Faculty Syllabus

German 2311 is a third-semester German language class.  Study of fundamentals of GERMAN: conversation, basic writing, listening and reading comprehension, vocabulary building, grammar and culture. We will study Chapters 7 through 9 of Sag Mal: An Introduction to German Language and Culture, 3rd ed.

• Credit Hours: 3
• Virtual Classroom Meeting Hours per week: 3
• Online Activity Hours (Sag Mal! WebSAM) per week: 6+

PREREQUISITES 

As stated in the ACC Catalog, to be enrolled in the course, you must have credit for a four-hour (or greater) college or university course equivalent to, or at a higher level than ACC German 1412 with a grade of at least a C. You must present proof of this credit (in the form of the appropriate transcript or grade report or an ACC printout) to your instructor by the 12th * day of ACC classes for the 16 week session and the 4th day of classes during the summer, or you will be withdrawn from this course and risk losing any refund.

While high school, community/continuing education credit, conversation course credit and previous knowledge are not acceptable substitutes for the required prerequisite, the skills you have gained in those courses may help you test out of some or all of the prerequisites by taking the ACC challenge exam or the CLEP test (see below).

If you wish to challenge this course by examination, you must withdraw by the prerequisite deadline. 

Credit by Examination/High School Language Credit

If you are not sure if this course is the correct level for you, please talk to your professor. You can earn college credit without taking this course by exploring all your options. You could easily be placed in the appropriate level, which could save you time and money.  You can earn credit for this course with the following:

• High School AP or IB scores
• Course Challenge Exams (ACCs in house exams for all languages)
• The CLEP National Exam (French, German, and Spanish only)

Please be aware that there is not a financial penalty incurred for a level change at ACC. Please visit our departmental website for more information or talk to your professor:  http://sites.austincc.edu/fola/credit-by-exam

REQUIRED TEXTS/MATERIALS/SOFTWARE 

• Option 1 - loose-leaf copy of: Sag mal: An Introduction to German Language and Culture, 3rd Edition (2021)  + 36 months access to the Supersite Plus & WebSAM ISBN 978-1-54331-606-3
• Option 2  - Digital version of the textbook +  36 months access to the Supersite Plus & WebSAM ISBN 978-1-54331-607-0

Please note: 

• The required material for this course is an online access code to the Sag Mal SuperSite which includes a digital version of the text. 
• These same materials are used for four semesters: GERM 1411, GERM 1412, GERM 2311 and GERM 2312.
• Digital access to the SuperSite is purchased for specific periods of time (36 months). If you are not able to continue with GERM 2312 within this time frame, you will have to pay to renew your access. 

At the end of the semester of GERM 2311, students should be able to do the following:

READING

• Find the main idea in the text
• Make inferences of a text based on familiar material
• Deduce meaning of new words from the context
• Utilize a German-English dictionary to their advantage

LISTENING

• Understand most German spoken at a normal or slightly slower than normal pace
• Develop active listening skills and coping strategies for filling in the gaps of imperfect comprehension
• Understand common vocabulary and idiomatic expression such as those presented on the DVDs and on the accompanying audio material
• Consider body language, gestures, and visual cues as an aid to understanding 

SPEAKING

• Carry on conversations in German about topics raised in the chapters 1-6 of the textbook and expanded in the videos
• Respond to oral questions and instructions in the classroom
• Express their opinion on different topics
• Ask questions on a variety of daily topics

WRITING

• Form German sentences with correct syntax and using appropriate context vocabulary
• Write organized short compositions on topics from chapters 1-6

CULTURAL AWARENESS

• Describe certain aspects of German-speaking cultures, and compare and contrast them to their own (travel, cities, festivals, commuting, cinema, celebrities, technology, visual arts, etc.)

General Education Learning Outcomes:

Students will demonstrate competence in:

• Critical Thinking: Gathering, analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating and applying information

• Interpersonal Skills (Teamwork): Interacting collaboratively to achieve common goals
• Civic and Cultural Awareness (Social Responsibility): Analyzing and critiquing competing perspectives in a democratic society, and comparing, contrasting, and interpreting differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices
• Personal Responsibility: Identifying and applying ethical principles and practices, and demonstrating effective learning, creative thinking, and personal responsibility
• Written, Oral and Visual Communication (Communication): Communicating effectively, adapting to purpose, structure, audience, and medium

Common Course Objectives 

The main objective of the course is to help students continue developing skills in the areas of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the German language at an intermediate level, and to help them increase their cultural awareness. Students are expected to come to class prepared to participate in daily discussions. The workbook and reading/writing assignments assist students in strengthening those skills.  The listening comprehension activities support comprehension and fluency, and pronunciation activities help students be understood by native speakers.

Discipline-Level Learning Outcomes for German

At the end of the fourth semester of German, students should be able to:

• Read intermediate level texts and brief literary texts with reasonable comprehension
• Comprehend familiar materials 
• Use strategies to fill in the gaps of imperfect comprehension 
• Extract information from authentic materials on familiar topics
• Comprehend oral instructions, questions etc.
• Converse on familiar topics 
• Express abilities, likes, intentions, talents, and desires in the present and past
• Express permission or obligation
• Talk about the past and a sequence of events in the past
• Talk about directions and locations
• Talk about what will happen
• Make hypothetical statements
• Use reflexive verbs and pronouns
• Describe people and things using relative clauses 
• Use infinitive clauses to state goals and intentions
• Focus on the effect of the action and on events in the past 
• Use correct word order 
• Write compositions on familiar topics 
• Continue developing awareness of the culture of the target language