I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Intermediate German I

2. Course Prefix & Number:
GERM 2401

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 4

Lecture Hours: 4

4. Course Description:

This course builds on the skills acquired in the beginning German sequence. It focuses on a more in-depth use of grammar, conversation, vocabulary development, pronunciation, and composition. Course content reflects the needs of college-age students or professionals living, working, or traveling abroad. Readings of various types are included from newspapers, magazines, literary works, and other cultural sources. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are all emphasized. All courses are sequential. Students must have completed GERM 1402 or at least 2 full years of High School level German within the past 3 years with a final course grade of a "B-" or higher. MnTC Goals 6 and 8

5. Placement Tests Required:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

8. Prerequisite (Entry) Skills:
Students should be able to demonstrate appropriate comprehension and speaking skills equivalent to the novice-high through intermediate-low proficiency level on the ACTFL guidelines within the first week of the course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

St. Cloud State University - GERM 201- Intermediate German 1, 4 credits

Minnesota State University, Mankato- GERM 201 -- Intermediate German I,   4 credits

3. Prior Learning - the following prior learning methods are acceptable for this course:

• Advanced Placement (AP)
• Specialty Schools
• CLEP
• Oral
• Demonstration

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 6 – Humanities and Fine Arts
• Goal 8 – Global Perspective

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate oral communication skills	Demonstrate increasing oral proficiency in the language through class discussions, presentations, small group activities and/or interviews with the instructor.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Interpret literary works in the target language and in terms of the culture being studied, providing cross-cultural understanding, appreciation, and comparison.
Demonstrate interpersonal communication skills
Apply ethical principles in decision-making
Work as a team member to achieve shared goals
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Discuss/Compare characteristics of varied German-speaking cultures through the analysis of products, practices and perspectives.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Demonstrate increasing proficiency in the four communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) in alignment with the ACTFL Performance Descriptors for the Intermediate Range;
• Express their own thoughts and present information and personal preferences on topics relevant to them and their immediate environments;
• Begin to create messages on general-interest and work-related topics;
• Initiate, maintain, and end a conversation to satisfy basic needs and/or to handle a simple transaction;
• Understand, ask and answer a variety of questions relevant to them and their immediate environment;
• Recognize and use some culturally appropriate vocabulary, expressions and gestures when participating in everyday interactions;
• Demonstrate an understanding of main ideas, some supporting details and begin to make inferences from a variety of texts, such as simple stories, routine correspondence and short descriptive texts;
• Use the following strategies to comprehend texts: skim and scan; use visual support and background knowledge; predict meaning based on context or prior experience; use context clues, recognize word family roots, prefixed and suffixes;
• Demonstrate an increased understanding of history, political science, art, and music of the target culture through the target language (MnTC Goals 6, 8);
• Articulate an informed personal reaction to a variety of works in the arts and humanities (MnTC Goal 6);
• Analyze specific issues in a global context, focusing on alternative ways considering problems and proposing solutions (MnTC Goal 8); and
• Use the language beyond the classroom setting in order to acquire skills to enhance lifelong learning and to participate in the global community (MnTC Goal 8).

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. Presentation and discussion of materials in the target language
• Literary works
• Films & documentaries
• Works of art
• Architecture
• Instrumental and vocal music
2. The analysis of these works from a textual, historical, and social perspective
• Films
• Newspapers
• Documentaries
3. Outreach to authentic German-speaking communities
• Guest speakers
• Participation in community activities and events
4. The written or oral analysis of presented materials focused on fostering intercultural understanding and sensitivity
• Essays
• Presentations
• Journals
5. Activities based on exposure to and awareness of different cultures and different peoples who share a common language
• Linguistic
• Literary
• Creative
• Analytical
6. Grammar topics
• Present tense
• Modal auxiliaries and lassen
• Imperatives and future tense
• Simple past
• Present perfect and past perfect tenses
• Infinitives without zu
• Double infinitive constructions with modals
• Verb position in statements, questions & clauses
• Word order: time, manner, place, nicht
• Independent & dependent clauses and conjunctions
• Infinitives with zu
• Nominative and accusative cases, es gibt, and the dative case
7. Vocabulary topics. Vocabulary is specific to topics and readings from the text, but should include:
• Family/relationships
• Free time
• Technology/communication
• Environment
8. Culture. Students acquire cultural information for the purpose of understanding and appreciating the products, practices, and perspectives of other cultures.
• German perspectives
  • Social issues
  • Health
  • Communication
  • The environment