulgamore 102
M W F 9:10-10:00 plus 50 minute tutorial per week
(With Julia Kruse, Native Speaker Teaching Assistant)
Professor: Catherine Grimm
Office: Vulgamore107
Phone: office: 629-0629 home: 629-2697 cell: 517-554-0003
Office hours: M W F 11:00-12:00 and by appointment.
Email: cgrimm@albion.edu
Homepage: http://people.albion.edu/cgrimm/
Text:
Lovik/Guy/Chavez, Vorsprung. An Introduction to the German Language and Culture for Communication.
Text, Workbook and Audio CD Program.. Houghton Mifflin, 2002. (Available in the College bookstore).
Welcome to GERMAN 102:
Elementary German, continued!
Willkommen!
This course is a continuation of German 101: Elementary German. Our main goal will be to help you achieve a basic proficiency in the German language. You will continue to learn how to speak German as well as understand it in spoken and written form. A further aspect of the course connects to Albion’s mission of preparing its students to be globally competent. It involves introducing you to the historical, political, cultural and social landscape of German-speaking countries. As you learn more about Germany and German history, politics and culture you will be able to reflect on how it is both different and/or similar to your own. In this way the course will bring a global perspective to the classroom thereby allowing you a deeper understanding of the world at large.
Procedure
We are going to cover the most important grammar, vocab and cultural components of chapters six through ten of Vorsprung.
We will devote about seven class periods to each chapter (including one review session) after which, there will be a Chapter quiz,
which will take up the whole class period.
During the first part of the semester the Department of Foreign Languages will be inviting several candidates for two tenure-track (i.e. multi-year) positions in German to Campus. All of these candidates will be required to model their teaching-effectiveness in front of Albion College students and faculty. Several of them will do so in this class, which will be an interesting opportunity for you to experience different styles of teaching. This will inevitably lead to changes in the schedule and I will do my best to keep you informed of these changes, as well as of on what days candidates will be teaching.
Class Participation
A basic requirement of the course is that you come to class having prepared the assigned material, and ready to participate actively (and enthusiastically!) in all in-class activities. Regular attendance in class is mandatory and is especially important, because we focus so much on communicative activities. If you are not here on any given day, realize that we will all notice and that you will be missed! If you know beforehand that you are going to have to miss a class PLEASE TELL ME! Your participation grade will be based on the number of days you attend class.
Tutorials, Sprachtisch (German Language table) and Language House Activities
The co-curricular components of this class are very important, simply because the more time you spend outside of class engaging in German-related activities the more success (and fun) you’ll have in the classroom. There are three different “levels” of co-curricular activity: first you will participate in a 50 minute weekly tutorial session with our German native speaker T.A., Julia Kruse from Würzburg, Germany. Attending and participating in the tutorial is mandatory.
The second level is our German language Lunch table – the Sprachtisch, which will take place in upper Baldwin, on a day yet to be decided. At least one German Prof. and Julia (NSTA) will be there, as well as other people from the Albion community who have an interest in speaking German and learning about German culture. (If you know someone who falls into this category, by all means invite them to join us!) The Sprachtisch is meant to provide you, the students taking German, with an opportunity to work on your language skills in a relaxed non-classroom-like atmosphere. It’s always a lot of fun – and besides, who wouldn’t want to partake of the yummy food in upper-Baldwin???
The third level consists of the many German cultural and language-related activities that take place in the I-House. Click on the link to see examples of these, including: screenings of German films, German poetry readings, German-related cultural events, plus German-related
field trips e.g. to German restaurants, concerts, museum exhibits etc… I strongly encourage you not just to participate in these events but to
get involved in their planning: and if you have any ideas for German-related things we could do, please let the German-I-House inhabitants
or Julia or me know!
Extra-credit will be awarded every time you participate in any of the second and third level activities: it is a fun and entertaining way to show your commitment to improving your German skills.
Quizzes and Final
I have scheduled five 50-minute quizzes for this class and one final project or exam. I tentatively scheduled the first quiz for February 4, but this date may change due to the job candidate visits. (See above).
Grade percentages
Attendance and Participation (including tutorials, Sprachtisch and Language House activities): 25%
Homework 10%
5 Chapter Quizzes 50%
Final exam or project 15%
All quizzes and exams are graded according to the following percentages:
90-100% 4.0
86-89% 3.5
80-85% 3.0
76-79% 2.5
70-75% 2.0
66-69% 1.5
60-65% 1.0 [You need to receive at least 60% to pass the course].