N A M R E G M U L U C R I R U C d n a a l e Z w e N e h n t i Published 2002 for the Ministry of Education by Learning Media Limited, Box 3293, Wellington, New Zealand. www.learningmedia.co.nz Copyright © Crown 2002, except the photograph used on the cover and pages 27 and 85, which is copyright © Gillian Candler 2001 All rights reserved. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Dewey number 430 ISBN 0 478 26666 9 Item number 26666 C o n t e n Contents t s 5 Foreword 6 Introduction 8 Why Learn German? 10 Some Issues for Learning and Teaching German 13 The Essential Skills 13 Attitudes and Values 14 Learning-how-to-learn Partnership 16 Communicative Language Teaching 19 The Process of Teaching and Learning 20 The Structure of German in the New Zealand Curriculum 20 Levels 20 Proficiency Statements 21 Achievement Objectives and Examples 21 Strands 22 Suggested Language Focus and Vocabulary 23 Suggested Learning and Assessment Activities 24 The National Qualifications Framework: Assessment against Standards and for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement 25 An Approach to Programme Planning 26 The Programme-planning Cycle 27 German in the New Zealand Curriculum: Levels 1–8 29 Levels 1 and 2 Proficiency Statement: Emergent Communication 30 Level 1: Emergent Communication 36 Level 2: Emergent Communication 43 Levels 3 and 4 Proficiency Statement: Survival Skills 44 Level 3: Survival Skills 50 Level 4: Survival Skills 57 Levels 5 and 6 Proficiency Statement: Social Competence 58 Level 5: Social Competence 64 Level 6: Social Competence 71 Levels 7 and 8 Proficiency Statement: Personal Independence 72 Level 7: Personal Independence 78 Level 8: Personal Independence 86 Glossary of Terms F o r e w o Foreword r d New Zealand needs people who are fluent in a variety of international languages in order to participate successfully in cultural exchanges, diplomacy, education, trade, and tourism. Increasing the number of New Zealanders with German- language and intercultural skills is an important step in maintaining and strengthening New Zealand’s social, economic, and political ties with German- speaking countries. Learning new languages plays a valuable part in the education of young New Zealanders. German in the New Zealand Curriculum provides the basis for German language programmes in primary and secondary schools. It gives students the opportunity to learn German from the earliest practicable age and sets out a clear progression of achievement in language skills and cultural knowledge. German in the New Zealand Curriculum is designed to assist teachers to plan and implement programmes that encourage students to broaden their knowledge beyond cultural stereotypes and national boundaries and enable them to communicate effectively with other German speakers in a range of social situations. In 1988, the Department of Education published Syllabus for Schools: German in Secondary Schools. German in the New Zealand Curriculum has been developed as a result of extensive consultation with leading teachers and educators in the field of German language teaching. Draft guidelines were prepared and circulated to schools and other interested groups for comment in 2001. The views of all those who responded have been taken into account in preparing these final curriculum guidelines. I am grateful to all those who contributed to this project, including the writers, the members of the review group, reference groups, Ministry staff, advisers, members of the Goethe-Institut, and all the teachers who so willingly contributed their time, experience, and expertise. Howard Fancy Secretary for Education 5 I n t r o d u Introduction c t German is included in Language and Languages, an essential learning area of i o The New Zealand Curriculum Framework. n All students benefit from learning another language from the earliest practicable age. Such learning broadens students’ general language abilities and brings their own language into sharper focus. It enriches them intellectually, socially, and culturally, offers an understanding of the ways in which other people think and behave, and furthers international relations and trade. Students will be able to choose from a range of Pacific, Asian, and European languages, all of which are important to New Zealand’s regional and international interests. The New Zealand Curriculum Framework, page 10 Learning German plays a valuable part in the education of young New Zealanders. The publication of these German curriculum guidelines signals to German-speaking people around the world that New Zealand is seriously interested in maintaining and strengthening its social, economic, and political ties with German-speaking countries. German in the New Zealand Curriculum provides teachers with a basis for planning programmes for students learning German in New Zealand primary and secondary schools. Such programmes will make German language and culture accessible to learners and will raise awareness of the importance of the German language. These curriculum guidelines are also intended to stimulate the development of teaching resources and to encourage dynamic and innovative teaching approaches that are responsive to the individual needs of learners. The document is designed to be flexible enough to support many different kinds of learning programmes. This flexibility is essential because the needs and interests of individual learners differ and because German is taught in a variety of contexts (including primary, intermediate, middle, and secondary schools) and in different ways (for example, face-to-face in classrooms and through distance education). For every two of the eight curriculum levels,1 the guidelines include a proficiency statement. At each level, there is a list of achievement objectives (with examples), along with the following strands: sociocultural aspects, topics, text types, receptive skills (listening and reading), and productive skills (speaking and writing). There are also lists of structures and vocabulary typically associated with these objectives. Finally, there is a list of suggested learning and assessment activities. Although some teachers may wish to introduce achievement objectives in the order in which they are listed within a level, others may prefer to reorder and/or combine the achievement objectives in ways they consider more suitable for particular groups of learners. Refer to pages 25–26 for further information about using the curriculum for programme planning and to page 21 for more suggestions about when the achievement objectives may be introduced. 1 In these guidelines, the term “level” always means “curriculum level” unless otherwise specified. 6 In preparing these guidelines, reference was made to a considerable body of national and international research on the teaching and learning of modern languages. In particular, reference was made to the draft Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages.2 That framework was considered important because it provides a comprehensive, transparent, and coherent account of language competencies. In addition, it is designed to assist teachers, curriculum designers, and governments to plan language teaching in ways that allow for meaningful forms of assessment and for meaningful comparisons across languages in terms of the articulation and achievement of objectives at different levels. For example, the same overall objective may appear at the same level in curriculum documents designed for a range of different languages. However, the specific ways in which that overall objective is achieved at that level will vary considerably from language to language. 2 The Council of Europe (1996). Modern Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. A Common European Framework of Reference. Retrieved November 26 2001 from the Council of Europe website: 7 www.coe.int/portalT.asp W h y L e Why Learn German? a r Citizens of New Zealand are also citizens of the world. We need to be aware of n the importance of international languages, such as German, in relation to culture G and cultural exchanges, literature, music, science and technology, and trade and e tourism. r Over a hundred million people speak German as their first language, and m millions more speak it as a second language. a • German is spoken throughout a large area of central Europe, where it is the n national language of Germany and Austria and is one of the four national ? languages of Switzerland. • German is widely used as a lingua franca in eastern European countries. • There are German-speaking communities in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Northern Italy, Eastern Belgium, and Eastern France, as well as in North and South America, South Africa, and Australia. • There is a considerable number of German speakers in New Zealand, and many New Zealanders learn German. German and English belong to the same language family, and so it is easier for speakers of English to learn German than it is for them to learn many other languages. German and English share a wide range of concepts and vocabulary. In fact, about 35 percent of English words have German origins. German and English use almost the same alphabet, and German spelling and pronunciation present few difficulties for English speakers. Standard German is used almost universally in German writing. New Zealand students who become familiar with this variety of German will be able to communicate with speakers of German throughout the world. Germany is currently the third largest economy in the world. It represents one of New Zealand’s largest markets, particularly in the areas of tourism and agricultural and food products. Young people who combine study of the German language with study of business, law, trade, science, engineering, technology, tourism, politics, or music may find excellent career opportunities. The study of German in New Zealand receives considerable professional support from various sources, including the Goethe-Institut in Wellington, and there are many opportunities for students of German to gain scholarships for overseas study or to participate in exchanges. 8 By learning German, young New Zealanders can: • broaden their understanding of people and their languages and cultures; • develop skills, attitudes, and understandings that will help them to learn other languages; • learn more about their own first language through becoming aware of how it resembles, and differs from, the German language; • become confident in communicating with native German speakers about personal and cultural issues, trade, travel, tourism, and other areas of mutual interest; • learn to appreciate and enjoy the literatures and cultures of German- speaking countries and people; • broaden their career opportunities, both in New Zealand and internationally; • travel with confidence not only in Germany but also in the other countries where German is a day-to-day medium of communication; • participate more fully as citizens of a multilingual world in which many different languages are spoken and many people can speak two, three, or more of them. Learning another language can improve performance in the learner’s first language and is highly recommended not only for students who have particular strengths in language learning but also for those who find language and language-related activities challenging. Above all, learning German can be fun. Enjoyment and a sense of achievement are likely to provide the strongest motivation for learning in the early years. 9 S o m e I Some Issues for Learning and Teaching s s German u e Teachers should be aware of the following important issues relating to the s teaching and learning of German. f o The Need for a Flexible Curriculum r There are growing demands on language-learning programmes. Teachers plan L programmes for students with diverse needs within a range of learning situations. e Languages are often introduced in primary, intermediate, and middle schools a as well as being taught in secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Many r n students learn languages in the context of distance education. i Learning another language offers intellectual challenges for all students and n can improve their performance in their first language. Teachers need to cater for g students with very different aptitudes and abilities, including students with a special needs (for example, students who have varying degrees of sight or hearing n impairment). In every class, students respond in various ways to the learning d activities provided. The curriculum, then, needs to be flexible and adaptable if it is to be useful to teachers and students. T In the context of the seamless curriculum, German in the New Zealand e a Curriculum provides language educators with an indication of what they can c expect their students to have achieved at each curriculum level. This information h will help them to assess their students in order to plan for their needs as the i students move from one learning environment to another. n Teachers should not feel inhibited about responding to the needs and interests g of their own students, even where this means introducing particular achievement G objectives much earlier than is indicated in the curriculum. For example, some e teachers may feel that some or all of their students would benefit from being r introduced to simple ways of referring to past and future events, even in the early m stages of learning. They may feel that this allows for more interesting and varied a communication. Or teachers may wish to introduce a more complex structure, for n example, Sie hat braune Augen (5.4) when students are communicating about physical characteristics in order to achieve 2.5. So long as the students can cope, there is no reason why such decisions should not be taken. However, summative assessment will relate to the curriculum itself rather than to any extensions to that curriculum that are introduced in the case of particular groups or individuals. 10