German

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of German language and culture.

German language learning and use

At this stage, games, music, movement, familiar routines, and imaginative activities such as role-plays provide essential scaffolding and relevant contexts for language development. Learners engage with the sounds, shapes and patterns of German through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. They identify and use simple formulaic expressions, one- or two-word responses to prompts and cues, and non-verbal German communication strategies. They learn to write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to write words and simple sentences independently using modelled language, for example, by matching pictures with single words, labels or captions.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context of interaction is the language classroom, as learners interact with the teacher and with one another. Their use of German relates primarily to classroom routines and activities, draws on curiosity about the world around them, and engages their interest in play, movement and games.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas, and join in stories, songs, play and simple conversations. Physical, virtual and digital resources provide access to additional German language and cultural interactions, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of their peers in other German-speaking contexts.

Features of German language use

Learners become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of German, approximating the pronunciation and phrasing of single words and short phrases, including distinctive sounds such as ch, r, th, u and z, and diphthongs such as au, ei, eu and ie. They use simple basic sentence structures and familiar vocabulary for everyday functions such as greetings, asking and answering questions, responding to instructions, and participating in games, performances and simple shared tasks. They learn to write single words and simple phrases, noticing the use of the Eszett and how an Umlaut changes the sound of vowels. They notice similarities and differences between German and English. They use modelled language to produce their own short texts and to interact. They begin to notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that German speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. As they communicate about differences and similarities, they begin to understand that they are part of a connected world. This introduction to the reflective dimension of intercultural language learning begins to develop an understanding of culture.

Level of support

Support is provided through visual and tactile materials such as pictures, realia, objects and charts, and through the use of gesture and movement. The teacher provides prompts, cues, and opportunities for repetition and recycling to help learners identify and remember frequently used words and simple phrases. Learners rely on modelled language, scaffolded tasks, feedback and encouragement to build their language capability.

The role of English

Learners are encouraged to use German whenever possible, particularly when engaging in classroom interactions and routines. The teacher uses German as much as possible for instruction. English is used for explanation and discussion, allowing learners to communicate about differences and similarities they notice between German and their own language(s), to ask questions about language and culture, and to consider their experience of learning German.

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The nature of the learners

At this level, children are developing awareness of their social world and membership of various groups, including that of the German class. They have developed initial literacy in English, and this assists to some degree in learning German, such as writing in the Roman alphabet. They benefit from varied, activity-based learning that builds on their interests and capabilities and makes connections with other areas of learning.

German language learning and use

The development of oral proficiency at this stage continues to rely on rich language input in different modes and from different sources. Learners build active listening and comprehension skills, using contextual, grammatical, phonic and non-verbal cues. Language is authentic with some modification, involving familiar vocabulary and simple structures. The balance between listening and speaking gradually shifts as learners are supported to use the language themselves in familiar contexts and situations, exchanging simple ideas and information, and participating in predictable activities and interactions, shared tasks, performance and play. They continue to build vocabulary that can be adapted for different purposes, and to use simple grammatical forms with some accuracy to communicate in familiar contexts.

A balance between language knowledge and language use is established by integrating focused attention to grammar, vocabulary building, pronunciation, and non-verbal and cultural dimensions of language use with opportunities for purposeful communication.

Contexts of interaction

The contexts in which learners interact in learning and using German are primarily local – the classroom, school, home and community – with some access to wider communities of German speakers through audiovisual and digital technologies.

Texts and resources

Learners develop literacy skills and textual knowledge through supported engagement with a range of spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts. Imaginative texts (such as picture books, fairy tales, puppet plays, songs and digital games) involve the expressive and cultural dimensions of language. Procedural, informative and descriptive texts (such as recipes, annotated posters, and family and class profiles) show how language is used for a variety of purposes.

Features of German language use

Learners notice features of German communication such as the use of gestures, facial expressions and intonation patterns. They become familiar with the idea of grammatical gender and become familiar with how to use singular and plural forms. Learning German contributes to the process of making sense of their personal/social worlds that characterises this stage of learners’ development. As they encounter German language and culture they make comparisons with their own language(s) and culture(s) and consider their own ways of communicating. This leads to exploring concepts of identity, commonality and difference, and to becoming aware of themselves as communicators in particular cultural contexts and communities.

Level of support

This stage of learning involves extensive support. Form-focused activities build learners’ grammatical knowledge and understanding, developing accuracy and control in spoken and written German. Teachers provide models and examples; introduce language, concepts and resources needed to manage and complete the task; make time for experimentation, drafting and redrafting; and provide support for self-monitoring and reflection.

The role of English

Learners use German for classroom routines and structured learning tasks, and for listening to and viewing German texts. English is used for class discussions, such as noticing and discussing aspects of German language and culture; for comparing English and German languages and cultures; and for reflecting on the process of learning another language.

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The nature of the learners

At this level, students are expanding their social networks, experiences and communication repertoire in both their first language and German. They continue to need guidance and participate in structured, collaborative tasks that both recycle and extend language. They are gaining greater independence and becoming more conscious of their peers and social context, and of the world around them. They are noticing additional similarities and differences between German language and culture and their own.

German language learning and use

Learners use German with one another and the teacher for an increasing range of purposes: exchanging information, expressing ideas and feelings, and functioning within a German learning environment. They are able to work increasingly independently, but enjoy working collaboratively as well as competing with one another. Learners’ ability to communicate within familiar contexts is developing in terms of fluency and accuracy. Their pronunciation, intonation and phrasing are more confident, and they control and access wider vocabulary resources and use an increasing range of strategies to negotiate meaning. Shared tasks develop social, cognitive and language skills, and provide a context for purposeful language experience and experimentation. Focused attention to language structures and systems, literacy skills development, and exploration of cultural elements of communication are conducted at least in part in German. Learners use digital technologies to support their learning in increasingly independent and intentional ways, such as exchanging resources and information with one another and with young people of the same age in German-speaking communities, accessing music and media resources, maintaining blogs and other web pages, creating presentations, and participating in social networks.

Oracy development at this level includes active listening to a range of input from different sources and building more elaborated conversational and interactional skills. This involves turn-taking, ‘reading’ language for cultural and contextual meaning, building on others’ contributions, and making appropriate responses and adjustments. Learners begin to engage in debate and discussion. Individual and group oral presentation and performance skills are developed through researching and organising information; structuring, rehearsing and resourcing the content of presentations; and selecting appropriate language to engage particular audiences.

Contexts of interaction

The contexts in which learners interact in learning and using German are sometimes extended beyond the classroom, school, home and community as they have some access to German speakers and cultural resources in wider contexts and communities such as through the use of digital technologies.

Texts and resources

Literacy development involves increasingly independent engagement with a wider range of texts. Learners use a range of cues and decoding strategies to assist comprehension. They make connections between ideas, contexts and language within and between texts. Learners are able to provide simple summaries of and responses to texts. They begin to produce clearly structured original texts for different audiences and purposes. With support they are able to edit their own written work for common grammatical and orthographic errors.

Features of German language use

Learners increase their range of German vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar and textual knowledge. They use present tense forms of regular
and irregular verbs, including some modal verbs and common separable verbs, and use plural forms of nouns and possessive adjectives. They add detail and expand simple sentences by using adverbs, phrases and some conjunctions. They move between statement, question and imperative forms and use simple negative constructions. They develop metalanguage to comment on grammar and vocabulary. As they use German to interact in different situations and to engage with different resources, learners develop an understanding of how language and culture influence each other. They learn to recognise how language features and expressions reflect cultural values and experiences, for example, language variation relating to age, gender, and relationship between participants, and how grammatical forms or vocabulary choices can affect the ‘meaning’ that is made, for example, using informal or formal forms of address, or using adjectives expressing approval or disapproval. This leads to considering their own ways of communicating and using language, and to thinking about the construction of personal identity and the notion of multiple identities.

Level of support

While learners work more independently at this level, ongoing and systematic scaffolding, feedback and review support the interactive process of learning. Modelling and scaffolding are incorporated into task activity. Support materials include models, stimulus materials, and resources such as word charts, vocabulary lists, dictionaries and electronic reference resources.

The role of English

While the use of German in the classroom increases at this level, the use of English for discussion, reflection and explanation ensures the continued development of learners’ awareness of the nature and function of language generally as well as of their own emerging intercultural capability. Using both German and English in the classroom develops a sense of what it means to be bilingual.

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The nature of the learners

These years represent a transition to secondary school. Students in this sequence bring with them an established capability to interact in different situations, to engage with a variety of texts and to communicate with some assistance about their immediate world and that of German-speaking communities. They have experience in analysing the major features of the language system and in reflecting on the nature of intercultural exchanges in which they are involved.

German language learning and use

German is used for a range of classroom interactions and transactions, and for creating and maintaining a new class dynamic, explaining and practising language forms, reflecting on ways of thinking and learning, and developing cultural understanding. Learners are encouraged to socialise and interact with users of German beyond the classroom. Additional opportunities for interaction in the target language are provided by purposeful and integrated use of digital technologies, including social media and a range of applications. Learners work collaboratively and independently in the target language, exploring different modes and genres of communication with particular reference to their current social, cultural and communicative interests and needs. They pool information, language knowledge and resources to plan, problem-solve, monitor and reflect. They use and adapt modelled and rehearsed language in familiar and unfamiliar contexts, increasingly generating original language. They make cross-curricular connections and explore intercultural experiences and perspectives, such as the notion of a shared understanding.

Contexts of interaction

While the primary context for learning is usually the German language classroom, there may be opportunities for interacting with peers in German-speaking contexts and with other learners of German, such as through the use of technology or relationships with partner schools. Learners may also have some contact with German speakers and cultural events in the local community.

Texts and resources

Learners listen to, read, view and interact with a widening range of texts for a variety of purposes (informative, transactional, imaginative, expressive). They apply learnt processing strategies and language knowledge, drawing on their grammatical and vocabulary knowledge and their understanding of text conventions and patterns to obtain meaning from texts. They make connections between texts and cultural frames, and reflect on aspects of the variability of language, identifying how cultural values and perspectives are embedded in language and how language choices determine how people, issues and circumstances are represented. They plan, create and present more complex and varied imaginative, informative and persuasive texts (shared stories, poetry, songs/raps, blogs, advertisements, reports, journal entries), applying appropriate conventions of text types. They design interactive events and collaborative tasks, and participate in discussions, games and competitions.

Features of German language use

Learners gain more control of grammatical and textual elements such as the case system, prepositions and tenses, using the present perfect (Perfekt) tense of verbs conjugated with haben and sein and the simple past (Imperfekt) tenses. They use German with increasing accuracy and fluency, drafting and editing texts to improve structure and effect and to clarify meaning. Learners build on their cumulative experience of learning languages to analyse the relationship between language and culture more critically. They identify cultural references in texts and consider how language frames and communicates perspectives and values. They make comparisons between their own language(s) and German, and reflect on the complexities involved in moving between languages and cultural systems. They monitor and reflect on their own intercultural experience and capability as second language learners, and identify their own personal and community practices and identities that reflect cultural influence.

Level of support

Particular support is required at this stage of second language learning to manage the transition to post-primary schooling and to encourage continued engagement. Opportunities to review and consolidate prior learning are balanced with provision of engaging and relevant new experiences and connections. Students are supported to develop increasing autonomy as language learners and users, to self-monitor, and to reflect on and adjust language in response to their experience in diverse contexts.

The role of English

While German is used in more extended and elaborated ways at this level, English is used when appropriate to allow for explanation, analysis and reflection in relation to abstract concepts.

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The nature of the learners

At this level, students bring to their learning existing knowledge of German language and culture and a range of learning strategies and experiences. They are increasingly aware of the world beyond their own and are engaging with youth-related and social and environmental issues. They require continued guidance and mentoring but work increasingly independently to analyse, reflect on and monitor their language learning and intercultural experiences. They are considering future pathways and options, including how German could be part of these.

German language learning and use

Learners interact with peers, teachers and other German speakers in immediate and local contexts relating to their social and learning worlds, and with unfamiliar German-speaking communities and cultural resources through a range of physical, virtual and online environments. This is a period of language exploration and vocabulary expansion, and of experimentation with a wider range of modes of communication, for example, digital, collaborative performance and group discussions. Greater control of language structures and systems, and understanding of the variability of language use increase confidence and interest in communicating in a growing range of contexts. Learners use German to initiate, sustain and extend interactions in situations such as negotiating a resolution to a disagreement; to access and exchange information; to express feelings and opinions; to participate in imaginative and creative experiences; to develop, analyse, interpret and translate a wider range of texts and experiences; and to reflect on and evaluate learning experiences. They use German more fluently, with a greater degree of self-correction and repair, and reference the accuracy of their target language use against a stronger frame of knowledge of grammar. They demonstrate understanding of language variation and change; of how intercultural experience, technology, media and globalisation influence language use and forms of communication. Task characteristics and conditions are more complex and challenging. They provide opportunities for collaborative language planning and performance, the development of translating and interpreting tools, and strategic use of language and cultural resources.

Contexts of interaction

The contexts for learning and using German are regularly extended beyond the classroom. Learners interact with teachers, peers and members of German-speaking communities face-to-face and via online technologies. They have opportunities to engage with German speakers and cultural events in the wider community, such as in the media, guest speakers, exchange assistants/students, film festivals, community events or in-country travel.

Texts and resources

Learners build on and extend their knowledge of different types of text and language functions through balancing focused attention to language forms and structures with text creation and performance. They work with a wider range of fiction and nonfiction texts, which allows for exploration of themes of personal and societal relevance, for example, global issues, identity and relationships, diversity and inclusivity. They develop additional analytical tools, including consideration of literary form and devices, and ways in which language choices empower, build identity and are influenced by audience, context and purpose. They identify how texts shape perspectives and meaning.

Features of German language use

Learners expand their knowledge and control of grammatical elements such as register, future tense, reflexive verbs and subordinate clauses. In-depth investigation of the links between German, English and other languages they know strengthens learners’ intercultural capability. They examine the processes involved in learning and using a different language, recognising them as cognitive, cultural and personal as well as linguistic. They explore the reciprocal nature of intercultural communication: how moving between different languages and cultural systems impacts on ways of thinking and behaving; and how successful communication requires flexibility, awareness and openness to alternative ways. They develop the capacity to ‘decentre’ from normative ways of thinking and communicating, to consider themselves through the eyes of others, and to communicate in interculturally appropriate ways.

Level of support

Learners are increasingly aware of and responsible for their own learning, working independently and collaboratively to address their learning needs. Resources are required to support this process, such as technological support for vocabulary expansion, graphic organisers, modelled texts, dictionaries and teacher feedback. Students require continued explicit instruction on the grammatical system and opportunities to discuss, practise and apply their knowledge. They monitor their own progress and learning, such as through the use of e-journals or folios, using these to reflect on their language learning and intercultural experience.

The role of English

While sustained use of German is expected at this level, English continues to be used when necessary for substantive discussion, explanation and analysis. This allows learners to communicate in depth and detail about their experience of learning German and to express ideas, views and experiences at a level beyond their current level of proficiency in German. English may be used in conjunction with German to conduct research, to translate or to communicate bilingually.

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