| Table of Contents, Book Review Section, Vol. 35.1 (Spring 2002) | ||||
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| Elementary Textbooks | Grammar | Teaching Writing | Business German | |
| Pedagogy | Language Policy | Student Exchange | Dictionary | Editorial |
Tenberg, Reinhard, Susan Ainslie, Ruth Rach, Hyde Flippo, Herb Kernecker, Judith Matthews, and Jeanne Wood. Deutsch Plus: A Multi-Media Course for Beginners Learning German. Chicago: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company, 1998. Learner's Book (211 pp.), Instructor's Manual (160 pp.), Workbook (185 pp.), Video Guide (126 pp.), Test Bank (147 pp.), video program, and cassette program.
Deutsch Plus is, at its core, a video course for adult beginners published by the BBC in 1996. Understood and applied as a self-study video course, I believe the program would provide students with a vibrant and entertaining glimpse into the German-speaking world as well as a solid introduction to the German language. The attempt of the authors, however, to transform the material and market it as an introductory level textbook is unfortunate.
The video portion of the program consists of two parts. In the narrative portion, "Willkommen, Hallo, Erste Kontakte," available on five videocassettes, we follow the story of Nicolai Antonescu. Nico, a refugee from Rumania, is beginning to learn German in Cologne. His story takes us inside "Deutschland Plus," a television station, where he has just taken up the position of trainee (Volontär). As the story unfolds, Nico struggles to learn German and to establish himself within the work world.
These twenty episodes are extremely well produced. They grab the attention of the learner through stimulating images, video clips, and a gripping musical theme. All the characters are very well portrayed, and the professional relationships presented are true to German form. The storyline has lots of drama, too. Nico gets mixed up, unwittingly, with a German drug dealer, falls in love with a co-worker, and in the end gets a job as a graphic designer at "Deutschland Plus."
The second portion of the video program, "Treffpunkte," is available on a single videocassette. These non-scripted segments take us into the life of everyday Germans. There are a wide variety of themes, including gender roles, schooling, careers, and foreigners in Germany. Although well produced and interesting, the self-study aspect of the course is lost here, for the student is not guided through these video segments with corresponding activities in the main text. There are units called "Treffpunkte," but they have nothing to do with the video program. This is the point where Deutsch Plus suddenly moves from an independent-study course to a teacher-led course. This jump makes no sense to me and could only be confusing to the independent learner.
The overall goal of the two-part video program is to develop the listening skills of a beginning adult student of German. The authors argue that the use of "video sets the socio-cultural context for learning the language by introducing us to the people using it and their way of life." Structures are taught in the supporting course materials discussed below.
The video program is supported by a number of materials, but the central text is what the authors refer to as the Learner's Book.(Unlike the other materials, the main text isn't labeled. It is only referred to in the introduction as the Learner's Book.) Much like the video series it supports, the Learner's Book has a striking, colorful layout that is anything but boring. The video episodes are tied to the textbook through the use of stills from the video. This creates a nice logical flow from video to text. Each four-page unit presents the student with a variety of activities as well as information about German culture. Most of the unit activities involve vocabulary building and listening. The "Sprachtipps" in each section introduce essential aspects of German grammar in a colorful and economical fashion. A cassette program supports the listening exercises in each unit.
As the video and text move along, it becomes clear that the focus is on the development of functional skills in German. Periodically throughout the Learner's Book, the authors provide the student with tests to evaluate his/her progress in German. In addition to the units themselves, the Learner's Book includes an answer key, an overview of basic German grammar, audio transcripts, and a German-English glossary.
Deutsch Plus also offers students a Video Guide. The Video Guide consists of twenty, two-page "Programme" that support the twenty episodes of Nico's story. These activities, like those in the Learner's Book, emphasize vocabulary building and listening. The anwers for the "Programme" are located at the end of the Video Guide. A German tapescript for each episode is also available in the text as well as a translation of the German into English. The Video Guide does not support the "Treffpunkte" portion of the video program.
The Deutsch Plus German Workbook is divided into 36 units that correspond to the units in the Learner's Book. The purpose of the Workbook is to focus on the structure of the German language as it is presented in the Deutsch Plus video program. The authors of the Workbook have not, however, recycled video material and used it in the Workbook. Instead, they present independent learners with a wide variety of realia from everyday German life as well as short German texts, and contextualized grammatical exercises. The Workbook concludes with an answer key. Whereas the "Treffpunkte" portion of the video program and the Learner's Book don't correspond to one another, the Learner's Book and the Workbook do indeed work in tandem.
For those wishing to adopt Deutsch Plus for their classrooms, the authors provide an Instructor's Manual and a Test Bank. Although the Instructor's Manual provides lesson plans for each unit using a communicative approach, it does not integrate the Deutsch Plus video program into the classroom. In other words, the 36 unit lesson plans do not even make reference to the video program that provides the foundation of the course! I find this fact a huge oversight on the part of those who adapted the video program and developed its classroom concept.
From my perspective, Deutsch Plus has great value as an introductory German video program for independent adult learners. I think a self-study student could make very pleasant progress in German using the videocassettes, cassette tapes, the Learner's Book, the Workbook, and the Video Guide. As a first-year program, however, the entire package is neither fish nor fowl, therefore, for adult beginners in a classroom setting, I cannot recommend it as it is currently conceived.
Patrick Glenn Hagen
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Cohen, Ulrike. Zimmer frei Neu. Berlin: Langenscheidt, 2000. Paper 95 pp. + 77 pp.
Dieses Unterrichtswerk richtet sich an Erwachsene ohne Vorkenntnisse des Deutschen. Hauptsächlich sollen Hotelangestellte in "nicht deutsch-sprachigen Ländern" angesprochen werden, die sich weiterbilden und in ihrem Berufsfeld auf Deutsch spezialisieren wollen. Zimmer frei Neu, das mit einem Arbeitsbuch und einer CD bzw. Kassette zu haben ist, will das Hörverstehen und die Sprechfähigkeit von Hotelangestellten schulen, dabei setzt es die inhaltliche und fachliche Situation im Hotelbetrieb als bekannt voraus. Der/die Lernende nimmt während des gesamten Kurses die Rolle ein, die er/sie auch später innehat, nämlich die des/der Hotelangestellten.
Dieses "kurstragende Lehrwerk, das für eine Kursdauer von 100 bis 120 Unterrichtsstunden (45 Minuten) angelegt ist", greift in acht Kapiteln alle möglichen Situationen auf, die in einem Hotel passieren können.Von der Begrüßung der Gäste an der Rezeption bis hin zur Bezahlung und Verabschiedung wird eine Vielzahl von Situationen angeschnitten. Es erscheint mir dennoch möglich, das Material in kürzerer Zeit zu bearbeiten, gedacht ist an ein Semester mit einem Aufwand von vier Stunden Kursarbeit pro Woche.
Die Kapitel gehen auf folgende Themenbereiche ein: Ankunft der Gäste, Zimmer und Frühstück, Korrespondenz und Telefondienst, Hotelservice, Hinweise, Auskünfte und Mitteilungen, Angebote im Hotel, Angebote am Urlaubsort und Abreise der Gäste. Nebenbei werden auch kleine Episoden wie Zimmerpreise, Reklamationen der Gäste, gute Kinderbetreuung und Weckdienste angeschnitten. Anders als in anderen Lehrwerken gibt es keine festen Charaktere, mit denen sich der/die Lernende identifizieren kann. Das muss aber auch nicht sein, denn im Hotelberuf später sollen ebenfalls die unterschiedlichsten Menschen mit unterschiedlichen Bedürfnissen bedient werden. Die einzige Person, die konstant bleibt, ist der/die Lernende selbst, in seiner/ihrer Rolle im Hotel.
Jedes Kapitel umfasst 10 Seiten, die in jeweils vier große Teile gegliedert sind: Dialoge, Ausspracheschulung, Wortschatz und Strukturen. Die Dialoge geben einen guten Überblick auf alternative Konversationsgänge, sind aber nicht besonders originell oder kreativ geschrieben. Das Werk zielt eben auf eine internationale Kultur ohne regionalspezifische oder nationale Besonderheiten.
Als positiv hervorgehoben sei an dieser Stelle die Ausspracheschulung. Da eine gute Aussprache im Hotelbetrieb von Wichtigkeit ist, man denke nur an die telefonische Beratung und Reservierung, geht dieses Lehrwerk in jedem Kapitel intensiv auf gute Ausspracheübungen des Deutschen ein. Auf einfache, doch verblüffend eingängige und wirkungsvolle Art und Weise schafft es Cohen, dem/der Lernenden die Satzmelodie des Deutschen, die Akzentsetzung bei schwierigen Wörtern, den Rhythmus der Sprache, die Aussprache von langen und kurzen Vokalen, den harten und weichen Konsonanten oder dem "Murmelvokal 'r'" beizubringen ohne dass der Deutschunterricht zu einer reinen Sprechschulung abrutscht. Alles in diesem Lehrwerk ist berufsorientiert angelegt und kann später tatsächlich von dem/der Angestellten im Hotelalltag benutzt werden.
Der Kapitelwortschatz besteht teils aus einer bunt gemischten Sammlung von 20 Wörtern, die in den Themenbereich des Kapitels passen, teils aus strukturierten Clustern, die das Lernen systematisieren sollen.
Der letzte Teil umfasst die Grammatik. Hier werden Verbendungen, Bildung von Fragesätzen, Benutzung von Modalverben sowie Fälle und Zeiten besprochen--aber immer in direktem Zusammenhang mit der Berufspraxis eines/einer Hotelangestellten. Besonders positiv fällt die Klarheit und Übersichtlichkeit bei der Gestaltung und beim Aufbau dieser Seiten auf. Die grammatischen Erklärungen sind einfach und gut verständlich, obwohl alles ausschließlich auf Deutsch geschrieben ist.
In jedem Kapitel gibt es drei bis sechs Aufforderungen zu Rollenspielen. Der/die Lernende soll das bereits Durchgenommene mit einem Partner nachspielen oder variieren. Leider gibt es zu den Rollenspielen keine Anweisungen. Alles ist letztlich der Fantasie der Lernenden bzw. des/der Unterrichtenden überlassen. Die knappe Arbeitsanweisung "Spielen Sie...", die von ca. 10 bis 15 Satzbrocken und Fragen aus den Dialogen begleitet wird, ist einfach zu kurz. Vielleicht hätten kleine Szenarien vorgegeben werden können (mit Bildern?), die zum Spielen und Lösen der Problemsituation eingeladen hätten. Die Vielzahl der Spielmöglichkeiten im Werk ist allerdings als sehr positiv zu bewerten.
Das dazu passende Arbeitsbuch stimmt von der inneren Logik mit dem Lehrwerk überein. Hier können komplementäre Übungen, beispielsweise Lückentexte, Dialoge und Ausspracheübungen gefunden werden. Weiterführende Methoden für Arbeits- und Übungsaufgaben werden allerdings nicht geboten.
Zimmer frei Neu ist ein gutes und solides Werk für Einsteiger/innen, die Deutsch als Kommunikationssprache im Hotelbetrieb erlernen wollen. Schnell und effektiv kann die Kommunikation mit deutschen Gästen durch dieses Werk möglich sein. Ulrike Cohens Buch ist sehr zielgerichtet und kommt ohne überflüssigen Ballast oder Füllmaterial aus. Allerdings sollte die Lehrkraft etwas Fantasie und eigene Begeisterung in den Kurs mitbringen--vielleicht auch hier und da eigenes Material.
Birger Sachau
Pennsylvania State University
Delia,Rosemary, Daniela Dosch Fritz, Anke Finger, Stephen L. Newton, Lida Daves-Schneider, and Karl Schneider. Fokus Deutsch: Beginning German 1. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 358 pp.
Finger, Anke, Rosemary Delia, Daniela Dosch Fritz, Stephen L. Newton, Lida Daves-Schneider, and Karl Schneider. Fokus Deutsch: Beginning German 2. 392 pp.
Dosch Fritz, Daniela, Stephen L. Newton, Lida Daves-Schneider, and Karl Schneider. Fokus Deutsch: Intermediate German. 377 pp.
Fokus Deutsch, a video-based course for beginning and intermediate high school or college German, consists of three levels, each with its own textbook, workbook/laboratory manual, appropriate instructor's materials, audio tapes or CDs, and video tapes. In this well conceived and stimulating program, students acquire a basic knowledge of the language and culture of German-speaking Europe while viewing mini-dramas, interviews, and authentic newsreel footage as well as participating in more traditional foreign language classroom activities. One might call the Fokus Deutsch series a five-skills approach to teaching German. Speaking, listening, reading, writing, and learning about culture receive equal amounts of attention. Indeed, cultural content, often relegated to a reading at the end of the chapter or to tidbits of information in a sidebar, is at the core of the series and determines what students listen to, speak, read, and write.
Fokus Deutsch is not for those who lack above-average organizational skills or an adventurous spirit. To use the materials successfully, an instructor needs to have a dynamic personality and a thorough understanding of the series' components and their theoretical underpinning. And it is absolutely essential for students to have the opportunity to work extensively with the audio tapes/CDs and video tapes either in class or outside of class.
The Fokus Deutsch series employs a "modified German studies" or comprehension/culture-based" approach. Throughout the print and multimedia components, students are introduced to German, Austrian, and Swiss culture, and the authors understand culture in its broadest sense. While becoming familiar with highlights of the literature, visual art, architecture, music, geography, and history of German-speaking Europe, students also learn about other factors, such as sociolinguistic conventions and nonverbal interactional behavior. In addition, cultural themes and issues determine the grammar and vocabulary introduced in each chapter, and the students' newfound knowledge concerning the culture and language of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland is reinforced in exercises, role-plays, and other activities in the textbook and workbook/laboratory manual.
The authors also state that the Fokus Deutsch series gives students practice in the five national-standard Cs of foreign language education: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. As students gain knowledge about the formal and deep culture of German-speaking Europe, they develop their listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiencies and interact with one another and the teacher in a variety of communicative situations. At the same time, students develop the ability to use German to increase their knowledge of other disciplines, and they investigate the viewpoints of Germans, Austrians, and Swiss on global issues. By analyzing the structures of English and German and comparing U.S. customs and traditions with those of German-speaking Europe, students gain insight into the nature of language and culture. Finally, students are encouraged to use German outside of the classroom through work with Internet web sites and practice in German chat room protocol.
Although the authors have set themselves ambitious goals, they manage to keep the organization of the chapters in their textbooks simple and straightforward. Each textbook in the Fokus Deutsch series contains twelve chapters, and each chapter corresponds to a fifteen-minute video episode. An optional review lesson follows every third chapter. Opening with a list of cultural and linguistic goals, a short note or letter, and a photograph, a typical chapter moves quickly to the "Videothek," containing pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing activities for the video material. In the "Vokabeln" and "Strukturen" sections, students reinforce and expand their knowledge of vocabulary and grammar used in the chapter's video segment. In "Einblicke" (found only in levels one and two), students refine their knowledge of the chapter's cultural topic. Each chapter concludes with "Perspektiven," activities reviewing the cultural topic of the chapter and allowing students to practice their German-language skills, with special emphasis on guided reading and writing activities. A list of words and expressions is furnished for students to learn actively in the chapter's "Wortschatz."
The high quality and originality of the ancillary materials are worth praising. Although the organization of the textbook and that of the workbook/laboratory manual parallel each other, the exercises in the workbook are not an uninspired rehash of material covered in the textbook. To be sure, the authors concentrate on the cultural information, vocabulary, and grammar most recently learned by students, but they offer an impressive array of listening comprehension, matching, fill-in-the-blank, and open-ended exercises. Since the workbook contains an answer key, students can work independently. Also worthy of mention are the Student Viewer's Handbook, the Fokus Deutsch Electronic Language Tutor, and the "Fokus Internet" feature. Clearly, the instructor will have to choose wisely so that students are not overwhelmed.
Instructors are provided with a wealth of teaching aids. Along with more traditional items, such as an instructor's edition of the student textbook, an instructor's manual, and an instructor's audio program, a resource CD-ROM is available, containing photographs and drawings for creating overhead transparencies, grammar explanations and charts on PowerPoint slides, and two versions of all chapter tests in Microsoft Word 97 format.
The Fokus Deutsch series represents a complete German-language instructional package that will appeal to a wide spectrum of learners and instructors of beginning and intermediate German. The print materials and multimedia components are attractive, entertaining, and carefully edited, and the pace of instruction is challenging, but manageable. One word of caution to those thinking of adopting the series: the video tapes are not available free of charge; instead, they must be purchased from Annenberg/CPB at 1-800-LEARNER or <www.learner.org>.
David Witkosky
Auburn University Montgomery
Vorderwülbecke, Anne.Das Grammatikheft: Deutsch als Fremdsprache für Jugendliche und Erwachsene. Stuttgart: Klett, 1999. Paper, 46 pp.
Mit ihrem Grammatikheft bietet Anne Vorderwülbecke sowohl Lehrenden als auch Studierenden ein grundsolides Nachschlagewerk, in dem alle wichtigen Aspekte der Grammatik des Deutschen übersichtlich, präzise und erschöpfend dargestellt werden. Das Niveau der grammatikalischen Beschreibungen richtet sich dabei an der Prüfung Zertifikat Deutsch aus und entspricht in etwa den Anforderungen von Sprachkursen im zweiten Hochschuljahr. Beim Einsatz in Anfängerkursen mag die durchgängig verwendete Sprache Schwierigkeiten verursachen; für Auffrischer- und Quereinsteigerkurse ist das Buch allerdings ohne Einschränkungen zu empfehlen. Das Grammatikheft ist zwar als Addendum zu Kletts DaF-Serie Stufen konzipiert und verweist verschiedentlich auf Übungen aus diesem Lehrwerksprogramm. Jedoch handelt es sich bei Vorderwülbeckes Überblick zur Grammatik um ein eigenständiges Heft, das sich in den Unterrichtsalltage der meisten gängigen deutschen und amerikanischen Lehrwerksprogramme gut einfügen lassen sollte.
Die Struktur und Ausrichtung des Heftes beschreibt sehr zutreffend der zweite Untertitel, Übersichten, Lernhilfen, Regeln. Der Inhalt im Grammatikheft ist großzügig und übersichtlich angeordnet sowie durchgehend mit Bildern veranschaulicht. Abgesehen von der Umschlagsgestaltung wurde leider auf Farbe verzichtet, was jedoch beim Endpreis (etwa EUR 5,50) positiv zu Buche schlägt. Von ausführlichen, narrativen Erklärungen wurde weitgehend abgesehen; vielmehr sprechen die klaren Beispiele und tabellarischen Zusammenfassungen für sich. Der Lernprozeß wird durch Merksätze und Eselsbrücken unterstützt und vereinfacht. Einige dieser "mnemotechnischen Lernhilfen" (so der Umschlagtext) sind gut gelungen: "Unbetont--das ist ganz klar / sind Verbzusätze untrennbar". Andere Sätze mögen für zusätzliche Verwirrung sorgen, wie etwa dieser Reim zum Satzbau: "Was ich ganz klar im Mittelfeld seh', / ist: def., Ang., indef., nicht und E". Anders als dieser Abkürzungswust vermuten lassen mag, wird im Grammatikheft auf linguistischen Jargon weitgehend verzichtet. Die spärlich verwendeten (ausschließlich deutschen) metasprachlichen Termini und Abkürzungen werden eingangs aufgeführt. Unabhängig davon, mit welchem Lehrwerk man vorher gearbeitet hat, erklärt sich die sprachliche Beschreibungsebene, z.B. "D" für Dativ, bis auf einige Ausnahmen, wie etwa "Qualitativergänzung" anstelle des in Nordamerika wohl geläufigeren Ausdrucks "adverb(ial) of manner" (wie in "TMP"), von selbst. Ein wenig gewöhnungsbedürftig mag sein, dass syntaktische Regeln unter Zuhilfenahme von Rahmen erklärt werden.
Es seien hier stellvertretend für die vielen positiven Inhalte des Grammatikheft, das auch vor der Erklärung der schwierigen Abtönungspartikel ("flavoring particles") nicht zurückschreckt, zwei Abschnitte herausgegriffen, die gerade für anglophone Lerner sehr nützliche Hilfeleistungen bieten. Zum ersten ist dies die notwendige und sehr nützliche Betonung der unterschiedlichen Wortklassen innerhalb einer Wortgruppe, die sich durch ein gemeinsames semantisches Konzept ausgezeichnet (wie etwa die kausalen Wörter wegen/weil/deshalb). Die unterschiedlichen Verwendungen--als Präposition, Konjunktion oder Adverb--werden anhand von Beispielsätzen verdeutlicht, die syntaktischen Konsequenzen offensichtlich werden lassen. (Hier hätte die Autorin allerdings die eine oder andere Erklärung hinzufügen können, um die rein tabellarische Darstellung zu unterstützen.)
Beim zweiten Beispiel handelt es sich um Transferschwierigkeiten beim Einsatz von Präpositionen. Statt der gängigen Einteilung dieser Wortklasse nach dem Kasus des Präpositionalobjektes gruppiert Vorderwülbecke nach semantischen Kriterien. Dieses Vorgehen mag auf den ersten Eindruck ein wenig unübersichtlich erscheinen, erweist sich jedoch längerfristig als außerordentlich hilfreich. Den Unterschied zwischen Sätzen wie "Sie kommt aus Toronto" und "Er kommt vom Bahnhof" erklärt das Grammatikheft durch den Bedeutungsbereich der beiden "Woher?"-Teile, die nämlich im ersten Fall dem Kontext Städte/Ländernamen (ergo: "aus"), im zweiten Fall dem Kontext Institutionen ("von") zugehören. Gerade auf Fragen dieser Art, wie etwa hier nach der strukturellen Logik hinter dem Einsatzbereich individueller Präpositionen, liefert das Grammatikheft eindeutige und zufriedenstellende Antworten.
Als letzter Punkt sei die erfreuliche Tatsache erwähnt, dass das Grammatikheft die deutsche Sprache nicht nur unter dem Aspekt der Phrasenstrukturgrammatik beschreibt, sonder darüber hinaus auch einen Abschnitt beinhaltet, dem die Verbvalenz als zentrales Beschreibungsmodell zugrunde liegt. Diese Multiperspektivität von Vorderwülbeckes knappem und systematischem Überblick zur deutschen Grammatik trägt zusätzlich dazu bei, dass das Grammatikheft als rundum gelungen bezeichnet werden kann.
Gerd Bayer
Case Western Reserve University
Fandrych, Christian, and Ulrike Tallowitz.Klipp und Klar: Übungsgrammatik Grundstufe Deutsch in 99 Schritten. Stuttgart: Klett, 2000. Paper, 255 pp.
Der Titel dieser Übungsgrammatik ist Programm und zugleich Misson der beiden Autoren, die sich zum Ziel stellen, "kurz und knapp, klar und deutlich, einfach, praktisch und übersichtlich die 99 wichtigsten grammatischen Aspekte der deutschen Sprache" zu präsentieren. Damit soll der Nutzer effektiv auf die Prüfung Zertifikat Deutsch vorbereitet werden. Aber auch derjenige, der nicht auf diese Prüfung hinarbeitet, hat mit dieser Übungsgrammatik ein morphologisch-progessiv angelegtes und systematisch aufgebautes Werkzeug in der Hand. Voraussetzung für die Arbeit mit dieser Übungsgrammatik ist die Kenntnis der grundlegenden Konzepte der deutschen Grammatik. Hier wird Grammatik nicht erläutert, sondern die anschauliche Präsentation und die sich anschliessenden konkreten, kommunikativ-relevanten Übungsbeispiele garantieren dem Lernenden auf dem Niveau der Grundstufe eine Auffrischung und eine Vertiefung grammatischer Kompetenz.
Die Struktur der einzelnen Schritte ist übersichtlich und plausibel: modellieren und reproduzieren auf einen Blick. Das grammatische Problem wird zunächst durch eine Situation in Wort und Bild thematisiert und dann mit typischen Beispielen modelliert, wobei Wert auf eine übersichtliche Gestaltung in Tabellenform gelegt wird. Auf langwierige und komplizierte Erläuterungen wird verzichtet. Den Autoren gelingt es, jeden der 99 Schritte auf einer Seite unterzubringen, wobei die Progession vom einfachen Satz über Partner im Satz bis hin zu Satzkombinationen den Lernenden mit dem notwenigen Rüstzeug für den jeweils nächsten Schritt versorgt. Unklar bleibt, warum in der Sektion "Substantive mit Suffixen"' ausgerechnet das Wort der Reichtum als Modellfall repräsentiert ist, dann jedoch das Suffix -tum als ein neutrales Suffix klassifiziert wird.
Gut gelungen sind die Verweise auf die Querverbindungen zwischen den einzelnen Schritten, die mit Pfeilen gekennzeichnet sind. Weniger hilfreich scheinen manche der als "Hinweise" ausgewiesenen Erklärungen, wie beispielsweise in Schritt 63, wo sich der "Hinweis" auf folgenden Text beschränkt: "verschiedene Personen: --damit/dieselbe Person: --um...zu + Infinitiv". Derartiger Minimalismus überfordert nicht nur den Lernenden auf dem Grundstufenniveau. Im Anschluss an die Modellierung folgt eine Seite mit Einzel- und Partnerübungen, die sehr gut aufeinander aufbauen und den Lernenden auf unterschiedliche Art und Weise herausfordern, die Grammatik anzuwenden und dadurch gleichzeitig deren kommunikative Relevanz zu begreifen. Viele dieser Übungsformen stellen eine gelungene Ergänzung zu den in einschlägigen Lehrwerken für Schule und Universität ausgewiesenen dar.
Eine Stärke dieser Übungsgrammatik ist, dass die Kontexte sich nicht nur auf schulisches oder studentischen Leben beschränken, sondern dass alltagstypische, authentische Situationen gewählt werden, die der Lernende ganz sicher bei einer Reise ins deutschsprachige Ausland wiederfinden wird. Dabei bietet die Übungsgrammatik eine wahre sprachliche Vielfalt mit Umgangssprache, Werbesprache und Fachsprache. Auch auf sprachliche Besonderheiten wird aufmerksam gemacht und kulturkontrastive Aspekte werden berücksichtigt. Die Auswahl der Themen für die einführenden Dialoge/Kurztexte und Übungen ist abwechslungsreich und kommunikativ-relevant.
Allerdings kommt die Situation der Ausländerinnen und Ausländer in Deutschland kein einziges Mal zur Sprache. Die optische Gestaltung durch die Zeichnungen wirkt leider etwas bieder und altmodisch. Besonders gelungen ist der Anhang (mit den Lösungen zu den Übungen) mit seinen Abschnitten "Verben mit Dativ- und Akkusativ-Objekt" und "Präpositionen und Kasus". Die Verben und Präpositionen werden mit repräsentativen Kontexten dargestellt, durch die der Lernende das Potential der einzelnen Verben und Präpositionen sehr gut erschliessen kann.
Mit Klipp und Klar liegt uns ein Leitfaden zum effektiven Auffrischen und Vertiefen der Grammatik der Grundstufe im Selbststudium vor, der den Benutzer weder abschrecken noch frustierend kapitulieren lassen wird, sondern ihn über die Übungen stimuliert und ihm erfolgversprechende Wege zur Meisterung der deutschen Grammatik aufzeigt.
Iris Katharina Busch
University of Delaware
Gerngross, Günter, Wilfried Krenn, and Herbert Puchta.Grammatik kreativ. Berlin: Langenscheidt, 1999. Paper, 160 pp.
This is an activity source book for teachers that targets learners of various native tongues. Hence, it is not geared specifically toward English speakers, as most FL textbooks used in the USA are, and it is entirely in German. While the authors set forth that their material can be applied to children, young adults, and adults, I doubt that it would serve youngsters well. The book is creative inasmuch as it sugests activities and presents tasks in many different guises, such as cloze texts, pictogram puzzles, guessing games, and the like. However, it lacks creativity in the sense of offering truly innovative and new ways of holding the attention of a generation accustomed to audio-visual entertainment.
The authors have compiled their materials with two things in mind: Earl Stevick's research from the late 1980's and the intention of supporting teachers in other otherwise tedious (mühsame) task of practicing and reinforcing grammar, that necessary evil of FL learning. The book's how-to style and organization provide the instructor with step-by-step, almost recipe-like directives on how to conduct a lesson. Such acronyms as KL (Kursleiter/in), TN (Kursteilnehmer/in), KV (Kopiervorlage), and the more familiar OHP (overhead projector) are used like tsp. and tbl. in cooking. Each of the forty-six units of "efficient, varied, creative" exercises is centered around a model text and a specific grammar theme. Each unit is well organized, identifying important information such as the grammatical target, the discourse intention (e.g. expressing likes and dislikes), the level of difficulty (based on a 1-5 scale, most of them in the 2-4 range), the projected duration of the lesson, and materials necessary for presentation.
Each unit is then divided up into suggested or guided activities, beginning with a "thematische Einstimmung" which encourages partner or group work and presumes a certain proficiency level or vocabulary in German. After this introduction, the teacher then works on the grammatical concept, the presentation of which is based on the reconstruction of a prescribed model or proto-text. The third section of each unit centers on a creative writing exercise, although these exercises are not completely unguided or unstructured. Examples of possible productive outcomes are presented in original European handwriting, which makes for an interesting reading lesson for US learners.
The preface states that all model texts and xerocopy-ready exercises can be downloaded from the publisher's website at <http://www.langenscheidt.de>:, but a search for the text-specific pages on this general website is not transparent and may frustrate teachers who are not proficient web-surfers. The downloadable material is neither in a readily useable .pdf format, nor is is particularly attractive, as a perfunctory search reveals. The authors state that these activities have been tried out in the classroom, and that grammar instruction can be fun. However, the underlying assumption that teaching grammar is a drag is somewhat of a drag itself, and potentially a self-fulfilling prophecy if that is a teacher's underlying attitude. My overall impression of Grammatik kreativ is that it is highly structured according to the traditional categories of noun/verb/sentence, based on extremely traditional methods such as rote learning and memorization of complete texts and choral reading aloud. This is not as creative as many US teachers may expect and wish in their search for new ideas. The book may lend itself to use on the upper-intermediate level, and it may be useful for teachers just starting to teach a "comp and con" course emphasizing writing.
Linda Moehle-Vieregge
Stiftschule Engelberg (Switzerland)
Frey, Evelyn.Grammatik von A bis Z: Grundstufe Deutsch. Stuttgart: Klett, 2000. Paper, 69 pp.
"Wer A sagt, muss auch B sagen," says a well-known German idiom. Similarly, whoever wishes to speak and write German well must also have an excellent command of German grammar. From articles through the subjunctive to numbers, Grammatik von A bis Z takes its reader through the most important parts of German grammar. Written entirely in German, the 23 chapters covering a modest total of 69 pages, are organized alphabetically by topic and presented in clear, simple, and generally accessible form. Grammar rules, including exceptions, are explained concisely and directly. One or more tables in each chapter illustrate grammar points with examples, often taken from natural conversational exchanges. Examples are often followed by an "Attention" section to raise awareness of a particular point. Occasionally, the historical background of a grammar rule's development is included. All in all, Grammatik von A bis Z achieves in minimal space what other German grammar manuals do not always succeed in providing in more than three times the pages: presentation of grammar simply and concisely in easy-to-follow form.
Grammatik von A bis Z is intended for those who plan to take the Zertifikat Deutsch exam and want to review quickly their overall knowledge of grammar. The authors tells us that readers will find nothing more than is absolutely necessary to pass the exam. Although that assertion is difficult to verify, the book will surely find wide appeal among German learners from novice to advanced. This reference work can be used together with any other textbook, and it can be used either in class or at home. The latter claim may prove more difficult in a US setting, given the book's target audience and terminology.
For more than a decade, the US proficiency movement, with its emphasis on natural communication, has left many educators wishing for greater emphasis on grammar and better explanations. Unfortunately, the terminology in this book does not correspond to the terms used in an American textbook of German. Terms such as Futur I & II, Zustandspassiv, Reziprokpronomen, and Plusquamperfekt may challenge some teachers. However, this may be an opportunity to become familiar with such correct terminology. Still, the language of the explanations may be too demanding for most US students, and teachers will need to adapt and interpret it.
Despite the book's comfortable format and succinct explanations, some of the grammar rules could have been expanded upon. Negation, for example, is treated with one page on using kein and only a third of a page on the use of nicht, a perennially thorny issue. Simply informing readers that nicht is used to negate a verb is not enough information, particularly regarding its placement. In short, more attention needed to be paid to exceptional usages.
Simply learning a grammar rule without practicing and testing it is counter-productive. A review and testing section would have been a desired asset as a pre-test for the Zertifikat Deutsch.
Grammatik von A bis Z is a well conceived, clearly organized short reference work; the contents section alone is especially sensibly structured. The remainder does a superb job in surprisingly compact form. Regardless of whether a teacher is using a communicative or grammar-oriented approach to teaching German, this A-Z coverage will be useful.
John I. Liontas
University of Notre Dame
Heringer, H. J.Lesen, lehren, lernen. Eine rezeptive Grammatik des Deutschen. 2nd ed. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2001.
The first edition of this receptive grammar of German was published in 1986. A few minor changes have been made in the second edition, in particular regarding examples that illustrate the grammar presented.
Heringer's approach stresses the importance of comprehension for a foreign language learner, arguing that speaking and writing in the target language are more difficult for the foreign language learner than listening and reading. Therefore, the receptive competence is more important than the active competence. The aim of a receptive grammar is to explain forms, structures, and their meanings in a particular context.
Heringer follows this aim in a consistent manner. The grammatical structure of the book is based on the sentence, following the order "grapheme, word, word-form, phrase, sentence" which is explained in Chapter 1. What follows in Chapters 2 to 5 are the simple sentence, the extended sentence, the complex sentence, and 'he compressed sentence. For example, Chapter 2 (the simple sentence) starts with explaining the position of the finite verb that is typical in German. It then moves on to the position of the subject; Satzklammer with two verbs; valence of verbs; additions to verbs. The functions of each of these grammatical features are explained in great detail and illustrated with numerous examples. It is not the grammar as such that is the focus, it is its occurrence in different contexts. The grammar starts with explaining what a learner of German commonly encounters first and the progresses in a linear fashion. Thereby, the grammar becomes transparent and the function of its characteristics clear and understandable.
In addition to the main sections of the book, there are nine appendices that provide detailed charts of structural words, structure of sentences, conjugations of verbs, forms of articles, pronouns and adjectives, declination of nouns, prepositions. Again, the focus is on understanding the multiple layers of these grammatical characteristics and their functions. Overall, the book stays within its receptive approach. It provides a vast amount of information on every aspect of German grammar and its meaning.
It has to be kept in mind that the book was written from a German linguistic perspective. It provides a framework of German linguistics to professors, researchers, and students. However, a non-native speaker, teacher or learner, will be challenged by reading through the 372 pages in German. From a North American perspective, the pragmatic value of this book for teaching or studying German at high school or university is uncertain. Despite Heringer's attempt to move away from the abstract style that is often found in grammars, a shortened version of his excellent research might be more beneficial for teaching or studying German as a Foreign Language.
Ulf Schuetze
University of British Columbia
III. Teaching Writing
Bräuer, Gerd, ed.Writing Across Languages. (Advances in Foreign and Second Language Pedagogy: 1). Stamford, CT: Ablex Publishing, 2000. Paper, 191 pp.
Writing Across Languages, a collection of essays featuring different perspectives on writing, is the first volume of a forthcoming series addressing foreign language educators with a practice-based research focus. The volume at hand consists of four parts. The first part focuses on history and theories of writing in foreign and second language instruction. Torild Homstad and Helga Thorson provide an excellent historical overview of the methods used in FL teaching and the implications of these methods for the role of writing in the FL classroom. They conclude with comments on current research and a case study, which they conducted at the University of Minnesota. In the second essay, Gerd Bräuer looks at the history of writing in different college disciplines starting from the 1960s. He compares different theories and their implications for the roles of the learner and the teacher, and he defines writing as a process as opposed to a specific product.
Part two, entitled "People," introduces several writing projects conducted with immigrants. In the first essay, Rose Schrader describes a successful creative writing project in which young teenagers immigrating from different countries to Germany collaborated with native students. These projects were not only designed to promote the immigrants' writing skills, but also to help them with the process of integration into a new society. Karen Sanders' essay details a journal-writing project conducted in an ESL class in the United States. She demonstrates the use of dialogue journals in the classroom, illustrating the benefits of this methodology for the students. Markus Schrader focuses on a creative project for immigrants in Germany, namely "automatic writing" In his essay, he presents the background and theoretical aspects of that teaching method, which was developed by Antonie Hornung based on André Breton’s "écriture automatique." All articles of part two feature student writing samples.
The essays of the third part, entitled "Spaces," examine either the relationship between writing and speaking or writing and technology. Bob Weissberg describes a case study designed to examine the correlation between the morpho-syntactic development of both speech and writing of adult ESL learners. In addition, he provides theoretical insight into journal writing as a language learning tool, suggesting different uses of journal writing in the FL classroom. Inge Blatt's essay on integrating Internet technologies into the writing process proposes steps for the design of collaborative Internet-based classroom projects. Nelson describes two writing projects for the French and Spanish classroom where writing is viewed as a process. Using computer software, students either participate in a simulated trip abroad or solve a murder mystery. Screenshots of the computer software and student writing samples complement the article.
Part four of the book is entitled "Modes of Learning." Following a theoretical introduction on writing, Ralf Saborrosch details specific creative writing projects he conducted with American college-level students in Germany. These projects include activities of his extracurricular Poets Society. Antonie Hornung's article focuses on different methods of process writing and describes specific experiments she conducted with students of German in Italy. Torild Homstad and Helga Thorson address the topic of extensive and intensive writing practice in the FL classroom and give examples for writing projects that focus both on quantity and quality, namely dialogue journals and mysteries. This essay is followed by Lisbet Pals Svendsen's report on ESL writing workshops for B.A. and M.A. students in Denmark that focus on the improvement of both oral production and writing skills. Following an overview of the history of portfolio learning, Gerd Bräuer provides guidelines for using and assessing portfolios in the FL classroom.
In Writing Across Languages, Gerd Bräuer has assembled a wide array of essays on practical research projects, all of which are well informed by theory. Combined with essays on history and theory of writing, this collection provides useful knowledge and inspiring models for FL instructors, graduate students, and researchers. The biographies at the end of each chapter, as well as the author and the subject index, make it a useful tool for anyone interested in the subject of writing in second or FL instruction.
Ute S. Lahaie
Baylor University
Volker Langeheine, ed.Deutsch in der beruflichen Kommunikation: Grundlagen, Unterrichtspraxis, Materialien. Göttingen: Cuvillier, 2001. Paper, 109 pp.
Deutsch in der beruflichen Kommunikation provides a much-needed overview of the contributions German at the workplace can make in an expanding business-oriented German curriculum. As a welcome addition toUnterrichtsmaterialien zur Vorbereitung auf die Prüfung Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf (1996/97) of the Goethe-Institut Chicago/AATG and the Wirtschaftsdeutsch online project (1999) of the Goethe-Institut New York, it will be a valuable teaching tool in preparing students for the ZDfB.
Volker Langeheine's foreword emphasizes that the nine articles focusing on "Deutsch in der beruflichen Kommunikation" by professionals on both sides of the Atlantic were written to promote the study of "Deutsch für den Beruf" through relevant theoretical frameworks, sample instructional units and teaching materials. To accomplish this he has divided the volume into the chapters "Grundlagen," "Unterrichtspraxis," and "Materialien."
In chapter I, "Grundlagen," Karin Evans discusses the relationship between Allgemeinsprache and Fachsprache and clarifies similarities and differences between Wirtschaftsdeutsch and Berufsdeutsch. Barbara Laue reports on a project by the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE) for the Zertifikat Deutsch am Arbeitsplatz (DaA), as a compliment to the ZDfB. Both stress the importance of job-related language competency as a requirement for successful employment.
The main focus of the volume are three teaching units based on authentic materials in chapter II. Volker Langeheine's "Eine Geschäftsreise zur Messe: Interaktive Webaktivitäten fuer den Berufsdeutschunterricht" provides interactive activities using the Web as the main resource for learning about German trade fairs and how to prepare a business trip to a trade fair in Germany. The exercises are varied, motivational, well developed and stress personal involvement on the part of the student. Sigrid Weinmann's "Die CeBIT in Hannover: Unterrichtsvorschläge, Materialien und Übungen zur Vorbereitung auf das Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf" provides integrated exercises for reading comprehension that focus on the various reading strategies for the test, and Katharina Barbe's "Auf der Bank: Deutsch für den Beruf von Anfang an" is a comprehensive unit with exercises covering the essentials of using the banking system in Germany. These three teaching units are complemented by Anna Santagostini's "Die Bedeutung von Schlüsselqualifizierung im hermeneutischen Fremdsprachenunterricht," where she argues successfully that new economic and technical paradigms have changed the way one must acquire skills in order to function in business environments. The curriculum must address Schlüsselqualifikationen such as social competence, self-competence, and methods competence to prepare the learner for new challenges.
Chapter III "Materialien" features Michael Boehringer's "Unterrichtsmaterialien Deutsch für den Beruf: Ein kritischer Überblick" with an overview of the development of the subject "Deutsch für den Beruf," its relationship to ZDfB and the specific resources available in this field. Bettina Cothran's "Innovative Materials for Business German: The World Wide Web" gives examples of how the Web is used in applied language courses at Georgia Tech, introducing two online sites related to business courses at Georgia Tech, introducing two online sites related to business German, and raising some questions about the use of the Net. While the Internet gets us closest to cultural immersion it is not truly an authentic immersion such as one would experience by being in the target country itself. The volume concludes with Christiane Rabbe's "Deutsch lernen mit der Deutschen Welle" with program overview of DW-radio and DW-tv as they relate to German studies.
This collection of articles is to be highly recommended because it brings in focus and enhances the relatively new emphasis "Deutsch für den Beruf" as a field with great potential for the study of German in an increasingly global world.
Helmut Ziefle
Wheaton College
Harden, Theo and Arnd Witte, eds.The Notion of Intercultural Understanding in the Context of German as a Foreign Language. German Linguistic and Cultural Studies 7. Bern: Lang, 2000. Paper, 290 pp.
"There is all the difference in the world between believing academically, with the intellect, and believing personally, intimately, with the whole living self." Dieser Satz, der aus Aldous Huxleys das Andere und das Selbst ständig hinterfragendem Reisebericht Jesting Pilate stammt, könnte dieser 14 Beiträge umfassenden Aufsatzsammlung als Motto vorangestellt sein. Es geht darin nämlich um die Theorie interkulturellen Verstehens und die Praxis interkulturellen Mißverstehens. Mit anderen Worten: die Theorie ist der Praxis weit voraus. Und sie wird es wohl auch bleiben, weil die Praxis um das komplexe Phänomen des Kulturschocks nicht herumkommt. Er droht, die durch jahrelange Konditionierung und Sozialisierung aufgebaute Identität zu zersetzen. Das einzige Gegenmittel gegen diese chronische Krankheit ist der Rückgriff auf Vorurteile, Klischees und Brandmarkung. Statt sich selber die Identität rauben zu lassen, raubt man sie der bzw. dem Anderen durch Dämonisierung oder Idealisierung--oft auch durch beide gleichzeitig.
Leider gibt es in dieser Sammlung nur drei Aufsätze, die sich mit dieser unheiligen Allianz aus Psychischem, Sozialem und Kulturellem auseinandersetzen, zu sehr beschreibend als analysierend vielleicht, aber immerhin: nur im Sich-Einlassen auf die Praxis wird der Kulturschock, wenn überhaupt, zum Erkenntnisschock. Wer Studenten im Ausland betreut (hat), weiß ein Lied davon zu singen.
An Theorie herrscht dagegen kein Mangel. Sie reicht von Essenzialisierungen vermeidendenden Definitionen von Kultur, Interkultur und Multikultur bis zur hermeneutischen Problematik interkultureller Kompetenz. Letztere wird u.a. an Leibnizens Unterscheidung zwischen cognita obscura und cognita clara exemplifiziert. Damit ist aber auch schon das Erhellendste und Faszinierendste genannt. Aus psycholinguistischer Sicht wäre es bestimmt lohnenswert gewesen, den Zusammenhang zwischen Fremdsprache bzw. Fremdsprachenerwerb und Identität zu durchleuchten. Statt "inter" direkt zu benennen--z.B. mit den für die Einheit in der Vielfalt unabdingbaren Werten wie Demokratie oder Menschenrechte--bleibt die Theorie oft im undurchdringlichen Jargon stecken, oder sie scheint auf dem Misthaufen multikultureller Indifferenz gewachsen zu sein.
Wie stichhaltig oder banal solche Theorien auch sein mögen, sie tragen letztlich wenig zum Aufbrechen der tiefsitzenden Konditionierung bei. Vielversprechender sind selbstkritische Reiseberichte (vgl. den klugen Essay zu Forsters Reise um die Welt in diesem Band), Kants Neudefinition des Vorurteils als vorläufiges statt vorschnelles Urteil (die interkulturelle Hermeneutik und Pädagogik täte gut daran, Kants erkenntnistheoretische Vorurteilskritik für ihre Diskussion fruchtbar zu machen) und natürlich--Literatur.
Allerdings nicht die hier besprochenen, erschreckend trivialen Beispiele, sondern Literatur, die, sofern sie komplex und mehrdeutig ist, immer auch Andersartigkeit inszeniert (wie das etwa in Goethes Faust, in Kafkas Verwandlung oder in Özdamars Mutterzunge geschieht). Indem Literatur das Vertraute verfremdet und das Fremde vertraut macht, problematisiert sie das Eigene und das Andere. Vielleicht ist es an der Literatur gerade das irritierende Paradox des eigenen anderen, das uns intellektuell, ästhetisch und affektiv herausfordert und so eine Brücke zu schlagen vermag zwischen der von Huxley gemachten Unterscheidung zwischen angelesener und erlebter "Interkultiviertheit".
Franz R. Kempf
Bard College
Brand, Eva und Peter (Hrsg.)Die Zeitung im Unterricht. Aachen: Hahner Verlag, 2000.
During a recent trip to Germany I chanced upon a project entitled "Zeitung in der Schule" in the pages of the FAZ as well as the Frankfurter Rundschau. In each paper an entire page was devoted to articles written by secondary school students: the FAZ page was devoted to issues of the economy; and the Rundschau page was devoted to topics related to theater. Intrigued, I did a bit of research and found out that "Zeitung in der Schule" is a project which dates back over twenty years and is organized by the IZOP Institute in Aachen. The project is primarily (and enthusiastically) supported by the FAZ, but numerous papers, large and small, throughout Germany participate in the project. The goal of the program to engage a new generation of citizens in the social importance of reading and writing. Die Zeitung im Unterricht is an anthology of critical and pedagogical essays from IZOP members over the last twenty years, which summarizes and highlights the main issues of this project.
Titus Maria Horstschäfer opens the anthology with an analytical overview specifying the salient aspects of the project. The essay is an excellent, and philosophically insightful contextualization of modern issues facing schools and newspapers, and how newspapers and educational institutions can (and must) work together in order to reinvigorate the culture of reading. In the midst of our oversaturated media and information culture, Horstschäfer concludes that newspaper reading develops the "Kunst des Auswählens" which allows one to develop the necessary media literacy to effectively engage public discourse. Moreover, the newspaper is an up-to-date categorization of contemporary events, which, in contrast to Internet and other multi-media entities, provides a sense of continuity, identity, and history. However, Horstschäfer makes clear that these elements of newspaper reading only work when a healthy public realm exists. Hence schools, perhaps the most important foundation of the public realm, must work together with newspapers to create a new idea of education and public synergy.
Although the other essays in the anthology for the most part do not attain quite the same intellectual standard, they are nevertheless competent and informative. Ranging from the theoretical to the practical and covering topics such as religion, language, politics, geography, and economics, the secondary and higher education professional will have no problem finding an issue close to his / her heart. I would have liked to see more chapters explicitly devoted to film, video and internet topics, but perhaps such essays will form the basis of a second volume. Also, I felt the volume could have been better organized; for example, dividing the essays under sub-headings, including an index, and providing a concluding essay.
Why is this volume of interest? Need one go further than recent headlines in both America and Germany detailing the decline of public education in advanced post-industrial western countries? However, let me provide three concrete reasons why this volume is important. First, it suggests a possible new model for language and cultural acquisition less dependent on bloated, overpriced textbooks that are hopelessly out of date by the time they are published. Secondly, it promotes holistic and actual reading, not textbook reading, which resolves into a larger public realm. Thirdly, it proposes an active and culturally sophisticated engagement that is very similar to the theoretical-pedagogical work of cutting edge educational theorists such as Claire Kramsch. This book could serve as a very useful model for rethinking German language teaching as well as providing a new idea for school and newspaper interaction. One can only hope that some intrepid reader of this review will call up IZOP or FAZ and ask them to set up shop in the USA.
Norman Roessler
Temple University
Tubach, Frederich C, and Bernat Rosner.An Uncommon Friendship. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 271 pp.
Tubach and Rosner offer the reader something "uncommon," indeed, as the title of their book promises. This reviewer turned over so many dog ears in the course of reading An Uncommon Friendship that the book was thickened again by a third.
The dogears represented lovely turns of phrase as well as pithy accounts of life in Nazi Germany whose reality transcended the sense of reading myth brought on by all too many Holocaust volumes. Tubach--the first person narrator who tells the story that Rosner was too traumatized, proud, or reticent to tell in his own voice--gives the reader insights into the mentality of the times. His dual identity as a German-born, naturalized American citizen makes him a good translator, as well: he renders into English Nazi-German phrases that will seem hauntingly familiar even to modern German speakers.
It is the combination of all these elements, as well as the amazing story of the two men's intertwined lives, that will make the book lend itself well to the classroom. Our students are a generation jaded by media reports of genocide and "ethnic cleansing" on a world-wide scale, and for some, the Holocaust needs a book such as this to make it believable--nachvollziehbar--beyond the perception of an historical recounting.
The primary uniqueness of the book lies in its dual perspective. It is the life story of two boys, one a German Christian, the other a Hungarian Jew, whose lives run in parallel tracks from the 1930's until they meet and become friends as adults in California in the late 1900's. It is a dual (auto-?)biography of gripping proportions. The story is truly a case of truth being stranger than fiction.
The thread of suspense is not lacking either; the reader is kept wondering "what next" from the very beginning, when Tubach describes the initial breaking of the barrier between the men and how they move from polite avoidance of the subject of the Holocaust to the decision to co-author a book on it.
The book lends itself to a number of course settings. It would be useful in a history classroom, in the English course on autobiography, in the German civilization course taught in English to attract greater enrollment, as well as in the course in which I plan to use it, namely "Germans in America." The chapters"Roads West," describing what Tubach calls "immigrant teenagers," and "Careers: An American Story," describing their professional lives here, are about the men's separate yet somehow similar experience learning what it meant to "be American." These chapters are one means of introducing a discussion of cultural differences.
The very personal manner of telling the men's stories, however, might even make it useful in a philosophy, ethics, or social psychology course, for, over and over again, Tubach poses wrenching rhetorical existential questions about the meaning of life, the role of society, politics, and religion, the difference between individuals and the universality of human life that beg to be discussed, if not answered in the end. But, to paraphrase Tubach, the reader will learn more from the men than from any course. It is hard to put this book down, and once it's done, it will continue to resonate for many reasons.
Marilya Veteto
Northern Arizona University
Grenfell, Michael.Training Teachers in Practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1998. Paper, 187 pp.
Foreign-language methodology and teacher training are two topics with a large body of literature, but they are often treated separately. This book, the ninth in a series entitled "Modern Languages in Practice," deals in three distinct parts with theory, practice, policy issues, and outcomes by describing both the theoretical foundations and the practical experiences of five teacher trainees at Southampton University in Britain.
Part One explains the changes in language methodology from the audio-lingual approach of the 1960's to the communicative language teaching (CLT) of the present. The authors discusses models of teacher training, from craft or apprenticeship, to an applied-science approach, to what he calls the "reflective practitioner" model. With verbal diagrams, he explains the interrelationships between practice, tacit knowledge (implicit "horse-sense"), fundamental educational theory (based on tacit knowledge), principles of educational theory (one of which is CLT), and scientific theory (applied linguistics, psychology, sociology, etc.). Part One is a carefully structured thesis that teacher training needs to be based on three points: 1. practical classroom presentation and management (implicit know-how), 2. language acquisition and other theory, and 3. language methodology. The reader need not be sidetracked by at times jargon-laden details.
Part Two moves from theory to practice, describing the experiences of five modern language teacher trainees (four in French, one in French and German). These case studies are based on diaries and journals, parts of actual lesson plans, other commentary by the five women. Each one's education, age, previous training, and background differed from the others. Their successes and failures, as well as the author's commentary, constitute experiences with which most German teachers can identify. The "theory" of the pre-service training course comes into conflict with classroom reality, and the "reflective" journal approach of the trainee diaries provides interesting insights into resolution of various dilemmas. Grenfell analyzes each of the lesson plans together with his observations of the trainees' classroom teaching, then points out what might have been done to correct weaknesses. His transcriptions exhibit a few lapses in accuracy, but these don't interrupt the narrative.
The commonality of the trainees' experiences and the implications for training and policy issues are discussed in Part Three. Especially interesting are the author's descriptions of the dozen or so dichtomies which teachers face. To teach grammar versus to teach through the target language? Do I use the target language or English? How do I choose between trusting what I know about teaching, and learning from and trusting what others tell me to do?
The book is an interesting look into CLT theory and practice and what Grenfell calls the "disruptive"experience of training to be a modern language teacher. Readers, he suggests, might begin with any of the three parts, but it would be difficult to start with Part Three without knowing about the trainees' experiences. The considerable redundancy built into the book is a positive rather than negative feature. It should, perhaps, be required reading for first-year foreign language teachers when they begin to have doubts about their chosen career and their ability to survive in it. Four of the five trainees, despite their problems, took jos as language teachers immediately following their training, and after a year, the fifth one came back to teaching French after having initially thought it would be too difficult a career.
Phillip J. Campana
Tennessee Technological University
Smith, David I., and Barbara Carvill. The Gift of the Stranger: Faith, Hospitality, and Foreign Language Learning. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2000. Paper, xv + 216 pp.
The subtitle indicates the stated intent of the authors: "to investigate some of the ways foreign language education can be arranged and patterned and to ask whether a Christian approach would warrant some patterns rather than others." The authors received support from the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship at Calvin College (Michigan). The text offers biblical foundation for a Weltanschauung for language teachers, a synopsis of contributions by Christians to pedagogy, a discussion of pedagogical theories, and a description of specific applications in both the classroom and curriculum. The basic theory is that, if teachers reflect on the situation of the stranger in society, teachers can better prepare students to enter, as guests, a target culture as caring humans, interested in understanding and appreciating differences.
Smith and Carvill appeal to readers on several levels. One is the appeal to readers as Christians. The authors make very clear that there is a scriptural connection to foreign language teaching; the Bible is full of encouragement to consider the roles of host and stranger, which offer a paradigm of behavior to be highlighted in the foreign language classroom. The authors assert that it is incumbent upon Christians to be aware of the stranger in their midst (thus, to be hosts), and to be aware of what they do when they themselves are strangers.
The second appeal is to readers as professionals. The message is simply to be aware of how teaching and instructional materials are reflective of attitudes and perceptions. Some of what the authors discuss may be obvious, but nonetheless still warrants attention. The authors alert readers to the potential that most modern language textbooks are set up ultimately to train the learners as tourists, as superficial and frequently wealthier consumers, in a foreign society. While most readers will find the authors' argument convincing, the important achievement of this book is that the authors suggest ways to move beyond this level of interaction.
Although the advice to readers to be alert as Christians and professionals is sound, the authors may be limiting their audience unnecessarily. The paradigm of host/stranger is one that is also conceptually acceptable to teachers who are not Christians, and all colleagues need to be mindful of ideological/religious/philosophical beliefs driving curricula and instruction. The authors seem less mindful of their audience as Americans, and this point deserves further comment. The authors offer little recognition of the diversity of our own student populations, or of the fact that there is official separation of church and state in this country. The authors' advocacy for teachers to integrate Christianity into their teaching runs into further potential conflict, given a student belief spectrum ranging from orthodoxy to atheism. More importantly, the authors fail to note the problem with pedagogy that is faith-based. The authors astutely demonstrate that students quickly ascertain what really determines the grade of a performance. If the teacher includes moral issues as part of an oral proficiency test, the student may also perceive that the grade will be determined by the degree of agreement between the student's code of ethics and that of the teacher. To grade a student on the basis of morality in an FL course is not appropriate--all that should be at stake is the student's command of the language.
While there are some minor flaws in this volume, my overall assessment of it is very positive. The authors offer many insights about faith, teaching foreign language, and the connection between the two. The text deserves to be on the reading list at both religious and secular institutions training teachers at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The chapters discussing the host/stranger paradigm are highly recommended for all groups engaged in intercultural interaction, be they global mission committee members in churches, citizens in community organizations, or classes in educational institutions. The bibliography and index extend the usefulness of this valuable text.
Jean E. Godsall-Myers
Widener University (PA)
Raasch, Albert.Deutsch und andere Fremdsprachen--international: Länderberichte, Sprachenpolitische Analysen, Anregungen. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999. Paper, 243 pp.
Das Unterrichtsfach Deutsch als Fremdsprache ist seit einigen Jahren tiefgreifenden institutionellen Veränderungen ausgesetzt. Deutsch als Teil allgemeiner Schulbildung verliert international gegenüber Deutsch als fachsprachlicher Komponente in der Berufsausbildung an Relevanz. Der Einsatz neuer Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien hat die Rolle des Englischen als globaler lingua franca weiter bestärkt. Der europäische Einigungsprozess unter der Zielsetzung der Mehrsprachigkeit sowie die anstehende EU-Osterweiterung verlangen eine (Re-)Evaluierung der Rolle, die Deutsch (und damit auch DaF) in Europa und in der Welt spielen soll. Veränderungen wie diese fordern eine sprachenpolitische Reflexion und die Anpassung sprachfördernder Maßnahmen an die neuen Verhältnisse.
Dieser Band liefert einen wertvollen Beitrag zur (fremd)sprachenpolitischen Diskussion, vermittelt in Ergänzung zum bereits 1997 erschienenen Band Sprachenpolitik Deutsch als Fremdsprache einen konkreten Überblick zur gegenwärtigen Lage von DaF in einer Vielzahl von Ländern und versucht parallel hierzu, Optionen sprachenpolitischen Wirkens anzudeuten.
Unterteilt ist der Band in vier Abschnitte. Drei Kapitel entstanden dabei aus Beiträgen der Amsterdamer Tagung des Internationalen Deutschlehrerverbandes (IDV) 1997; ein weiteres besteht aus Beiträgen zum Argentinischen Deutschlehrerkongress 1998 in Córdoba. Kapitel 1, "Thesen zur Sprachenpolitik", entspricht dem Abdruck eines Forumsgesprächs zu Grundsatzfragen, in dem sich Gesprächspartner aus Graz, Brüssel, Paris und Wien mit diesem Thema auseinandersetzen.
Definitionsfragen ("Was ist Sprachenpolitik? Was bedeutet Mehrsprachigkeit?) führen zu Antworten und unmittelbaren Konsequenzen, die sich für die Realisierung des Projekts Mehrsprachigkeit ergeben. Besonders die Mehrsprachigkeit im Rahmen fremdsprachlicher Curricula beschäftigt mehrere Beitragende, wie etwa die Rolle, die einzelne Sprachen (z.B. Deutsch) in den Schulen eines plurilingualen Europa spielen sollen.
Das folgende Kapitel versucht, unter Berücksichtigung anderer Fremdsprachen, explizite Kenntnisse über die Situation von DaF in verschiedeen Ländern zu vermitteln. Die "Länderberichte" reichen dabei von Argentinien und Mexiko über Ungarn und Senegal bis hin zu Tatarstan und China. Diese Beiträge sind meist von Mitarbeitern der Goethe-Institute oder DaF/Germanistik-Dozenten örtlicher Universitäten verfasst und geben allgemein Auskunft über Angebot und Umfang von Deutschkursen und Deutschlehrerausbildung, evaluieren die Stellung der deutschen Sprache im Land und stellen Vermutungen bezüglich der zukünftigen Entwicklung von DaF an. Die großen Abwesenden in den Berichten sind die Länder Afrikas (mit der Ausnahme Senegals), sowie die USA. Berichte zur aktuellen Situation von DaF (allerdings nicht unbedingt von Germanistik!) in den USA bleiben somit auch weiterhin Mangelware.
Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt des Bandes ist die Situationen der Fremdsprachen (besonders des Deutschen) in der südamerikanischen Freihandelszone Mercosur/Mercosul gewidmet. Diverse Parallelen in den sprachenpolitischen Ausgangsbedingungen zwischen Europäischer Union und Mercosur/Mercosul gehen ebenso aus den Artikeln zu diesem Thema hervor wie die Notwendigkeit, Mehrsprachigkeit bewusst zu planen.
Die erfolgreiche Implementierung (fremd)sprachenpolitischer Maßnahmen setzt nicht nur theoretische Reflexion oder sprachepolitische Kenntnisse in Form von Statusanalysen voraus, sondern schließlich auch handeln, auf gesellschaftlicher wie auf individueller Ebene. Wie Herausgeber Raasch bemerkt, ist Sprachenpolitik "nicht nur Wissen und theoriegeleitete Analyse von gesellschaftlichen Phänomenen, sondern. . . zugleich wissensgeleitetes, begründetes Handeln".
Ein letzter Abschnitt zeigt anhand eines konkreten Beispiels, wie sich auf institutionellem Niveau grenzübergreifend kooperieren lässt. Beschrieben wird die Zusammenarbeit der deutschen Universität GH Essen mit der niederländischen Hogeschool Holland, wo seit 997 ein von beiden Staaten finanziertes Projekt zur Kooperation im Bereich der Lehrerausbildung stattfindet. Allerdings wird in diesem Abschnitt, wie übrigens im gesamten Band, die Frage zu wenig erläutert, wie der/die Einzelne sprachfördern aktiv werden kann.
Die Artikel in diesem Band liefern einen wichtigen Beitrag für die sprachenpolitische Debatte um die Zukunft von DaF innerhalb und außerhalb Europas. Sie weisen auf Fragen hin, die auch in Anbetracht der Entwicklungen des Fremdsprachenunterrichts in den USA gestellt werden müssen, jedoch allzu leicht übersehen werden. Vor dem hintergrund der regressiven Lernerzahlen von DaF in den USA wäre es sicherlich an der Zeit, sich in einem breiteren Rahmen Gedanken zu machen, welche Funktion Deutsch und andere Fremdsprachen hier erfüllen können. Der besprochene Band kann hierzu sicherlich einige Anregungen liefern.
Patrick Rebuschat
University of California, Santa Barbara
Landwehr, Gabriele, and Eva Wolf-Manfre, ed.Auf nach Deutschland -- Germany here I come: Interkulturelle Unterrichtseinheiten für Austauschschüler. Stuttgart: Klett, 1999. 90 pp.
Sanders, Jo (author), and Eva Wolf-Manfre, ed.Auf nach Deutschland -- Germany here I come: Lehrerhandbuch. München: Goethe-Institut, 1999. 42 pp.
This is a publication I have wanted since I started our GAPP exchange in 1986/87. It prepares learners for an exchange experience in Germany through a question and answer format. It helps them research their own family, area, and school, enabling them to talk about these to their host family in German. Once in Germany, they use the same format to find out about life there, which leads them to see similarities and differences between the two countries and cultures. With the exception of introductory material and a bilingual glossary, Auf nach Deutschland is in German and is designed for students who have already been learning German for at least one or two years.
The student text is divided into 10 thematic units: (1) Geographie--Geschichte--Kultur; (2) Stereotypen--Sitten; (3) Verkehrsmittel; (4) Schule; (5) Wohnen; (6) Familie; (7) Einkaufen--Geld--Freizeit; (8) Arbeits- und Berufswelt; (9) Medien; (10) Umwelt. These are followed by a glossary, 10 "heiße Tipps;" and brief biograhpies of the authors. Beside the editors, German teacher and designer Uwe Kind, educational consultant Christiane Frederickson, and six experienced GAPP teachers ( Failing, Kathy Fegely, Sharon Follmer-Keeton, Bettina Hoops, Mike Ross, and Jo Sanders) contributed to this booklet.
In each unit, an introduction starts students thinking about a given topic. The main part begins with "In den USA", followed by "In Deutschland." At the end, there is a "Schlussbemerkung," where students are asked to reflect about what they have learned, and to compare and evaluate without being judgmental. Most of the time the learners are asked information questions and the tasks are varied. The questions in the section "In Deutschland" are almost identical to the ones "In den USA" Sometimes there are additional directions, such as the suggestion to take photos and include them with written information.
The teacher's manual is written almost entirely in English, although examples for a "Stadt-Rallye" and notes on Gothic architecture are in German. The textbook can be used in a one-semester GAPP course during the school day or in weekly after-school/evening meetings. Explanations are offered for how the various activities integrate the five C's of the National Standards:. A wealth of succesful ideas for projects are proposed, e.g. make a video to take to the German partner school; have students become "experts" in 2 areas, one an American topic, the other a German one; put together an evening program for the partner school. The manual also contains an interesting chapter on teaching German art and architecture and gives information on teaching tools such as MagnePlay sets, three-dimensional puzzles, paper models, and wooden architecture blocks. The appendix contains Standards for Learning German according to the five C's (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities); a listening comprehension grid; and a source list.
I used the student booklet with 25 GAPP students, consisting of 2nd and 3rd year learners in an two-hour evening class once every two weeks throughout the school year 2000/01 (a total of 20 sessions). I did change the sequence of the themes to enable my students to put together an illustrated folder about their life in the US for their German host family, a project which has been successful for many years. Even though I had bought a complete class set of student booklets for the course, I decided to give each topic more space so that students would have enough room to write in their answers. It's nice that the orginal student text is small and thin enough to slip into a large pocket or small backpack, but sometimes answers get so squeezed as to be illegible, and using additional loose sheets is unwieldy, so I redesigned the format somewhat to give them more room.
My students were especially intrigued by "Coole Ausdrücke" in the glossary and by "10 heiße Tipps." However, students want to know what life is like in Germany before they go there and mine were eager to study the colorful EMC book In Deutschland by Rod Nash, which I used as an additional text. In regular class, they learned as much as possible about modern German culture through magazines, movies, the internet, and live talks with GAPP exchange students visiting every fall.
The student text is remarkably free of typographical errors. There are just a few dated expressions: one no longer finds EC, D, E und N trains in Germany, but rather IC, ICE, IR and RB trains. Students should also be asked to find out what the abbreviations stand for. A few of the questions are unclear or don't elicit enough of an answer, and there are several instances, where "man" would be preferable to "du." A question on the use of "Handys" might also be included. There are several yes or no questions in the text which should be changed into information questions. But these are really very tiny shortcomings, indeed.
My class asked me whether they could work on the "Schlussbemerkung" of each unit at the very end of our exchange or even back at home in the US since they needed more time for the final reflections.
Overall, this is an excellent text for an excellent price. I recommend Auf nach Deutschland--Germany here I come to any student and the Lehrerhandbuch to any teacher preparing to embark upon a worthwhile exchange and study trip to Germany, especially with GAPP.
Ingrid Luchini (retired)
Mayfield High School (NM)
Hecht, Dörthe, and Annette Schmollinger, eds.PONS Basiswörterbuch. Deutsch als Fremdsprache: Das einsprachige Lernerwörterbuch. Stuttgart: Klett, 1999. Paper, 484 pp.
The PONS Basiswörterbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache is a German/German dictionary designed specifically for students learning German. The approximately 8000 entries, which the authors claim comprise more than is required for carrying on everyday conversations or for the reading of most texts, are defined in clear, uncomplicated language with concrete examples to demonstrate usage and with some 400 illustrations to assist with comprehension. The foreword provides a political map of the four German-speaking countries and a list of phonetic symbols used to illustrate pronunciation with examples also in English and Spanish. The 18-page appendix includes a map of German dialects; a list of German- speaking countries with their states, capitals and inhabitants; two pages of common German abbreviations; numbers, days and months; measurements and weights; the major spelling and punctuation changes of the 1998 spelling reform; strong and irregular verbs with examples of their conjugated forms in various tenses; plural forms of nouns; declinations of articles, pronouns and adjectives; examples of a formal and personal letter; and telling time.
As a dictionary for learners, Basiswörterbuch includes definitions of such grammatical terminology as das Präsens, das Präteritum, das Perfekt, das Plusquamperfekt, das Futur, der Konjunktiv, der Imperativ, das Subjekt, der Akkusativ, der Dativ, etc. To help students prepare for the Zertifikat Deutsch, all the vocabulary required for this exam is marked with a bullet. Cultural and political terms, features or entities that are unique to German, Austria and Switzerland are explained throughout, often in short commentaries printed in the margins. These glosses elucidate such words as Arbeitsamt, Armee (for Germany the length of compulsory military service is listed as 12 months, but under Wehrpflicht the new10-month requirement is given); Betriebsrat, Bundespräsident, Fasching, Karneval, Silvester, Fräulein, Gastarbeiter (but not the historical Fremdarbeiter), Geburtstag, Abitur, Realschule, Fachhochschule, Volkshochschule ( Hauptschule occurs as an entry, but not Gesamtschule ), Jugendherberge, Kernenergie (with the notation that Austria has no nuclear power plants), Krankenkasse, Landtag, Menschenrechte, Ober (and Oberin ), siezen, Tageszeitung, Toilette, Trinkgeld, Vorwahl, Währungsunion. Although Wiedervereinigung is one of the terms that receives special attention, the date of reunification is curiously omitted.
Since this dictionary is designed for students acquiring the basics of German, it provides many more separate entries for the past and past participles of strong verbs than usual dictionaries. The individual entry, in addition to identifying function and providing genitive and plural endings for nouns and principal parts for verbs, supplies a brief definition along with an example of its use in an expression or sentence. Many entries also include compound forms, e.g., under Recht are listed the combinations Arbeits-, Scheidungs- Staats-, Straf-, Völker-, Zivil-, and associated word formations, e.g., under schnell is found Schnelligkeit. For the most part, the definitions, although usually no longer than sentence, are readily comprehensible for the beginning student.
Because Basiswörterbuch includes only about 8000 entries, it offers a limited selection of the newest terms from medicine, politics, business and technology. For example, there is only one listing for AIDS ; only four entries dealing with the European Union ( EU, Euro, Euroscheck, EU-Staat ); and a limited number of terms from technology, e.g., das Handy, CD, CD-ROM, das Internet, im Internet surfen, die/das Email, der Computer, der Drucker, das Fax, faxen. While it does include das Surfbrett, joggen, fit and recyceln, such terms as die Inline-Skates, die Rollerblades, das Skateboard, Rockmusik, which one normally associates with the age group this dictionary is intended for, are missing.
The PONS Basiswörterbuch is more than a dictionary for beginning students; it is an effective instructional tool that introduces not only useful, high frequency vocabulary, but also a wealth of cultural and linguistic information. As such it can supplement our first- and second-year German classes. Students who are trying to hone their conversational and written German skills will find this dictionary to be a practical and invaluable resource.
William E. Petig
Stanford University