An Introduction to German Extension Stage 6 in the New HSC
The new German Continuers Stage 6 Syllabus and German Extension Stage 6 Syllabus replace syllabuses in 2 Unit General, 2 Unit and 3 Unit German. The Extension syllabus is to be implemented with Year 12 in 2001 and will be first examined in 2001.
The syllabus provides information that was formerly available in the Languages KLA Handbook. This includes descriptions of course requirements, assessment weightings for internal and external assessment and examination specifications.
What is an Extension course in German?
The German Extension Stage 6 Syllabus builds upon the body of knowledge and skills acquired in the German Continuers course. It provides students with opportunities to develop a greater competence and fluency in the language, and to explore contemporary issues in German.
How is the content defined?
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The syllabus makes explicit what students are required to know and do.
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The syllabus objectives represent the use of language as a medium for communication of information, opinions and ideas, creative thought and expression, and integrate the macro skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.
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The language content is specified by prescribing a theme and related issues, with suggested approaches to the study of these, through texts.
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Assessment, both internal and external, is linked to the syllabus objectives and content.
Rationale, Aims and Objectives (pp 6, 9)
The syllabus provides a comprehensive rationale for studying German at an advanced level, and has a clear aim and objectives, which provide statements of the overall purpose and the intent of the syllabus.
Objectives focus on the knowledge, skills and understanding involved in presenting and discussing opinions, ideas and points of view in German, and in evaluating, analysing and responding to text that is in German.
Outcomes (p 11)
This syllabus supports an outcomes based approach to teaching and learning. The outcomes are designed so that students of German can demonstrate what they know and can do as a result of the teaching and learning in the course. The outcomes are derived from the objectives.
Content (pp 12-15)
The syllabus prescribes both a theme and issues as the organisational focus of the language content.
The theme in the new syllabus is:
- The individual and contemporary society.
A number of prescribed issues demonstrate particular ways of dealing with the theme. Texts both prescribed and related support the study of the theme and issues. The prescribed issues and texts are on the Board's website (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au).
The syllabus makes explicit those features of the prescribed text with which students are expected to be familiar.
Students may encounter a wider range of text types than those listed in the content section of the syllabus, which makes explicit those text types students may be expected to produce in the external examination.
Grammatical items which students are expected to know are identified, with examples provided.
Assessment (pp 18-27)
The assessment is aligned to the syllabus objectives and content. Students will be required to demonstrate achievement of the full range of outcomes across the internal and external assessment components.
The internal assessment specifies the components to be assessed and their weightings, as well as suggesting a variety of tasks that may be undertaken. This ensures that a student's achievement can be measured against a wider range of syllabus content and outcomes than may be covered by the external assessment alone.
In the external assessment students will be assessed on their ability to:
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present and discuss opinions, ideas, and points of view in German
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express opinions, ideas, and points of view through the production of original text in German
- evaluate, analyse, and respond to aspects of the prescribed text in German.
The oral task requires students to present and support opinions and ideas related to the prescribed issues. Students' responses take the form of a monologue.
The written tasks, which require a response in German identify precisely what it is that students are expected to do by specifying the audience, and/or purpose, and/or context of each task. The written tasks require students to produce different kinds of writing for different purposes. In one writing task, students are expected to respond to the prescribed text personally and creatively, and in the second, students are expected to write discursively to present and support a point of view about a prescribed issue.
Students are also required to critically evaluate aspects of the prescribed text demonstrating knowledge and understanding of language features, content, context, how meaning is conveyed, and the relationship between the prescribed text and issues.
What will be needed to teach this subject?
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German Extension Stage 6 Syllabus.
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German Extension course prescriptions (issues and text).
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German Extension specimen examination paper, marking guidelines, and draft performance scale.
Current text books and resource materials are appropriate for use with the new syllabus although there may need to be some adjustment in the way teachers use them.
A list of a limited number of resources linked to the prescribed issues is on the Board's website (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au).