GERMAN LANGUAGE

The course contributes to the objective of the "solid language preparation" of the students of the Master's programme "Relazioni internazionali comparate - Comparative International Relations” . It consists of the theoretical course (30 hours, 2nd semester) held by Prof. Giuliana Scotto and of language exercises (60 hours). The overall objective is to reach a communicative competence, applied to possible professional contexts and topics relevant to one's own pathway, of level B2 (of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) in reading and level B1+ in oral production and interaction.

1. Knowledge and understanding of the textual, morphosyntactic, lexical, linguistic and also specialised (international policy) elements necessary for communication at B1+/B2 level.
2. Ability to apply the knowledge in reading and translating texts on topics relevant to one's studies (short essays, newspaper articles, interviews, etc.), in oral production and interaction and, to a limited extent, in written interaction.
3. Autonomy of judgement: Being able to search for and choose texts corresponding to a topic of own interest.
4. Communicative skills: being able to read and understand a variety of different text types for different audiences on political topics. Being able to present orally (in short presentations) topics and issues of international politics discussed in the analysed texts, being able to argue and answer listeners' questions. Being able to ask questions (from the audience or as a journalist at a press conference). Being able to write short written messages (e.g. e-mails to arrange an appointment). Being able to interact in informal conversations (greetings, introductions, conversation about educational and professional experiences, etc.).
5. Learning skills: Being able to make independent use of reference works such as dictionaries, grammars and online tools.

B1 Level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

The teaching module focuses on reading, understanding and occasional translation (in Italian or English) of informative texts on German political reality and on international relations, with particular regard to the European Union, to Eastern Europe, economic globalization and climate change. The grammatical structures necessary for reading will also be analyzed. Each student will deepen a topic of their own interest, pertaining to the thematic areas mentioned above and agreed with the teacher, through the reading of texts found independently and collected in a "portfolio" (approx. 5-8 texts with 5000-6000 words). Reading texts on the same subject has the function of progressively increasing thematic and lexical knowledge and, therefore, facilitating reading itself (narrow reading).
The language exercises are mainly dedicated to productive skills: oral production and interaction and, to a limited extent, written expression. Starting from informal exchanges (greeting, presentation, conversation on educational and professional experiences, etc.) and from short written messages (e.g. e-mails to arrange an appointment), we will arrive at presentations (exposition of facts and opinions, also with the support of multimedia tools) on a topic of German politics and/or international relations, normally the one chosen by the student for in-depth reading.

LANGUAGE EXERCISES:
The language exercises are mainly dedicated to the acquisition and practicing of productive skills: oral production and interaction and written expression focusing on different text types relevant to the course. During the exercises, students will practise informal exchanges (greetings, introductions, conversations about educational and professional experiences, etc.), short written messages (e.g. e-mails to arrange an appointment), and work on oral presentations (Referate, short presentations on facts and opinions, also with the support of multimedia tools) on topics of German politics and/or relevant to international relations, usually the one chosen by the student for his/her portfolio.

MANDATORY TEXTS:
For the preparation of the reading of texts on political topics, see the web portal "TATSACHEN ÜBER DEUTSCHLAND” on German foreign policy, society, economy, science and culture. See in particular the section 'Politisches System und Föderalismus': https://interactive.deutschland.de/epapertued/epaper-2023_Tatsachen_DE/tatsachen-2023-deu.html#182

Students shall have the text in class.

Further materials can be found on the website “BUNDESZENTRALE FÜR POLITISCHE BILDUNG” with a wide series of articles on politics, economics, history : http://www.bpb.de/

Bilingual dictionary:

IL NUOVO DIZIONARIO DI TEDESCO. DIZIONARIO TEDESCO-ITALIANO, ITALIANO-TEDESCO, di L. Giacoma e S. Kolb, Bologna: Zanichelli 2009, 2672 pages., (ISBN 978-8808177681).

Monolingual dictionary:
PONS Großwörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache (von W. Wolski, Stuttgart: Klett 2011, mit CD-ROM, 978-3125170476), also online http://de.pons.com/%C3%BCbersetzung/deutsch-als-fremdsprache ,or the bilingual dictionaries by DUDEN, LANGENSCHEIDT or WAHRIG.

Written and oral exams. The verification of the expected learning outcomes is structured as follows:
1. Written examination: a) reading and understanding of approx. 1 excerpt page of the text in programme, Tatsachen über Deutschland; translation of an extract from the text, duration 45 min.;

b) short written production (e-mail), duration 45 min. The use of a monolingual and/or bilingual dictionary is permitted in this part.

2. Oral examination (Referat): c) The candidate presents the topic addressed in the in-depth reading of his/her portfolio in the form of an oral presentation (10-15 minutes) and answers questions.

All parts must be sufficient. For the final grade the individual parts are weighted as follows: a) 30%, b) 20%, c) 50%.

Prof. Scotto's module: reading, analysis, discussion and translation of passages in collaboration with students; frontal presentation of topics related to political language and grammar.
Language exercises: with active student participation.

Teaching languages: German and Italian.

Students with disabilities and/or DSA taking this course are invited to report their requests to Prof. Scotto and contact the Disability and DSA Service: disabilita@unive.it, https://www.unive.it/pag/9227/

written and oral