Although a number of word-frequency lists exist in German, there is an absence of studies investigating the relative frequency with which various grammatical structures are used. Traditionally, extended modifiers have been most prevalent in written German. Based on an analysis of authentic radio news broadcasts, this article makes the case that…

Auxiliary selection in L1 German is sensitive to the degree of transitivity of a clause. This study focuses on the most basic parameter of transitivity, number of participants, and shows that as students become more proficient in German, they are more accurate in auxiliary selection. First year students do not reflect in their writing that they…

This article, based on the experiences of the authors at the 2002 AATG Summer seminar in Dusseldorf, explores the topic of integration in Germany on multiple levels: politically, financially, socially, and educationally. First, the authors discuss how the European Union and the Euro attempt to integrate Europe and Europeans, and how Germans have…

The cognitive skills of beginning German students in high school and college outstrip their linguistic ability in the target language. In a proficiency-based curriculum, students communicate about familiar matters and everyday culture although they are intellectually prepared to consider more complex cultural issues. As a result, deeper culture is…

This article describes model units for an in-depth cultural analysis of "Das Versprechen" in undergraduate college courses including intermediate German, German culture and civilization, advanced conversation and composition, and film. Practical suggestions for pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing activities as well as assessment in…

Fixed prepositional phrases of the type in this way and on the other hand are used in written and spoken English to connect sentences into larger units (text, dialogues). German prefers simple adverbials like so. Appended is a check-list of the most common such phrases in English and possible German equivalents.

This paper presents empirical results from an analysis of English and German conversational fillers produced by bilinguals. They reveal that even accomplished bilinguals do not display an overall native-like realization of conversational fillers in their second language (L2). Along with the findings of L2 studies showing that the comprehension and…

Provides background information on German rap artists and bands and discusses how to implement the music in various classroom situations at all levels. Highlights some of the available material on German rap music and provides information on how to locate rap texts, information, and other material via the Internet and other sources. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that authentic illustrated children's books are ideal vehicles for German as a foreign language students not only for language acquisition and grammar practice but also for studying aspects of "landeskunde." Describes how picture books can be used in the German classroom for studying social and cultural issues. (Author/VWL)

Analyzes Mark Twain's 1869 essay "The Awful German Language" in terms of Twain's comments on morphological, syntactical, lexical, and phonological features of German. The topic is presented in the context of Twain's German language learning experience. Relevance of the article for German language instruction today is also described. (Author/VWL)

Explores the opportunities for teaching German for musicians and offers it as an approach to teaching beginning German in general. A short theoretical discussion of the impact of music on foreign language learning precedes the presentation of various teaching tools and ideas that map the territory in which musical foreign language teaching can…

Investigates the following questions: 1) Is there improvement in second language (L2) German learners' understanding of German pluralization as the level of German study advances; and 2) What second language acquisition tendencies can be observed in L2 German production of plurals? ( (Author/VWL)

Documents benefits of free "associative written activities" on students' writing. Experimental students used an individual associative prewriting activity, whereas the control group was not required to free associate. Compositions of students in first semester, second semester, fourth semester, and sixth semester and beyond were evaluated…

Examines the attributive and predicate adjectives produced by 27 students of German (L2) in both chatroom and face-to-face small group discussions. Compares the accuracy and occurrence in each context. data indicated that students produced twice the number of attributive adjectives in the chatroom. Also examined whether students produced more…

Describes an German in the elementary school program in Somerville, Massachusetts that is an example of university-school cooperation. (Author/VWL)