LA217-5-SP-CO:
German and Professional Skills
2024/25
Language and Linguistics
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Future
Monday 13 January 2025
Friday 21 March 2025
15
15 April 2025
Requisites for this module
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This module is intended for students of all departments with an outside option in their course structure, suitable for students with little or no previous knowledge of German. Students will acquire fundamental language skills in German alongside a specific focus on professional skills such as summarising and reporting, filtering written and spoken material for essentials, business communication, giving simple professional oral presentations in German.
Students will develop an understanding of the working environment and cultural background in German speaking countries. They will obtain the tools to enhance their employability via transferable skills, work on simple written business communication, their CV in German and their German LinkedIn profile.
The aims of this module are:
- To enable students to acquire an understanding of fundamental structures and characteristics of the German language.
- To equip students with a confident range of oral phrases in German for a professional context.
- To enable students to develop essential skills for the job market
- To provide students with an introduction to business German.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate elementary understanding of fundamental features of the German Language.
- read and write simple business related texts in German, filtering and summarising for meaning.
- Create presentation material using their own ideas and demonstrate oral skills in German.
- Demonstrate listening skills in German via filtering and summarising essential content from authentic German audio and video material. Part of this is decision making regarding relevant information based on task analysis.
- Demonstrate intercultural awareness relevant for business environments in German speaking countries.
- Link their academic knowledge with practical employability skills.
The module will be delivered over 10 weeks focussing on the following topics:
- Greetings, introductions, small talk, leave taking
- Politeness, formality, cultural expectations
- Talking about jobs, career plans, activities at work
- Business travel and accommodation
- Scheduling appointments, by email and on the phone
- Business lunch and dinner
This module will be delivered via:
- 3 weekly contact hours plus 5 hours self-study.
Students are expected to undertake the reading before classes and be prepared to engage in discussion.
Students are expected to prepare and deliver a five-minute presentation as part of the module.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Additional coursework information
Assessment via one short written class test and one oral assessment e.g., role play in a business setting or oral presentation.
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
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