1. German Language Proficiency
At the end of each of these courses, students will demonstrate German language proficiency according to the 2012 ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines as follows:
101: Novice High; 102 Intermediate Low (Some higher)
201: Intermediate Low/ Intermediate Mid; 202: Intermediate Mid (Some higher)
301: Intermediate High; 302 Intermediate High/Advanced Low; 303: Advanced Low (Some higher)
400R: When preparing for graduation, students will complete the ACTFL Proficiency tests, including OPI (oral), WPT (written) and reading. The minimum aspiration is for Advanced Low across all these tests upon graduation.
2. Written Assignments and Research Papers
In written assignments, students will analyze and engage with concepts or German-language artifacts in a coherent, thoughtful manner appropriate to their course level. In research papers and capstone papers, students will demonstrate their abilities to 1) find problems and questions in the artifacts that they are discussing 2) compose thesis statements that make defensible claims that address the problems and questions in the artifact; 3) Compose a well-ordered argument that logically develops the ideas in the thesis statement; 4) Introduce specific supporting evidence through well-integrated quotes in carefully-crafted paragraphs.
3. German Language History
Describe and explain the critical changes and influences that shaped the history of the German language.
4. German Linguistic Structures
Describe the basic principles underlying the linguistic structure (e.g., word structure, sound system and sentence structure) of German and be able to recognize how this knowledge can help them increase their own receptive understanding and creativity with the German language.
5. Reading and Evaluating Sophisticated Texts
Read and summarize sophisticated texts, including but not limited to journal articles, on topics in linguistics and second language acquisition (including pedagogy). Students should be able to evaluate the content, limitations and argumentation of these texts.
6. Self-Reflection
Students will be able to reflect upon their own learning, language skills, writing, critical skills, etc. Students will be able to formulate for themselves the value of the time and effort that they have spent studying the German language and culture. Students will also be able to explain the experiences from their major in a way that will be recognized and understood by future employers and other members of the non-academic community.
7. Community-Based Learning and Engagement
Students will apply their learning in given classes to create projects that help contribute to the enrichment of others outside of those classes. They will move their research beyond the culmination of a final product submitted for a grade, bringing their work into the community and public domain, including helping projects outside the classroom in concrete ways, e.g., developing materials for an online lexicon project, creating enrichment materials and activities for K-16 German classes, creating posters and papers for conferences, being able to help other students in their learning and resarch. As a result, students will be able to articulate how their learning can be applied in real life and can be extended outside of the classroom and ultimately that their learning has and should have community impact.
