o.
Landeskunde: Its Role and Functions in the Irish German Language
Classroom
An Empirical Study
ANNA MARIA LYSAGHT
A minor thesis presented to
THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, MAYNOOTH
The Department of German
Faculty of Arts
In partial fulfillm ent o f the requirements for the degree o f
Master of Arts
Autumn 1998
Supervisor: Dr. Amd Witte
Acknowledgements
I am sincerely grateful to Dr. Arnd Witte for his invaluable and constant guidance,
enthusiasm and encouragem ent throughout the writing o f this thesis.
1 would also like to express m y thanks to Dr. Andrea M ac T igue for giving m e the
opportunity to pursue my German studies at the National University o f Ireland,
M aynooth.
A special word o f thanks to my parents N oel and Mary for your patience and
encouragement throughout m y years at M aynooth. 1 will alw ays be thankful for your
un lading support, without w hich this work m ight not have com e to pass.
To the remainder o f m y friends and fam ily w ho put up with me through the m ost
stressful lim es during the writing o f the thesis, 1 would like to say thanks -1 really
appreciate it!
M y thanks also to the pupils o f both secondary sch ools for filling out the
questionnaires.
CONTENTS
IN TR O D U C TIO N
C H A PTE R ONE:
Definitions and Functions o f Landeskunde
1.
W hat exactly is L andeskunde?
2
1.1
Literature as L andeskunde
5
1.2
W hy Landeskunde
7
1.3
Landeskunde in the C om m unicative A pproach
10
1.3.1
Texts and Them es in the C om m unicative A pproach
13
1.4
Landeskunde in the Intercultural A pproach
14
1.4.1
Texts and T hem es in the Intercultural A pproach
18
C H A PTER TW O :
The Role and Functions o f Landeskunde in
Secondary Education in Ireland
2. L andeskunde in the Junior and Leaving Certificate
C urricula in Ireland
22
2.1
Landeskunde at Junior Certificate Level
22
2.2
Landeskunde at L eaving Certificate Level
25
2.3
D ifferences in the M ediation o f Landeskunde at Junior and Leaving
Certificate Levels
2.4
,
29
T he T ransition Y ear as a Possibility for M inim ising Inconsistencies in the
Portrayal and M ediation o f L andeskunde at J u n ior and Leaving
C ertificate L evels
2.4.1
31
A m biguities in the C hoice o f Landeskunde C ontent for the Junior and
Leaving C ertificate Courses
34
C H A PT E R T H R E E :
Realising and Understanding Pupils ’
Perceptions o f and Opinions on Landeskunde
3.
R ea so n s for th e E m p irica l R esea rch
37
3.1
A im s o f the Q u estio n n a ire
38
3 .1 .1
S tru ctu re o f the Q u estio n n a ire
39
3 .1 .2
P ro file o f th e R esp o n d en ts
42
3 .1 .3
A n a ly sis o f R esp o n ses P ro v id ed by P u p ils
43
3 .2
S tereotyp es
44
3 .3
G en eral K n ow led ge
49
3 .4
N am es o f w ell-k n o w n G erm a n P eop le an d C om p an ies
55
3.5
M o tiv a tio n
60
3 .6
A ttitu d es
62
3 .7
T h e R ole o f L a n d esk u n d e
65
3.8
T h e Im p o rta n ce o f L a n d esk u n d e
69
3 .9
M a p w o rk
72
C H A PT E R FOUR:
Conclusions and Recommendations
4.
C o n clu sio n s
74
4.1
T h e R o le o f L a n d esk u n d e as P rop osed by the R esp o n d en ts
74
4.1.1
L im ited G en eral K n o w led g e o f th e T arget
L a n g u a g e C ou n try
76
4 .1 .2
S tereo ty p in g a n d In stru m en tal M otivation
77
4 .1 .3
In co n sisten cies in the Im p o rta n ce A ttrib u ted to
P a rticu la r T o p ics fo r D isc u ssio n a t J u n ior and
S en io r S tages o f S eco n d a ry E d u cation
4 .2
R e c o m m e n d a tio n s - In teg ra tio n o f S tereotyp in g
in to th e L ea rn in g E xp erien ce
4.2 .1
79
80
R e-ev a lu a tio n o f Im p o rta n ce A ttrib u ted to
P a rticu la r T o p ics at th e J u n io r an d S enior
4 .2 .2
S ta g es o f P u p ils’ S eco n d a ry S ch o o l C areer
81
D e v e lo p m e n t o f P u p il Interest in the T arget L a n g u a g e C u ltu re
83
4 .2 .3
4 .2 .4
V a r ia tio n in th e T e a c h in g M ateria ls U sed in
T ea ch in g C u ltu re
84
A n In teg ra ted a n d C o m p a ra tiv e A p p ro a ch
86
A ppendix O ne
Questionnaire
89
A ppendix Two
Sample maps completed by students
94
A ppendix T hree Sample papers fo r Junior and Leaving Certificate
A ppendix F o u r
B ibliography
Examinations
95
Foreign Language Games
96
97
L IST O F TABLES
T a b le 1
48
T a b le 2
49
T a b le 3
53
T a b le 4
66
iv
Introduction
This thesis deals w ith the role and functions o f Landeskunde in the Irish secondary
educational system . The controversial nature of Landeskunde (see section 1) and the
differing views surrounding its com position, role and functions in both teaching
approaches in general and in the Irish secondary school system in particular were the
issues w hich prom pted the research that com prises the basis of this study.
C hapter one offers an analysis o f the concept o f Landeskunde - w hat it actually is. There
is a brief outline of various theories put forw ard throughout the developm ent of foreign
language teaching regarding the com position of Landeskunde, it’s aims and functions.
The developm ent o f Landeskunde and its changing role w ithin the C om m unicative
A pproach and the Intercultural A pproach is also investigated.
C hapter tw o looks at the role o f Landeskunde (referred to in the C urriculum G uidelines
o f the D epartm ent o f Education as “C ultural Studies”) in both the Junior and Leaving
C ertificate courses in Ireland. A lso included is a look at the different approaches used in
teaching culture at both levels and the am biguities present for teachers when choosing
m aterial relating to and aspects of the target language country to use in class.
C hapter three presents an exam ination o f results obtained from em pirical research based
on factual evidence gathered in response to the questionnaire distributed as part o f this
study (see A ppendix One). It is a concrete illustration of the popularity and im portance of
Landeskunde in Irish secondary schools.
Included in chapter four are som e im portant conclusions ascertained from responses to
the questionnaires follow ed by som e practical recom m endations for teachers regarding
the m ethodologies and m aterials used in teaching German as a second language in Irish
secondary schools.
[
CHAPTER ONE
T H E C O M PO SITIO N , R O L E AND FUNCTIONS O F
LANDESKUNDE
1. W h at Exactly is L andeskunde?
“W ho clim bs the gram m ar tree distinctly knows
w here a noun, a verb, a participle grow s”
(John Dryden, 1693)
W hen investigating a particular subject, it is necessary first to understand the background
and individual strands o f developm ent of that subject before one can begin to research a
new facet o f that subject. In other words, one m ust look to the past in order to m ake sense
of the future. A nd so it is with Landeskunde. W e m ust first understand the place occupied
by L andeskunde in various teaching m ethods in general before we can understand its role
in the specific context o f Irish classroom s w hich them selves are m odelled to a certain
degree on these approaches.
“Landeskunde rückt in den M ittelpunkt des Frem dsprachenunterrichts” (Stuttgarter
Thesen zur R olle der Landeskunde 1982: 8). “Landeskunde hat keine apriorische,
grundsätzliche V orrangstellung gegenüber andere Inhalten” (D eutschm ann 1982: 227).
Such polarised opinions are testim ony to the varying degrees o f im portance attributed to
L andeskunde, or “Cultural Studies” as it m ay be referred to in the English language,
throughout the course o f its controversial existence.
Today, there is rarely an article dealing w ith Landeskunde w hich does not refer at the
outset to the long established and on-going difficulty which exists in defining this subject
(K oreik 1995: 1). Indeed, the controversy surrounding this subject has at times been so
intense that even the actual term “Landeskunde” has been disputed because of the fact
2
that according to some, “L and” was considered too blatantly geographical and “K unde”
was seen as too general and not academic enough (Grawe 1987: 459-474).
W hat exactly is Landeskunde? It has been referred to as, am ongst other things, an
“U nfach”
(Schm idt
1980:
289),
a
“unm ögliches
Fach
aus
D eutschland”
(G ürttier/Steinfeld 1990: 255) and a “Polyhybrid” (Zapp 1983: 1). There are various
factors
at play
in
contributing
to
the
confusion
surrounding
the
actual
term
“L andeskunde” , the m ost obvious being the lack of concrete academ ic theory regarding
this subject and the alm ost endless possibilities for the selection, justification and
m ediation o f m aterials which qualify as suitable to be taught under the term
“L andeskunde” . It is com parable to “ein Buch, dessen Inhalt oder besser: dessen Inhalte
verw irrend sind w ie ein Labyrinth” (D elm as/V orderw ülbecke 1982: 190).
A lthough there have been num erous attem pts to define Landeskunde, m any have also
shied aw ay from attem pting to concretely define such a broad, controversial notion,
putting forw ard instead suggestions as to w hat m ight be included under the heading
“L andeskunde” :
“N iem and
ist
in
der
Lage
zu
beschreiben,
was
K ulturkunde,
Landes-
/Länderkunde, C ivilisation alles um fassen. B eteiligt sind auf jeden Fall die
K ulturanthropologie, Politik-, Sozial-, Rechts- und W irtschaftsw issenschaften,
G eschichte, K unstgeographie, G eographie” (Ehnert 1990: 226).
H ow ever, one point upon which all are agreed is that the teaching of Landeskunde
involves the teaching o f culture (culture being defined as a set o f rules, beliefs, traditions
and custom s w hich are com m only observed by a particular group o f people in a particular
society), or, according to the m ore com prehensive “erw eiterte K ulturbegriff” (Schilling
1989: 152), culture is:
3
“K om m unikations-, Sinn- oder auch Funktionszusam m enhang und richtet sich auf
die G esam theit der Verhaltens-, D enk-, Em pfindungs-, W ahm ehm ungs- und
L ebensw eisen in einem Kulturraum [...]; die Sum m e der Norm en, Wertungen,
Leitvorstellungen, Grundhaltungen, die diesen Kulturraum charakterisieren.”
Landeskunde actually prom otes the idea o f an “erweiterter K ulturbegriff’ (Ramin 1989:
229). A s I have already said, there have been
innumerable attempts to define
Landeskunde, all o f w hich share in one form or another the sam e elem ents which they
claim com pose Landeskunde. One o f the more com prehensive yet concise definitions o f
Landeskunde com es from Lipoid:
Thematische Ebenen
(gezeigt an einigen Beispielen)
Interdisziplinäre
ALLGEM EINE L A N D E SK U N D E
Disziplinäre
Linguistik
G eschichte
Politik
W irtschaft Geographie
Teildisziplinäre
GegenwartsspracheV \
1 / F^nspraches.
Sprachlandeskunde
DialeKte
Soziolekte
Diaeram 1 (Lipoid 1989: 37)
This is an important definition o f Landeskunde as it encom passes and summarises very
clearly in diagram form numerous attempts at definition and the various topics which
have alw ays been considered part o f Landeskunde and it show s clearly how they are
connected to one another. It is more or less a com plete diagram o f the definition put
forward by Ehnert (1 9 9 0 ) (see page 2).
4
The m ost com prehensive yet concise written definition of Landeskunde to date has been
put forw ard by A lthaus & M og (1992: 8):
“Sie soll Frem de m it der Geschichte, den politischen Strukturen und Institutionen,
den sozialen und kulturellen V erhältnissen, m it Philosophie, Literatur und K unst
eines Landes vertraut machen, sie soll selbstverständlich auch Einblicke in die
M entalität, die Lebensw eise und den A lltag seiner Bew ohner geben [...] (Die
Lehrenden) sollen darüber hinaus zugleich V orurteile abbauen, Stereotypen
auflösen, V ölkerverständigung fördern; sie sollen über das Frem dverstehen die
Selbsterfahrung
der
ausländischen
Lernenden
schärfen,
H altungen
und
W ahrnehm ungsw eisen verändern.”
W hile L ipoid’s hypothesis illustrates the various com ponents of Landeskunde and how
they are interconnected with one another, the above definition put forw ard by A lthaus &
M og illustrates the actual aim s and fu n ctio n s o f Landeskunde. Taking the A lthaus / M og
definition into account, Landeskunde itself can be said to be all of those subjects, those
topics or spheres o f study w hich contribute to achieving the aims m entioned above. These
materials w ould include all o f the individual aspects o f L ipoid’s diagram , as well as
music, art and literature in the target language and o f the target language country.
1.1 L ite ra tu re as L andeskunde
Literature in all o f its form s has always been an im portant elem ent o f foreign language
teaching. A lthough literature has always been present, the actual role played by it in
foreign language class is m any-facetted and has often been disputed. Literature appears in
foreign language class in one o f tw o form s, either as factual/docum entary articles or as
literary texts (novels, prose, poetry, short stories etc.) Factual texts, nam ely new spaper
and m agazine articles, instructions and notices are frequently used in foreign language
teaching using the C om m unicative A pproach. B ecause of their pragm atic structure and
factual content, they are ideal for helping to develop the practical, com m unicative skills
w hich a learner w ould need for successful com m unication with others in the target
5
language country, skills on which the C om m unicative A pproach is based.
Through such m edia learners can practice their reading strategies, these being selective
and global reading respectively. By means of selective reading a reader can gather solely
that m aterial w hich he needs to successfully com plete a task or for successful
com m unication. Global reading is practised when a reader wants a general overview of
the text, in order to get a basic idea of w hat is going on. Through factual texts, learners
also becom e fam iliar with the w ay in which language is used every day in the target
culture and they will learn the vocabulary necessary for practical com munication.
Literary texts are the second form o f literature used in foreign language teaching and their
worth and role has often been disputed. On the one hand it has been suggested that
choosing literary texts from the target language country as a form of teaching material in
the foreign language classroom is an absurd idea due to the com plexity involved in the
interpretation of the texts - interpretation of both the foreign language and them es /
sym bols (Stieg 1980: 459-468). A ccording to this view, each geographical and cultural
difference w ould dem and the use o f secondary support material to aid com prehension.
L iterary texts are then seen as m ore com plex and difficult than a straightforw ard
explanation o f the political or social situation o f the target language country.
In contrast to this hypothesis, literary texts are in many ways responsible for m ediating
details o f social or political situations in a foreign culture or society and for helping to
form m any perspectives and opinions in the learner which purely factual or docum entary
texts fail to do (due to their lack o f interpretative potential). Literary texts achieve the
involvem ent o f the reader in the story through the aesthetic and em otional dim ensions
present in the work. W here great attention to detail is shown by the author in regard to
scenery or em otions in a story, the reader is more likely to discover a certain aspect
w hich is in com m on with his or her own em otional or social situation and is therefore
more inclined tow ards involvem ent in the events o f the story and the fates of the
characters.
6
Through deeper involvem ent in the story, more com plex perspectives and opinions are
form ed about the topic in question. Factual texts, by way o f their analytical, uninvolved
approach tow ards the m ediation o f inform ation sim ply do not offer the reader the scope
for involvem ent in events and, as previously m entioned, lack sufficient interpretative
m aterial. For instance, m any would be in agreem ent that a learner would learn more
about the political and social situation and the public feeling in G erm any during W orld
W ar Tw o by reading the “D iary of Anne Frank” (Frank 1954) than by attending a course
o f history lessons on the subject o f “Life in G erm any during W orld W ar Tw o” . This
outcom e w ould be due to the em otions awakened in the reader as a result of explicit
em otional and authentic m aterial used by Anne Frank.
Furtherm ore, the com plexity o f the interpretative process can encourage discussion,
analysis, investigation and com parison with one’s own situation. Literary texts then, can
be seen to integrate the developm ent o f com plex thought processes into foreign language
class (Stieg 1980: 460). D iscussing the m eaning behind stories, poem s or novels is an
effective m ethod o f encouraging the learner to m ake use o f various speech acts such as
inference, association and evaluation in the foreign language (Schm idt 1980: 523).
Through this accum ulation o f experiences and understanding of social behaviour as a
result of reading literary texts the ability of the learner to interact with and m ake oneself
com prehensible to others is increased. The general trend of literary texts to develop and
im prove analytical abilities, to foster discussion and com parison between o n e’s own
culture and the culture o f target language has even lead som e to go so far as to suggest
that L andeskunde is actually a part o f literature studies (Schmidt, 1980: 289) and would
explain why literary texts com pose the greater part of m aterials used in teaching foreign
language through the Intercultural Approach.
1.2 W hy L andeskunde?
H aving established w hat Landeskunde is and w hat its aims are, the next step should be to
put forw ard som e points w hich illustrate why Landeskunde is an integral part o f foreign
7
language teaching and an aspect which (if it is not already) should be accorded an equal
proportion o f lesson tim e as other elem ents such as gram m ar and com m unication skills.
Foreign languages have long been recognised as a discipline in which intellectual
developm ent is m erely one o f the aims (Byram 1991: 103). W hen learning a foreign
language there are other personal dim ensions and certain m odern and social conditions
w hich at least justify, if not necessitate the inclusion o f cultural studies in foreign
language class.
In our global society today there are many political and social developm ents taking place
w hich necessitate intercultural com m unication, com petence and understanding through
foreign languages. W ith grow ing aw areness of neighbouring cultures through technology
the w orld is fast becom ing less o f a large planet and m ore o f a global village and there is
a grow ing sense o f dependency am ongst countries which transgresses geographical and
cultural borders. In order to accom m odate this dependency, an intercultural com petence
(w hich is one of the units developed in foreign language class) m ust be developed and
fostered in people o f all nationalities from a young age onwards (Buttjes 1991: 48).
These reasons reflect the positive need for Landeskunde or Cultural Studies on a global
scale, but there are also o f course many im m ediate personal benefits for the individual
learner. Landeskunde contributes in many ways to the creation and fostering o f cultural
aw areness in the learner tow ards o n e’s own culture and tow ards foreign cultures and
those who live in them. These positive attitudes should enhance the enjoym ent felt by the
learner in foreign travel and encounters with m em bers of a foreign culture. It is not the
responsibility o f the foreign language class to acculturate the learner to the foreign
culture. Rather, follow ing successful learning the learner should develop a critical
understanding o f the foreign culture. This understanding, this com prehension should then
proceed to sow the seeds o f a w illingness to accept the unfam iliar in all aspects o f life
(B yram et al. 1991: 103).
Landeskunde or “Cultural Studies” is an integral part o f learning a foreign language
because o f the fact that language and culture cannot be separated.
Language does not
m erely reflect a cultural reality but is in fact a part of that reality. This interlacing of
language and culture is explained by Vermeer: “Sprache ist [...] integraler und
integrierter Teil einer Kultur. Frem dsprachenunterricht bedeutet U nterricht in heterokulturellem V erhalten” (V erm eer 1972: 2) and by Byram , who analyses language as
being:
“not simply a reflector of an objective cultural reality. It is an integral part o f that
reality through w hich other parts are shaped and inteipreted. It is both a sym bol of
the whole and part o f the w hole which shapes and is in turn shaped by
sociocultural actions, beliefs and values” (Byram 1991: 18).
H e uses this observation to argue that to separate language from culture, i.e. to teach one
w ithout the other w ould be an incorrect and flawed m ethodology, insofar as it w ould treat
each o f them as a self-contained, autonom ous phenom enon, com pletely independent of
the other. Even although division o f language from culture m ay theoretically be deem ed
detrim ental in a teaching context, it is nevertheless quite com m on practice in the practical
language classroom situation. M any m odern textbooks that prom ote the C om m unicative
A pproach, w hich is the m ost w idely used form of foreign language teaching in Ireland
today, w hile not abandoning cultural studies com pletely within the textbook, often
separate the language lesson from the cultural inform ation, and devote m ost of the text to
language, leaving a separate section either at the beginning or at the end o f a chapter for
cultural studies.
An exam ple o f such practice w ould be the “Them en” textbooks (AufderstraBe et al. 1994)
w hich include a small am ount o f cultural information in one form or another (such as
poem , com ic dialogue or jo k e relating to the target culture) usually at the beginning of
every chapter. It becom es clear, on exam ining the layout o f the textbook, that cultural
inform ation and gram m atical (language) aspects are treated as separate entities, as fully
independent features o f the language course. It falls upon the individual teachers,
therefore to integrate the cultural aspects into the language class.
9
To teach language as a phenom enon independent of culture would be alm ost irreparably
dam aging to the learner’s fundam ental perceptions o f the foreign culture. W here such a
situation arises the learner will view the foreign language in the light of his or her own
custom s and culture. The foreign language will not be view ed as foreign as such, but
rather as another aspect o f the learner’s ow n culture. The foreign language will not
actually be understood as being the product of a different set of beliefs and social
phenom ena but as having the sam e origin and context as the learner’s own language
(Byram 1991: 18).
This inseparability of language and culture, although dealt with in different ways in
different teaching m ethods, has been taken into account to varying degrees by the creator
and practitioners o f all of the foreign language teaching methods. However, the
recognition and acceptance o f this mutual dependency of language and culture has not
always led to the creation o f a consistently significant place for Landeskunde within each
m ethod.
W ithin particular teaching m ethods it is still granted only a secondary role (for exam ple
in the C om m unicative Approach, as will be shown later), while in other methods (for
exam ple the Intercultural A pproach) Landeskunde occupies a place o f great im portance
(this will be dem onstrated in greater detail in Chapter Two). G enerally speaking, the
im portance o f Landeskunde is determ ined by the aims o f the particular teaching method.
In C hapter Tw o I will exam ine the role and aims of Landeskunde in the C om m unicative
A pproach, in the Intercultural A pproach and in the current curricula for Junior Certificate
and L eaving Certificate Exam inations o f the D epartm ent of Education in the Republic of
Ireland.
1.3 L andeskunde in the Com m unicative A pproach
The C om m unicative A pproach was developed in the second half o f the nineteen
seventies. Several socio-political, pedagogical and institutional factors m erged to create
a clim ate w hich dem anded reform s in the m ethodology o f foreign language teaching. In
10
G erm any, som e o f the factors which contributed to the reform clim ate o f the time
included the presence o f a new governm ent (social-liberal as opposed to conservative),
and the rapid developm ent o f m edia and transport. The reform s m entioned above
facilitated increases in both the diversity and numbers of persons learning a foreign
language. N o longer were language learners com posed solely o f schoolchildren, but they
also began to include business people and those taking part in evening classes to learn a
foreign language for a particular reason, e.g. for holidays or business purposes (Neuner
1993: 83).
The “C om m unicative” A pproach is self-explanatory.
It aims to im part to the learner
effective com m unication skills for everyday situations and is therefore preoccupied with
a portrayal o f everyday phenom ena and speech relating to those contexts.
Landeskunde in the C om m unicative A pproach is the cultural know ledge o f the target
language country gained through the use o f authentic m aterial from the L 2 1 country,
w hich is aim ed at everyday, practical com m unication. Through the use of practical
m aterial such as new spaper or m agazine articles, recipes, instructions, tim etables, notices
and the like, learners encounter the norms, traditions and general “way o f life” o f the
target culture. It is the m ain function o f the m aterials used in the C om m unicative
A pproach to act as contexts for exercising and developing the language and practical
com m unication skills learned. Cultural inform ation about the target language country is
rarely m ediated for its own sake.2 An exam ple would be that if, using the Com m unicative
A pproach m usic were being discussed, the background m aterial used is more likely to be
a program m e from a concert or the like as opposed to an article relating to a particular
type o f m usic popular in the L2 country or native of the L2 country.
Because com m unication skills are seen as the ultim ate aim o f the Com m unicative
A pproach, Landeskunde tends to be view ed as an aspect of foreign language learning
which is not com pletely im perative and is not particularly considered to be an actual goal
1 “ L 2 ” refers to the target lan gu age and L I refers to the learner’s m other tongue.
“F or its o w n sak e” refers to the id ea o f teach in g culture independently o f a com m u n icative context.
2
11
per se of language learning.
“H auptziel eines pragm atisch-orientierten Frem dsprachenunterrichts ist also nicht die
V erm ittlung
von
sprachlichen bzw.
landeskundlichen
K enntnissen, sondern
die
Entw icklung von frem dsprachlichem K önnen” (N euner 1993: 85).
If com m unication is the ultim ate aim o f the C om m unicative Approach, then Landeskunde
obviously occupies a role secondary to this aim because attitudes tow ards the L2 country
and discussions about w hat topics are taught and the extent to w hich those topics should
be taught are for the m ost part accorded a lesser im portance than the achievem ent of
fluency in the language. This becom es evident in both teaching m aterials associated with
the
C om m unicative
A pproach
and
(therefore)
in
the
actual
practice
of
the
C om m unicative Approach.
The w idespread practice o f the Com m unicative A pproach often involves giving learners
a consum er or tourist type know ledge of the language (Byram 1991: 19), enabling them
to survive in a foreign country. The Com m unicative Approach does em phasise the use of
authentic teaching m aterials, for exam ple factual texts from the L2 country (such as
new spaper or m agazine articles and instructions of various types) and such innovative
teaching m ethods as partner w ork and group work, in order to preserve the language in an
authentic, relevant context, but specifically cultural elements are rather restricted and
lim ited.
Landeskunde occupies a som ew hat secondary role in the learning of a language and its
inclusion in a foreign language lesson is generally restricted to that material w hich w ould
som ehow encourage the appropriation o f com m unication skills. The function of
L andeskunde in the C om m unicative A pproach is to contextualise w hat the pupils learn
and to provide a realistic, com prehensible backdrop for the appropriation of fluency and
com m unication skills: “Landeskunde w urde nur akzeptiert, sow eit sie den Spracherw erb
förderte oder sich aus dem sprachlichen C urriculum ergab” (Buttjes 1989: 114).
12
The role o f Landeskunde in the Com m unicative A pproach resem bles a serving role. It
appears to act as a m edium through w hich the main aim of the C om m unicative Approach
(practical com m unication skills) can be achieved and is not considered an independent
aspect o f foreign language learning with merits o f its own. It is therefore m ore of a means
to an end than an end in itself.
1.3.1 Texts an d Themes in the Com m unicative A pproach
As already said, the aims o f a particular m ethod will influence its didactics. Literature in
all o f its guises has always been an im portant part o f foreign language learning and is
used in all m ethods o f language teaching. Reading com prehension tasks are a very
im portant elem ent o f the C om m unicative A pproach and the texts used in this m ethod are
chosen for their relevance to everyday phenom ena and the opportunities they offer the
learner to exercise his or her actual reading strategies. This criterion for the m ost part
excludes the use o f literary texts (w hich tend to place m ore o f an em phasis on in-depth
analytical abilities). The predom inant text sort in the Com m unicative A pproach is the
“Sachtext”, a factual text taken for exam ple from a new spaper or a m agazine. Such texts
are chosen for the follow ing reasons:
(a) To dem onstrate to the learner how the language is used in everyday life through
the use o f authentic m aterials, and
(b) To exercise and im prove the learner’s ability to read an article and to extract from it
the inform ation w hich is necessary and useful to him (N euner 1993: 102).
In a textbook using the C om m unicative A pproach advertisem ents, new spaper articles and
instructions are by far the predom inant m ethod o f m easuring com prehension skills (for
exam ple “Z ur Sache 1” [Hayes & H ayes 1992], the w orkbook for Junior Certificate
students in Ireland).
13
A n exam ple o f a Com m unicative-A pproach based textbook is “D eutsch H eute” (Capoore
& Sidw ell 1990) which is aim ed at Junior C ertificate students. Each chapter deals with a
potential scenario w here the pupil w ould have to com m unicate with native speakers, for
exam ple, “E inkäufen” , “Etwas zu essen, Etw as zu trinken”, “D ie B ahn” and so on. The
greater part of each chapter is devoted to the portrayal of authentic m aterial such as travel
tickets, m enus, billboards with price tags and opening times etcetera. The students are
required to extract im portant inform ation from these materials by answ ering questions
about them , thereby exercising their reading strategies. For exam ple, students m ust com e
to term s w ith a train tim etable in order to respond to questions regarding departure or
arrival tim es, ticket prices and facilities on certain trains. Likewise in other chapters such
as those about banks or restaurants, pupils m ust discover opening tim es and other such
inform ation by answ ering questions which refer to signs or notices printed in the book
w hich show this inform ation.
As a very b rief sum m ary, let it be said that in short, Landeskunde (cultural inform ation
about the target language country in the form of authentic m aterials from the everyday
society o f that country) does play a part in the Com m unicative M ethod because financial
services, public transport, new spaper and m agazine articles and the like with which the
C om m unicative A pproach deals are a part o f alm ost every L2 culture. B ut w ithin the
C om m unicative A pproach it serves the purpose o f providing a context for building and
exercising com m unicative skills rather than actually being taught for its own sake.
1.4 L andeskunde in the In tercu ltu ra l A pproach
N aturally the C om m unicative Approach, the ultim ate aim of w hich is to prepare learners
for a stay in the L2 country, is not suitable for all educational system s w orld-wide. In
situations w here there is a great geographical and cultural distance betw een the learner’s
hom e country and the country o f the L2, (for exam ple if they w ere situated in two
different continents), a stay in the L2 country or an opportunity to practice those skills is
not alw ays possible for a num ber o f reasons, m ore often than not financial.
14
For this reason, certain aspects of the Com m unicative A pproach such as the em phasis on
oral com petency (when there is no im m ediate opportunity nor necessity to practise the
language) and the predom inance o f factual articles (which deal with events which are of
no relevance to the learner and to which the learner has no further access) over literary
texts are not very useful to a learner in such a situation (N euner 1993: 106). It was
therefore deem ed necessary at the beginning o f the nineteen eighties to design a teaching
m ethod w hich w ould offer the learner living across a great geographical and cultural
divide from the target language country an equally valuable learning experience, but
w ithout the em phasis on com m unication skills.
T he principle aim o f the Intercultural A pproach is to increase the learner’s know ledge
and aw areness o f the target culture and through this to offer the learner an opportunity to
view his or her own culture in the light o f the target culture, thereby encouraging
previously unattem pted discussion, com parison and differentiation (Ram in 1989: 230). In
the Intercultural A pproach, it is not enough to merely present the Germ an speaking
countries superficially to the learner because by the very nature o f the Intercultural
A pproach it is the fo r m of presentation o f material which should help to develop the
analytical skills o f the learner.
B ecause the Intercultural A pproach concentrates on not only the institutional and
im personal aspects o f the L2 country, but also on the developm ent o f the individual
within these structures, the Intercultural A pproach aims to develop in the learner an
understanding o f not only the structures, institutions and processes of the target language
country, but also the em otional and social developm ent of the individual w ithin these
structures. This aim should be reflected in the materials chosen for the m ediation of
cultural inform ation in the intercultural Approach:
“Bei der A usw ahl der Texte ist darauf zu achten, daß die Landeskunde nicht zur
Institution verküm m ert, die die M enschen der jew eiligen K ultur bzw. der
jew eiligen K ulturen vergißt. N icht das Schulsystem ist z.B. ausschw eifend
darzustellen, sondern beispielsw eise die Stellung oder Entw icklung eines Schülers
15
in diesem System ” (Ehnert & W azel 1994: 275).
As a result, effective teaching in the Intercultural A pproach should result in the follow ing
developm ents in the learner:
- T he ability to ju d g e how natives behave in relation to their culture and how they react
against it.
- T he ability to assum e various roles in the target society.
- T he ability to view the target society as done by the natives of this society.
(G öhring, 1980: 72f)
The Intercultural A pproach in foreign language teaching is about m uch m ore than
teaching a language - even m ore im portant is the broadening of the learner’s perspectives
and opinions and the developm ent of their analytical and com parative skills. The learner
is encouraged to progress from what m ight have been considered rather simple,
uncom plicated opinions and to assum e a m ore critical stance regarding various aspects of
his or her ow n culture and the culture of the L2 country.
“Ein [...] m it einer kritischen U rteilsfähigkeit vorgenom m erner V ergleich der
eigenen Lebensm uster m it denen der Frem dkultur kann gewiß das Bew ußtsein
von der R elativität von V erhaltensnorm en entwickeln helfen; er stellt dam it eine
w ichtige V oraussetzung für eine w irksam e Erziehung der Schüler zur Toleranz
dar und verm indert die W ahrscheinlichkeit für das Auftreten des nicht selten zu
beobachtenden
Beurteilens im Stile von ‘Das ist besser, das ist schlechter’”
(Ehnert / W azel 1994: 275).
If one aspect o f language learning (either language / gram m ar or Landeskunde) m ust for some
reason be curtailed (in the case of the Intercultural M ethod that aspect is language, for reasons
already discussed) then the other m ust com pensate. In a case where there is a great cultural and
16
geographical distance betw een the learner’s country and the L2 country com m unicative
com petence in the foreign language is im portant but not the most im portant issue, so cultural
studies must be used as the main m ethod by w hich the learner will com e into contact with the
foreign world. A ccording to Neuner:
“Das Erlernen einer Frem dsprache, die nicht als Lingua Franca (internationale
V erkehrssprache) gebraucht wird [...] muß dazu beitragen, daß der Schüler die
frem de W elt, die ihm im U nterricht begegnet, besser verstehen lernt und daß aus
der A useinandersetzung m it der frem den W elt die eigene W elt deutlichere
K onturen annim m t” (N euner 1993: 108).
So it has been established that the C om m unicative A pproach alone with its em phasis on
everyday phenom ena cannot com pletely fulfil the needs o f a learner for whom the
opportunity to experience the target language culture and its people may never arise.
Such a learner could not possibly com prehend correctly or easily everyday phenom ena
w ithout first understanding the reasons why the culture within which these phenom ena
take place is fundam entally different to his own. This understanding is not intuitive and
m ust be developed in the learner by the teacher, the teaching materials and the
approaches used.
The Intercultural M ethod had to be designed therefore with new goals, new content, new
teaching m ethodology and new criteria by which the learner’s progress could be
m easured (Fernkontrollen), all of which w ould successfully convey the differences
betw een the target language country and the L I country. Therefore the content o f the
language course had to be re-evaluated and a transition had to be m ade from the
predom inantly factual inform ation of the Com m unicative A pproach to a content which
w ould allow the developm ent o f perceptive and analytical abilities. A literatureorientated form o f Landeskunde therefore cam e to the fore in language teaching
m ethodology as the m eans by which these abilities could be cultivated and developed.
17
“Landeskunde
bekam
einm al
die
Funktion
von
K ontextw issen
für
K om m unikative Situationen unterschiedlichster A rt (z.B. bei S.J Schm idt), zum
anderen entw ickelte sich für den fortgeschrittenen Sprachunterricht ein neuer,
sozialw issenschaftlich inspirierter U m gang m it literarischen wie expositorischen
Texten, der zum Ziel hatte, gesellschaftliche System e zu erkunden und zu
vergleichen (z.B bei R. Picht und den A rbeiten des D eutsch-französischen
Instituts L udw igsburg” (Penning 1995: 627).
The change in the position o f Landeskunde from a som ew hat secondary role in the
C om m unicative A pproach to a m ore central role in the Intercultural A pproach has also
been observed by W eim ann & H osch (1993: 516): “D am it erfuhr die Landeskunde eine
A ufw ertung: neben die kom m unikative frem dsprachlichen K om petenz tritt K ultur bzw.
Frem dverstehen als gleichberechtigtes Lernziel.”
1.4.1 Texts an d Them es in the In tercu ltu ral M ethod
The genre of texts used in the Intercultural M ethod differs greatly from those used in the
C om m unicative A pproach. W here in the Com m unicative A pproach factual texts are the
dom inant genre o f text used in the lesson, in the Intercultural M ethod they are replaced
by literary texts.
A uthentic prose, poetry, short stories, novel extracts and other such
form s of literature from the L2 country are valuable in the lesson as a m eans of evoking
the cultural norm s and behaviour of a society (N euner 1993: 120).
“L iterarische T exte im D aF-U nterricht verfrem den das allzu V ertraute und deuten
auf das C harakteristische. Sie führen u.U. schneller zum W esen der Erscheinung
als ein T ext aus einem anderen funktionalistischen Bereich” (Ehnert / W azel
1994: 276).
L iterary texts are m ore advantageous than factual texts to the learner in the Intercultural
A pproach. Indeed one o f the m ain goals of literary w orks is to evoke, either im plicitly or
explicitly, a portrait o f a society or a culture. Fictional texts chronicling experiences,
18
feelings or events concerning characters within the L2 also serve to provide the learner
with social structures and behaviour that he can observe, exam ine and com pare with his
own, and in this respect they are didactically far more valuable than factual texts.
“Anders als Sachtexte, die in der Regel nur einen kleinen und m eist schnell
unaktuell
w erdenden
A usschnitt
aus
der
gesellschaftlichen
W irklichkeit
them atisieren, verm itteln gute literarische Texte in der Regel K om plexität.”
(Ehnert / W azel 1994: 276).
L iterature then, is the basis on which Cultural Studies (Landeskunde) are taught because
the them es which are used are chosen not prim arily for gramm atical or syntactical
content, but rather for their worth as indicators o f the foreign culture and for their
potential to develop the investigative and analytical skills o f the learner.
This leads one to discuss the choice o f themes used in the Intercultural M ethod.
The
them es chosen by the teacher for discussion should present an opportunity for the learner
to identify with and com prehend the situation in question. On introduction to the them e
the learner should be capable o f identifying a sim ilar situation or phenom enon in his own
culture or in his own life experience. The choice o f themes in the Intercultural M ethod is
extrem ely im portant. They m ust not be too fam iliar to nor should they be too alien to the
learner. If the them es are too fam iliar, the danger exists that the learner will not be
capable o f differentiating betw een particular aspects of the two cultures because they will
appear too alike. Sim ilarly, if the them es are too alien to the learner there is a real
possibility that he or she will sim ply be unable to identify3 in any way with the foreign
culture. This is a very dangerous situation as identification is at the very least to some
degree an essential factor in the com prehension process in the Intercultural Approach.
T he essential ingredient in choosing themes for this m ethod is the “Spannung des
partiellen N ichtverstehens” (N euner 1993: 111). A ccording to this notion, the learner
3 “Id en tify ” here d oes not refer to acculturation, rather it sim ply refers to fin d in g “A nknüpfungspunkte”
w ithin the L 2 culture.
19
should be offered them es with which (s)he can identify or which he can recognise, yet
those them es should also offer enough new, unexplored territory that the learner’s
curiosity w ill be aw akened and (s)he will want to discover more.
There have been various suggestions made in relation to how a teacher should choose
such them es. One could ask the students themselves w hich them es they would like to
discuss but this can be tim e-consum ing and som etim es unproductive as their individual
choices will vary a lot according to age and life experience. O ther difficulties arise if one
chooses them es w hich youths in the L2 country find interesting as these m ay be
considered uninteresting or even incom prehensible by the learner. Those themes offering
the “Spannung des partiellen N ichtverstehens” are “universal” situations w hich are
experienced in one or other form by (young) people all over the world, regardless of their
cultural background. Such themes include family, work, leisure time, relationships,
school, health and so on. This choice o f them es is also suggested by Aloys Beuers (1989:
127):
“F ür den ausländischen R ezipienten sind folgende A spekte von Interesse: das
L eben in den Fam ilien, die Kinder- und Jugenderziehung, Schule, A rbeitsplätze,
A rbeitsproblem atik, A utorität und Freiheit, Ehe, Beruf, [...] Technik, Energie und
U nw eltschutz.”
These them es are dealt w ith abundantly in literary texts and are in m any ways ideal for
the Intercultural M ethod in that they offer the learner an alliance with the foreign culture
yet their functions and origins are significantly different to their functions and origins in
the learner’s own country, thus facilitating com parison between the L I and the L2
countries. It should be the potential of the themes to m otivate the learner to analyse and
discuss and to help the learner to form ulate a positive, w ell-balanced view of the target
language society w hich is im portant as this in itself will prom ote successful language
learning (G öhring, 1989: 79).
20
Take the them e o f school for exam ple. In a literary text portraying an educational system
or experience, the learner should be able to stand back and recognise the fact that (s)he
goes to school and the youths in the target language country go to school (identification).
(S)he will then realise that the m ethods o f schooling in the two cultures are different
(differentiation) and he w ill then com pare the advantages and disadvantages o f the two
system s (com parison). Finally, through the com parison o f o n e’s own school w ith a
foreign school, the learner should begin to view not only the school in the target language
country in the light o f his or her own, but also his or her own school system in a new
light, against a backdrop o f the foreign school. So, from the above it can clearly be seen
that a literature-orientated form of Landeskunde occupies a central role in the
Intercultural A pproach. It is no longer m erely a secondary com ponent through which
other goals are achieved b u t is, in its ow n right, through a careful choice o f texts and
them es, the main m ethod o f developing in the learner a com prehension o f and
identification with the foreign culture.
21
CHAPTER TWO
T H E R O L E O F LANDESKUNDE IN TH E IR ISH
SECONDARY ED UCA TIO N SYSTEM
2. L andeskunde in the Ju n io r C ertifícate and Leaving C ertifícate
C u rricu la in Irelan d
A ccording to the D epartm ent o f Education Curriculum G uidelines for Teachers, the
general aim o f education is:
“to contribute tow ards the developm ent of all aspects o f the individual, including
aesthetic, creative, critical, cultural, em otional, expressive, intellectual [...] for
personal and hom e life, for w orking life, for living in the com m unity and for
leisure.” (D epartm ent o f Education D raft G uidelines n.d.a4: 2)
2.1 L andeskunde a t Ju n io r C ertifícate Level
The role o f Landeskunde varies w idely at Junior Certificate and Leaving C ertificate level
in Ireland. A t Junior C ertificate level the main m ethod o f teaching foreign language bears
strong resem blance in the m aterials used and teaching m ethods practised to the
C om m unicative A pproach and the textbooks and w orkbooks for Junior Certificate level
contain the previously described content and form at of this approach. The teachers and
m aterials concentrate on teaching basic com m unicative skills for living, or at least
surviving in the foreign culture.
The G erm an syllabus for Junior Certificate is said to be a com m unicative syllabus,
centred around “the needs, expectations and interests w hich pupils bring to the foreign
language classroom ” ( D epartm ent o f Education Junior Certificate Program m e 1989: 47).
22
These needs centre around “using and understanding the target language as a means of
com m unication and instruction in the classroom ” (D epartm ent of Education Junior
Certificate Program m e 1989: 47).
The general com m unicative aims o f the Junior Certificate include, am ong others, to
enable students to cope with norm al classroom use o f a language and to “equip pupils
with a com petence in the target language which would equip them to provide themselves
with
basic
necessities
to
avoid m isdem eanours
and or serious
em barrassm ent”
(D epartm ent o f Education Junior Certificate Program m e 1989: 48).
A nother m ain com m unicative aim o f the Junior Certificate course is to “furnish pupils
with linguistic skills which will make it possible for them to pursue at least som e aspects
of their general interests through the m edium of the target language” (D epartm ent of
Education Junior Certificate Program m e 1989: 48). The general objectives of the Junior
C ertificate syllabus are to enable students to perform com m unicative tasks in the target
language. It is therefore clear that the D epartm ent of Education places a distinct em phasis
on the im portance o f the com m unicative elem ent of foreign language learning at Junior
C ertificate level.
There is a w ide variety o f textbooks being used in the Junior Certificate, not all of which
can be m entioned here. For this study, it was decided to exam ine a Junior Certificate
textbook nam ed “D eutsch H eute” (Capoore & Sidwell 1990) because it is one of the most
w idely used textbooks throughout secondary schools in Ireland.
“ D eutsch H eute” (Capoore & Sidw ell 1990) is a three stage Germ an course, each stage of
w hich corresponds with a secondary school year approaching and including Third Year
(Junior C ertificate year). All three o f the books concentrate on preparing the learners for
potential situations w here they w ould have to com m unicate with natives. The topics
covered in each stage o f the course vary, although in som e cases there is an overlap.
W here this is the case, there is an increase in the detail and com plexity with which they
4 N .d .a refers to “no date a vailab le” for p u b lish in g details.
23
are dealt. F or instance, in “Teil 3” o f the course (for Third Y ear students), the range of
topics w hich are dealt with is narrow ed down but the topics are dealt with m ore in-depth.
There is a certain pattern present in the layout o f the book in that m any of the chapters are
introduced by native Germ an speakers who are discussing the particular topic to be dealt
with in the chapter. M uch o f the time, learners practise reading the given dialogues aloud.
The dialogue is also printed, presum ably so that the learner can becom e fam iliar with the
w ritten version o f the spoken word. These dialogues are often follow ed by exercises and
charts or diagram s with keyw ords and phrases from which the learner m ust form ulate a
dialogue or som e form o f practical com m unication m odelled on the introductory
conversations they have read.
O ther exercises include reading com prehension tasks using factual texts from everyday
life in the target language country. These exercises use authentic m aterial such as
new spaper articles, bus and train tim etables, tickets and notices relating to the theme
about w hich the learner m ust answ er questions.
“D eutsch H eute” (Capoore & Sidwell 1990) pointedly makes use of role play and group
w ork and other innovative learning and teaching techniques but the “undiluted” cultural
aspects o f the book so to speak, for exam ple articles dealing with various aspects o f the
G erm an w ay of life w ithout a language context, are kept to a minimum . For instance in
the chapter dealing with finance, students are m erely shown phrases needed to com plete
basic transactions in a bank. Likew ise, in the chapter “Etwas zu essen, Etwas zu trinken”
(C apoore & Sidwell 1990) students are equipped with the basic vocabulary and structures
for ordering a meal in a Germ an eatery and paying for it. There is no significant attention
given to, say, custom ary or especially popular dishes, ju st as in the chapter on m oney,
there is no background inform ation given on the history of Germ an currency or other
“cultural” aspects o f the econom y such as the German stock exchange or the post-w ar
inflation, to nam e som e exam ples.
The w orkbook for Junior Certificate pupils, “Zur Sache 1” (Hayes & Hayes 1992)
reflects the type of m aterial com m only used for a Junior C ertificate language course
24
based on the C om m unicative Approach. It contains many exercises for practising written
com m unication but for the m ost part it is com posed of new spaper and m agazine articles,
recipes and extracts from various instruction m anuals as well as advertisem ents.
The p u p il’s task always involves im proving his or her com m unicative vocabulary and
reading skills through reading the article and extracting from it the answers required by
the set questions. Then, at the end of the course these com prehension abilities and
com m unicative skills are again tested in the Junior Certificate exam ination in exercises
m odelled on those practised by the learner over the course of the year. In the first paper
of the Junior Certificate exam ination the pupils are first of all given a list o f between
three and five keyw ords (usually the nam es of shops or other buildings) and are asked to
identify a certain one (see A ppendix Two). They are also presented with advertisem ents
and required to identify certain ones (see A ppendix Two). The reading com prehension
task in the Junior Certificate exam ination is based on a factual text.
2.2 L andeskunde a t Leaving C ertificate Level
All L eaving C ertificate program m es em phasise the im portance of self-directed and
independent learning and the im portance o f a spirit o f enquiry, critical thinking, problem
solving, self-reliance, initiative and enterprise (D epartm ent of Education D raft Guidelines
for Teachers n.d.a: 2). In foreign language class at Leaving Certificate level, particular
im portance is placed on the “critical thinking” and “problem solving” and once the
learner reaches Leaving Certificate level the them es handled in foreign language class
and the m anner in w hich they are dealt with undergo changes from Junior Certificate in
order to expressly accom m odate critical thinking and problem solving.
The Senior C ycle o f education in Ireland (Fifth Y ear and Sixth Year) has three main
aims:
G eneral Aim s, Behavioural O bjectives
and Assessment. The Behavioural
O bjectives are further divided into three categories. These are: “B asic C om m unication
and P roficiency” , “Language A w areness” and “Cultural A w areness” . The com m unicative
elem ent o f foreign language learning o f the Junior Certificate syllabus is retained in the
25
Leaving C ertificate Syllabus: “The com m unicative skills acquired in the Junior
Certificate will be m aintained and continually reactivated during the Senior Cycle”
(D epartm ent o f E ducation Leaving Certificate Syllabus 1995: 2). H ow ever, a purely
com m unicative approach at Leaving Certificate level was considered to be too functional
and unfocused and C ultural A wareness assum ed a role o f greater im portance than it
previously occupied at Junior C ertificate level (Sherw in 1997: 61).
The new em phasis in the Leaving Certificate was on the developm ent o f learner
autonom y (illustrating a resem blance to the Intercultural A pproach). F or exam ple,
learners m ust em ploy strategies to deduce m eaning from texts and contexts and would
therefore need to use not only linguistic know ledge, but also cultural know ledge and
aw areness o f the social context im plicit in the language used (Sherwin 1997: 61).
W hile Cultural A w areness is m entioned in relation to the Junior C ertificate syllabus, it is
explicitly stated by the D epartm ent o f Education that the Leaving Certificate syllabus
aims to develop fu r th e r this awareness:
“T he aim o f the Junior C ertificate syllabus m ake explicit reference to the
developm ent o f the learner’s Language A wareness and Cultural Awareness.
These aspects o f the Junior C ertificate syllabus are fu rth e r5 developed in the
syllabus for the Leaving C ertificate” (D epartm ent o f Education
Leaving
C ertificate G erm an Syllabus 1995: 2)
This is the view o f the D epartm ent o f E ducation on “Cultural A w areness” at Leaving
C ertificate level:
“C ultural aw areness is an essential aspect o f successful language learning. [...]
Culture in the context o f the syllabus concerns in particular the w ay o f life o f the
target language society but also the diversity of its cultural heritage (literature,
visual arts, m usic etc.). [...] Im plicit in the cultural aims of the syllabus is the
5 M y o w n em p h asis.
26
prom otion o f the intellectual and social developm ent o f learners
whose
perceptions and insights into the other culture should not rem ain unchanged and
superficial. [...] The use o f authentic materials including literary texts can
prom ote aw areness o f the way of life o f the country in a direct w ay and enable
learners to deepen their insight into both the other country and their ow n.”
(D epartm ent of Education D raft G uidelines n.d.a: 22, 28)
From this quotation, one can see that the reasons given for the inclusion of “Cultural
A w areness” in the Leaving Certificate syllabus and their anticipated effects on the
learner’s perceptions and opinions can be com pared to the aims o f the Intercultural
A pproach, w hose m ain aim is to encourage independent thought in the learner through
the use of culture-related material.
The “cultural” them es at Leaving Certificate level for students of Germ an are chosen for
their relevance to the learner’s life experience and social environm ent. Speaking broadly
o f the Intercultural A pproach, these them es should illustrate universal events and
situations occurring to w hich the learner can relate. In the Irish secondary school context
they should illustrate events and situations com m on to both Ireland and G erm any, but
with differing origins and contexts. Such them es would include am ong others crime,
travel, relationships, m ale and fem ale roles, health and leisure time.
The textbook for Leaving C ertificate level chosen for analysis for this dissertation is
“E insicht” (Stocker & Saunders 1995) because, like “D eutsch H eute” (Capoore &
Sidw ell 1990) it is one o f the m ost widely used textbooks in secondary schools in Ireland.
Each chapter o f the book is divided up into three sections, referred to as “Topics” ,
“G ram m ar” and “C om m unication” respectively, although within the actual chapters
them selves these subheadings are interm ingled and are not strictly separated. The themes
are portrayed by the use o f poetry and texts - a small proportion o f which are factual, but
for the m ost part they are literary.
27
C hoosing them es for the Leaving Certificate syllabus which relate either to the L2 culture
but w hich are also applicable to the L I culture, or themes which relate to the western
w orld in general, to w hich both cultures belong, is another reflection o f the influence of
the Intercultural A pproach. “Teaching and learning strategies should not only focus on
the target language and its com m unity, but also on its relationship to Ireland and the Irish
w ay o f life” (Sherw in 1997: 61). C hoosing them es which are characteristic of both
cultures places an em phasis not only on the actual themes them selves, but on their
potential to m otivate the learner to active discussion and analysis through the learner’s
identification with, or equally curiosity about habits of the target language culture
(Spannung des partiellen N ichtverstehens). Such universal experiences occur in every
culture but for different reasons and these differences should give rise to sensible,
reasonable and w ell-inform ed discussion am ong learners.
There are tw o R eading Com prehension Tasks on the Leaving C ertificate w ritten paper
(see A ppendix 2), one o f w hich is always a literary text which deals with feelings and
em otions as w ell as events and scenarios to which the pupils can relate. Pupils m ust
answ er tw o sections o f questions for both texts. For text 1 students m ust answ er questions
in sections entitled “Leseverstandnis” and “Schriftliche Produktion” . For the second text,
pupils m ust answ er sections entitled “A ngew andte G ram m atik” and “AuBerung zum
T hem a” . The pupils are asked some factual questions relating to the events in the text
itself but there is also an em phasis on questions about personal opinion, and such abstract
ideas as sym bolism , techniques used by writers, im agery etcetera.
One o f the factors responsible for this em phasis on abstract as well as on factual topics is
the oral exam ination, the function of which, apart from exam ining the p upil’s fluency, is
to exam ine the p u p il’s ability to discuss and com pare various aspects o f society clearly
and accurately. Pupils are expected to possess a clear, com prehensible view o f events in
their ow n society and the society o f the L2. “W hat is now asked of students is an ability
to respond and think in the language o f the L2 at a high level” (Sherwin 1997: 63).
28
For the L eaving C ertificate Exam ination, m ost pupils are able to express an opinion on
the culture o f the L2 or com pare it with their own, but this opinion is all too often chosen
by the pupil from a narrow selection of possibilities supplied by the teacher and learnt off
in advance o f the exam ination.
T he opinions and perspectives are therefore w ell-structured and organised in advance o f
the exam ination (due to the fact that the students are in possession o f the m aterials used
in the oral exam ination: role plays and picture stories) for reasons other than a genuine
interest in the topic (they simply wish to pass an exam ination). This is clear evidence of
instrum ental m otivation, which will be discussed in m ore detail in the next chapter. M any
teachers claim that they do not have enough tim e in the year to discuss in-depth and
individually all 32 topics listed in “Sprich doch!” (D epartm ent of Education 1994), the
handbook for the Leaving Certificate German oral exam ination.
2.3 Differences in the M ediation of L andeskunde at Ju n io r C ertificate
an d Leaving C ertificate Levels
There is a slight problem for teachers and learners of German in secondary schools in
Ireland today w hich lies in the fact there are differing structures and em phases w ithin the
teaching m ethods in operation for Junior C ertificate and Leaving Certificate courses
respectively.
A t Junior C ertificate level, the teaching m ethod used follows the pattern of the
C om m unicative
A pproach
whereas
at
Leaving
C ertificate
level,
although
the
com m unicative elem ent is preserved, there is a new em phasis on C ultural Studies
independent o f a com m unicative context. This m ethod would therefore appear to have
been influenced to a degree by the Intercultural Approach.
M uch of the tim e at Junior C ertificate level, pupils are provided with guidelines which
they can then use to practise the com m unicative skills that they learn. Although the use of
given structures to practise language skills may resem ble the “Pattern D rills” of the
29
A udiovisual M ethod, it is nevertheless done in a com m unicative context. (In any case, it
w ould be w rong to believe that any language teaching m ethod could be developed
w ithout in som e way being influenced by another m ethod). There is always a role-play or
a dialogue that the pupils can use for their own learning, which acts as a form o f direction
in the C om m unicative A pproach.
A t Leaving Certificate level the teaching and learning m ethods w ould appear to be freer,
less “structured” so to speak than at Junior C ertificate level because it is m ore discussion
and com parison-orientated and the context of the language is not purely com m unicative.
O bviously, the m ove from the Junior Cycle to the Senior Cycle is a progression from a
state of dependence to a m ore autonomous learning process, which is in line with the
intellectual developm ent of the pupils. This difference in the learning processes involved
in Junior and Senior Cycles respectively is attested to by the D epartm ent of Education in
it’s description of the T ransition Y ear (the fourth year o f secondary education in Ireland,
betw een the Junior and Senior cycles): “Students [...] m ove from a state o f dependency
to a m ore autonom ous and participative role” (D epartm ent o f Education Transition Year
Program m es: G uidelines for Schools 1986: 6).
B ecause this transition from one m ethod to another m ust be made, students in Ireland
m ust learn to im plem ent tw o different learning processes in the course of their foreign
language education in secondary school. Y et this is a very high expectation of a pupil at
Leaving C ertificate level given the current lack of tim e available to Junior C ertificate
students for entrance into a new Senior Cycle. It appears that the vast m ajority o f pupils
tend to find this progression towards autonom ous, independent learning relatively
difficult to cope with as they are so used to learning within a fram ew ork provided for
them by the teacher.
The follow ing is an exam ple o f a teacher of German who noticed in her fifth year
G erm an class this inability to cope with a decrease in structure. A t the start o f the school
year she had organised a discussion on the reunification o f G erm any, discussing all the
political, social and cultural ram ifications, as well as the advantages and possible
30
problem s.
L ater in the year she asked the class to organise a debate on the political situation here in
Ireland, having already provided much of the necessary m aterial (keywords and phrases)
for the previous debate. The pupils how ever could not cope with this new situation and
could not construct coherent argum ents either for or against the motion independently,
w ithout her help. They were in possession of practically all o f the material they needed
but because the m aterial was out of context (Irish unification instead of Germ an
reunification) they did not know w here to begin, they needed a structure provided for
them by the teacher, they w ere com pletely unable to work autonomously. So in summary,
those are the tw o main problem s in existence for the teaching of Landeskunde in Ireland:
(a)
Landeskunde’s changing role from a secondary to a prim ary concern, which
occurs in the change from a supporting role at Junior Certificate (influence o f the
C om m unicative A pproach) level to a predom inant role at Leaving Certificate level
(influence o f the Intercultural A pproach)
(b)
The
context
of
Landeskunde
changing
from
structured
(constantly
a
com m unicative context) to less structured (the context o f Landeskunde changes
constantly, depending on the topic being discussed). Again, this difference is a result of
the different teaching m ethods em ployed at Junior and Leaving Certificate level. The
m ethod used for the teaching o f G erm an within the Junior Cycle appears to resem ble the
Com m unicative A pproach and the m ethod used for Senior Cycle is m ore inclined
tow ards the Intercultural A pproach.
2.4 The T ransition Y ear as a Possibility for M inim ising Inconsistencies
betw een the P o rtray al an d M ediation of L andeskunde a t Ju n io r and
Leaving C ertificate Levels
A lthough the Transition Y ear is com pulsory in alm ost all secondary schools in the
Republic o f Ireland at present, it is still an only an optional year in some schools and is
31
undertaken at the discretion of the individual student. The Transition Y ear was
introduced in 1974 for potential early school leavers who, having com pleted an approved
Junior Cycle, felt that they were ready to leave school but perhaps required additional
training before they w ere ready to enter the world o f work. It was also an option for
pupils who w ished to continue with their education to Senior Cycle level but who felt that
they w ere not prepared to progress im m ediately to the Leaving C ertificate course.
(A ssociation o f Secondary Teachers of Ireland Transition Y ear Options: A T eacher’s
H andbook n.d.a: 3).
One o f the m ain objectives o f the Transition Year was to assist students in beginning to
take responsibility for their own learning (Association of Secondary Teachers o f Ireland
Transition Year Options: A T eacher’s H andbook n.d.a: 4). B ecause the Transition year is
seen prim arily as a preparatory year for the student before (s)he progresses in life, it has
been suggested by the national teachers’ organisation in Ireland (A ssociation of
Secondary School Teachers of Ireland) that this Transition Year could be used as a
“w indow ” in the pupils’ school career in which the teacher could ease the pupil into a
new teaching system:
“Transition Year Program m es are directed tow ards the intellectual, social and
em otional m aturation o f the student and are regarded as a bridge between Junior
Cycle and Senior Cycle (A ssociation of Secondary School Teachers o f Ireland
Transition Y ear O ptions: A T eacher’s H andbook n.d.a: 3).
T he Transition Y ear could prove to be an opportunity to gradually introduce a teaching
m ethod that encourages open discussion on and com parison
of abstract topics
(resem bling the Intercultural A pproach) to the already established practice which was
based on the C om m unicative A pproach which would have provided more structure for
the pupils.
If this w ere the case the pupils w ould have the opportunity to m ake a gradual transition
from a learning context w ithin a fram ew ork, w here many structures are provided for them
32
to a freer class plan which is m ore discussion and thought-orientated, where they would
be encouraged carefully to consider their points of view and opinions and the factors
behind them . The transition should be very gradual and thus enhance and develop the
learner’s abilities rather than estranging him or her to such an extent that (s)he cannot
m ake use o f his or her optim um abilities.
It is necessary that this “transition” is a slow process so that during it the students will
have gained so m uch experience in reading and w riting about com parisons between
G erm any and Ireland that by the tim e they reach their fifth and sixth year in secondary
school, i.e. their Senior Cycle, it will have becom e m uch less problem atic for them and
they will not feel as intim idated or confused by discussing m utual cultural phenom ena or
com paring their ow n country to that of the L2 country as they appear to today. The
Transition Y ear could prove to be an ideal opportunity for a gradual changeover from one
learning (and teaching) m ethod to another, som ething which in the current educational
system in Ireland w ould appear to be recom mendable:
“T he traditional Leaving Certificate program m e does not cater adequately for the
varieties o f needs and abilities of students now com pleting Senior Cycle” (D epartm ent of
Education Charting O ur E ducation Future, W hite Paper on Education, 1995: 50).
If such a schem e w ere to begin, then much attention w ould have to be paid to those topics
which could be used in the learners’ progression from the third year to the sixth year. The
current rules and regulations as set out by the D epartm ent of Education prohibit the use
of L eaving C ertificate m aterial in the Transition Year:
“The Transition Y ear has been introduced to provide students with enriched
opportunities for personal developm ent. Schools are not perm itted to offer a threeyear Leaving C ertificate program m e as this would underm ine the Transition Y ear
objectives” (D epartm ent o f Education Charting Our Education Future W hite
Paper on Education 1995: 50).
33
This rule in itself is fair, as it is not the intention o f the Transition Y ear to be
academ ically challenging; rather, it should contribute to the aspirations and the character
developm ent o f the learners. H owever, excluding Leaving Certificate themes from the
Transition Y ear curriculum w ill render it all the more difficult for a teacher to choose
them es for the learners, given that alm ost all of the suitable them es are “reserved” for the
Leaving Certificate. In any case, it should be recom m ended that a solution should not be
long forthcom ing given the urgency o f the situation and the genuinely interested and
concerned discussion currently taking place.
2.4.1 A m biguities in the Choice of L andeskunde C ontent for the Ju n io r
an d Leaving C ertificate Course
B ut there is one final problem w ith the teaching of Landeskunde which underlies the
problem o f m aking the transition from the Junior Cycle to the Senior Cycle and which
has existed in the Irish educational system since foreign languages were officially
introduced as a com pulsory com ponent of the new Irish education syllabus in 1924
(Coolahan 1981: 75). That is that there are no official regulations from the D epartm ent of
E ducation regarding w hich cultural topics m ust be taught and to w hat extent.
A t Junior C ertificate level with the prevalence o f the C om m unicative A pproach “culture”
in its ow n right, i.e. not being exclusively used as a context for com m unication skills, is
allotted very little lesson tim e and it is often the case that it is sim ply granted a few
m inutes at the end o f class, as a gap filler before the bell goes. N aturally with some
exceptions, this is proving to be the situation of Landeskunde (Cultural Studies) in
Ireland at Junior Certificate level but it is also attested to by B yram (1991: 17) as
occurring in G reat Britain. Those aspects of the culture which are discussed and the
am ount o f tim e allotted to them are entirely at the discretion o f the teacher. This current
practice leads to inadequacies and inconsistencies across the board in the am ount and
content o f the know ledge that each Third Y ear student acquires.
34
Likew ise, at Leaving C ertificate level the attitude towards the am ount and type of
Landeskunde w hich should be dealt with is ambiguous. On the question o f topics to be
covered in the syllabus, the only topics which are clearly defined in the Leaving
C ertificate are those m entioned in the list of topics which m ust be prepared for the oral
exam ination, each o f w hich m ust be discussed in the follow ing three ways:
“E xplain” - pupils m ust explain the events of a role - play or picture sequence.
“Future Projection” - w hat are the possible repercussions?
“O pinion on Issue” - W hat are the pupil's own views on the situation or can he or she
relate the situation to his or her own experience? (Kavanagh 1998: 1).
B ecause o f these three approaches w hich m ust be taken by the student towards the topic,
there is an obligation to discuss topics on a level deeper than m erely superficial.
Landeskunde is adm ittedly m ore high profile at Leaving Certificate level, nevertheless
the sam e problem exists as for the Junior Certificate in that there are no concrete rules or
regulations as to w hat exactly should be taught. The topics for the oral exam ination are
accorded priority as the individual teacher sees fit. Certain teachers may have a
preference for specific topics and m ay ignore others. It w ould not be unfair to suggest
that w hat teachers need at both levels in order to introduce some kind of order to the
teaching o f Landeskunde are:
(a) a list o f topics chosen by the D epartm ent of Education for their didactic value which
m ust be taught, and
(b) adequate guidelines for the teaching of the topics, i.e. m ethodological aids or
suggestions for teachers.
Such suggestions, if put forw ard by the D epartm ent o f Education in printed form could
well prove to significantly reduce the present inadequacies and inconsistencies which
35
exist am ongst different teachers and different schools.
In sum m ary then, it can be seen that Landekunde in many forms has long been a
fundam ental part of foreign language teaching in Ireland although its im portance is
determ ined by the particular aims of the teaching m ethod in question and in the personal
approach o f the individual teacher tow ards it.
In the C om m unicative Approach, on which the Junior Certificate course is m odelled,
Landeskunde
occupies
a
place
secondary
to
the
appropriation
of
everyday
com m unication skills and students m ay encounter some undiluted “culture” i.e. cultural
inform ation im parted for its own sake and not as a context for exercising com m unicative
skills if there is tim e at the end of the lesson.
In the Intercultural Approach, w hose pattern the Leaving Certificate curriculum closely
follow s, Landeskunde finds a new value and new form (literature-orientated) and
becom es m ore concerned w ith the developm ent o f cultural aw areness and the breaking
dow n o f ethnocentric views through a reasonable com prehension and critical awareness
of and identification with the new culture.
Landeskunde therefore, in the form of
literature w ithin the Intercultural A pproach could be said to be one o f the m ost, if not the
m ost predom inant device used in the teaching o f a foreign language.
The use o f these widely differing teaching approaches in such close tem poral proxim ity
to one another has lead to inconsistencies and inadequacies in the use and portrayal of
Landeskunde (referring to cultural inform ation in general) in secondary education in
Ireland and these shortcom ings need to be recognised and addressed as a m atter of
urgency.
36
CHAPTER THREE
R E A L ISIN G AND UNDERSTANDING PU PIL PER C EPTIO N S
O F LANDESKUNDE: RESU LTS O F E M PIR IC A L RESEA R CH
3. Reasons fo r the E m pirical R esearch
A t the tim e o f w riting, there had been some research done in G reat Britain and Scotland
on the subject o f the role o f Cultural Studies in secondary school foreign language
classroom s (B yram et al. 1990; K eller 1979). H owever, until now no such research has
been carried out regarding the state o f Landeskunde specifically in Irish foreign language
classroom s. Landeskunde, w ithout doubt, is an om nipresent com ponent of Germ an class
and will therefore have a lasting effect on the learning of the language. Taking this into
account, it was decided that it w ould be very interesting to discover the opinions of
school goers concerning Cultural Studies in their language class and to discover how, if
at all, it affected the learning processes of the pupils and their opinions towards the
language itself.
Purely theoretical research for such a topic w ould not suffice, as by its very nature it
w ould not produce concrete data and inform ation which w ould be im m ediately relevant
to a practical classroom situation. It was decided therefore, to carry out empirical
research in the form o f a questionnaire in order to im merse the study in the “real w orld”
and to em erge w ith real, practical inform ation. The answers provided by the students will
com pose the core o f the study. The title o f the dissertation, “The Role of Landeskunde in
the Irish Foreign Language C lassroom ” is a com plex and m ulti-layered topic in itself and
a num ber o f elem ents m ust be exam ined in order to arrive at a com prehensive, wellbalanced conclusion that w ould concretely define the function and role o f Landeskunde
in secondary school classroom s in Ireland.
37
A questionnaire (see A ppendix One) was chosen as the prim ary investigative m ethod for
a num ber o f reasons, m ost notably because “sie am unkom pliziertesten die Sam m lung
einer groBen Inform ationsm enge und -variation von vielen B efragten in strukturell
gleicher W eise zulaBt” (W itte 1996: 177). Also, a questionnaire is a m eans of im posing
order on the logistical chaos which resulted from the distribution of a large am ount of
questionnaires, each containing an equally large am ount of inform ation. No other m ethod
o f research could have been as efficient in accurately assem bling such a large am ount of
data. N inety-five questionnaires w ere distributed and returned, showing a return rate of
100%. Each questionnaire containined tw enty-six questions, which created 2470
responses for analysis. Furtherm ore, the anonym ous nature o f the questionnaire, which
was em phasised to each group o f students on their receiving the questionnaire,
encouraged the students to provide honest and uninhibited answers: “Children provide
w onderfully frank and honest feedback especially when they sense that their opinions are
valued and respected” (Hopkins 1993: 153). The following are the areas that the study
sought to investigate:
3.1 Aims of the Q uestionnaire
a)
To establish the role played by Landeskunde in the foreign language class as
estim ated by the students in that class. D oes it play a large role, a small role or is it
non-existent?
b)
To assess the im portance o f cultural studies in learning a foreign language. This
differs from the above in that a pupil may feel that C ultural Studies is a very
im portant part o f learning a foreign language but it may play a very small role in
G erm an class.
c) To establish the popularity o f cultural studies am ongst students o f German.
38
d) To establish the effects o f Landeskunde on the learning process in the foreign
language class. Does it encourage or discourage learning? Does it have a positive or a
negative effect on the learning process.
e) To establish the current perceptions, prejudices and know ledge of young Irish
students o f the Germ an language, the G erm an people and Germany.
f)
T o establish w hether there is a connection between the perceptions and prejudices of
students and the am ount and type of Landeskunde to which they are being exposed.
3.1.1 S tru c tu re of the Q uestionnaire
The questionnaire was com posed o f tw enty-five actual questions and a blank m ap of
G erm any into w hich students had to m ark a num ber o f cities and the border betw een the
form er E ast G erm any and W est G erm any. Although there are no sub-headings in the
questionnaire itself, it will be divided in this chapter into different sections according to
the topics to w hich the questions relate as there are several “clusters” o f questions which
relate to a single issue.
Q uestions one to three aim ed to establish the background o f the individual respondent
and w hether or not he or she had had any previous contact with a Germ an person.
Q uestions four and five were m ultiple choice questions regarding personality and
appearance traits in relation to German people. These questions were included in order to
establish the level of stereotyping (if any) present am ong students.
Q uestions six to fourteen were general know ledge questions about the geography,
politics, history and econom y o f Germany.
Q uestions fifteen to nineteen concentrated o f the pupils’ opinions on the German
language, the com position of their language class and Cultural Studies.
39
Q uestions tw enty to tw enty-five concentrated solely on Landeskunde, or Cultural Studies
(see definitions, section 1), the role played by Landeskunde, the materials used in
teaching this part o f G erm an class and the various aspects of the topic upon w hich pupils
felt their teacher concentrated. Questions tw enty-four and tw enty-five included spaces
w here the pupils could elaborate on the answers that they provided.
The design o f the questionnaire was carefully considered. Both “closed” and “open”
questions were included. For the m ost part closed questions were used except in those
areas w here an open question w ould yield m ore information. Closed questions w ere used
to elicit concise, lim ited answers which required no elaboration. A nsw ers to closed
questions were either right or wrong, yes or no. C losed questions were used for questions
one to fourteen.
Q uestions fifteen to tw enty-five on the other hand are open questions. They becom e more
opinion-orientated and thus require the students to consider their reasons for providing
the answ ers they do. Open questions are often very valuable because through posing only
one question, a large and varied am ount of inform ation can be gathered due to the
diversity o f the answers provided by students. “ ‘Offene F ragen’, die einen K om m entar
erfordern, w urden zw ecks Erhebung studentischer Urteile, M einungen und Kritik
gestellt” (W itte 1996: 178). Also, in som e instances pupils can provide m ore than one
answ er (for exam ple in question fifteen, question nineteen and question tw enty-two).
The general know ledge questions, m ost of which were closed questions were placed at
the beginning o f the questionnaire in order to fam iliarise the students with the form at of
the questionnaire and answ ering questions. As was anticipated, there was a certain
am ount o f excitem ent in all classes o f students on being given a break from normal
lessons in order to com plete the questionnaire and this excitem ent extended to the actual
com pletion o f the surveys. Placing the closed questions at the beginning o f the survey
m eant that any jo k in g w ould have been carried out while reading those questions and
w ould have abated by the tim e the student reached at the very latest, the m iddle o f the
questionnaire and the subsequent questions would be com pleted in earnest. N aturally all
40
o f the questions in the survey are im portant, but those from question fifteen onwards will
provide the real core o f the study. This design seem ed to have w orked as the adm ittedly
very sm all am ount o f joking which did occur on the questionnaires appeared at the very
early stages o f answ ering. All further answers w ere in earnest.
Som e individual views of students shall be cited throughout the dissertation either
because they are representative o f general responses, they are im portant to the study as a
w hole, or sim ply because they are significant or interesting in them selves (Biihler /
N iederberger (1985: 475) cited in W itte 1996: 178).
All quotations from the pupils shall be preserved in their original form. In the course of
the analysis o f answ ers, the term “Cultural Studies” shall be used on occasion to refer to
Landeskunde. The term “Cultural Studies” was em ployed in the questionnaire itself due
to the fact that the students were com pletely fam iliar with this term, as opposed to
“ Landeskunde” w hich is not usually used in Ireland at secondary school level. Also, it
m ay be o f interest to note that for certain questions o f the questionnaire, the statistics
procured do n o t com pose 100% in total of the students and may even exceed this figure.
This is because o f the fact that there may have been an overlap in the answers provided
by students, or som e students may have chosen m ore than one option from a selection of
potential answ ers provided.
The questionnaires w ere num bered from one to ninety-five. N um bers one to forty are first
year questionnaires, num bers forty-one to sixty-nine are third year questionnaires and
num bers seventy to ninety-five are sixth year questionnaires. W hen a citation from a
questionnaire appears, it will be accom panied by a number which will indicate from
w hich group the response is obtained and by either F or M, which will indicate the gender
o f the respondent. This will not be done however, for individual words, included as
exam ples o f m isspellings etcetera.
41
3.1.2 Profile of the R espondents
The questionnaires w ere distributed in A pril 1998 to tw o co-educational secondary
schools in C ounty K ildare in the Republic o f Ireland. The respondents w ere the first year,
third year and sixth year groups o f students o f Germ an in each school. In all, ninety-five
questionnaires w ere returned out of ninety-five.
40% o f the respondents were first year students, 62% o f w hom were fem ale and 38% of
w hom w ere male.
30% o f the respondents w ere third year students, 74% o f whom w ere fem ale and 26% o f
w hom w ere male.
30% o f the respondents w ere sixth year students, 44% o f w hom were fem ale and 56% of
w hom w ere male.
There was careful consideration given to the selection o f respondents. First year students
are new to the subject, therefore their newly form ed opinions on the subject w ould be
particularly relevant and interesting. Third year students w ould have form ed m ore
definite opinions on the language and m ost o f them w ould have decided w hether or not
they w ould continue with Germ an after the Junior C ertificate Exam ination. Their answers
therefore to question sixteen w ould be particularly relevant. Sixth year students are
another im portant group as they would have decided w hether or not they w ould continue
to study G erm an in Third Level Education. Therefore, these are the three m ost im portant
groups o f students in Second Level Education in Ireland.
42
3.1.3 Analysis of Responses Provided by Pupils in Response to
Q uestionnaire
Q uestion two sought to establish which of the students had or had not had any contact
with Germ an people. The results of this question were to be analysed in the light of
questions four and five. H ad the fact o f having m et Germ an people any bearing on the
opinions and preconceptions held by som e students about Germ an people? W as it those
students who had not m et any Germ an people to date who held the m ost preconceptions
about G erm an people and who practised the m ost stereotyping? As it happened, the vast
m ajority o f the students w ho responded to the questionnaire had in fact m et G erm an
people at one tim e or another. 100% o f sixth year students replied that they had met
G erm ans along with 82% o f third year students and 94% of first year students. These
figures are consistent with the educational status of the students and will be discussed
further in the light o f answers to other questions in the next chapter.
Q uestion three was to an extent an extension of question two and aimed to establish the
m ost prevalent context for m eeting Germ an people. This question, like question two,
could also have a bearing on the preconceptions held by Irish pupils about German
people. F or instance, m eeting a Germ an visitor to Ireland for a few hours is likely to
create a different im pression o f Germany and the Germ an people than the im pressions
created as a result o f a three-w eek school exchange in Germany. In the form er case, the
opinions and im pressions o f the German people and o f G erm any which are instilled in the
student will be influenced by the opinions of that person or few persons.
On the other hand, on a school exchange to G erm any the student has the opportunity to
encounter m any different personalities and experiences, which will serve to create a
broader perspective o f the country and the people, “it is a w idespread belief that student
exchange is the best way to achieve international understanding because the pupils
experience the com plexities o f the foreign culture at first hand” (Buttjes 1991: 120). It
was intended through this question to establish whether and to what extent different
m eeting contexts created different im pressions.
43
Out o f all of the categories, G erm an visitors to Ireland were the m ost widely encountered,
w ith 41% o f sixth year students, 65% of third year students and 62% of first year students
having m et them. School exchange program m es w ere the second m ost com m on m eans by
which students encountered Germ an people. 30% o f Sixth Years, 10% of Third Years
and 21% o f First Years m et them this way. German relatives were not much in evidence,
with 4% o f Sixth Years, 3% o f Third Years and 5% o f First Years claim ing them.
3.2 Stereotypes
Q uestion four, along with question five was included in the questionnaire in order to
establish: (a) the general attitudes of the students towards Germ an people and (b) the
level o f preconceptions and stereotyping (if any) present regarding the physical
appearance and personality o f G erm an people.
Let us turn our attention first to (b). The term “stereotype” was first introduced by W alter
Lippm ann in 1922. He claim ed that hum an beings used stereotypes to im pose order on a
com plex world. A ccording to Lippm ann, stereotypes w ere necessary over-generalisations
and oversim plifications that w ere rigid, resistant to change, undependable in their actual
content and produced w ithout logical reasoning (Lippmann 1922).
“Stereotypes” can be concisely defined as “shared beliefs about person attributes, usually
personality traits but also behaviours of a group o f people” (Schadron, Yzerbyt, Leyens
1994: 3) and stereotyping is the process o f applying a judgem ent to a group o f people,
thereby rendering them interchangeable. By using a stereotype, one considers that all
m em bers of a category, such as an ethnic group (or a nationality) share the attributes
em bedded in the stereotype (Schadron et al. 1994: 11). Schadron, Leyens and Yzerbyt
identify certain com ponents that they deem essential for the specificity of stereotypes,
am ong them description, hom ogeneity, distinctiveness and consensus of the judges.
In analysing the answ ers provided by the groups in response to questions four and five
the above four com ponents were identified, thus indicating that specific, identifiable
44
stereotypes w ere volunteered by the students in response to the questions. Q uestions four
and five listed a num ber o f appearance and personality traits respectively. Som e o f these
traits w ere typical o f the already existing German stereotype (such as blonde hair, blue
eyes,
hardw orking
and
unfriendly
am ongst
others)
and
others
were
arbitrary
characteristics. The task of the students was to identify those traits (if any) that he or she
thought w ere typically “G erm an” . Out o f the com pletion o f this task would em erge those
students who view ed G erm ans in the already existing stereotypical light and those who
possessed an im partial view o f the G erm an people.
The results for question four w ere very surprising in regard to those students am ongst
w hom the level of stereotyping was highest and low est respectively. On the basis of
gender, the level o f stereotyping am ongst males and females was identical. 61% of the
total num ber o f m ales who responded to the questionnaire stereotyped Germ an people in
term s of appearance, as did 61% o f the females. O f the total num ber of students who had
not m et any G erm an people, 75% stereotyped them in term s o f appearance (blonde­
haired, blue-eyed, tall and thin), com pared to 79% of the total num ber o f students who
had m et G erm an people. These findings would appear to indicate that gender is not a
significant factor in the practice o f stereotyping and that the fact of having m et a Germ an
person is not autom atically indicative o f a low er level of ethnocentricity.
56% o f Sixth Years in com parison with 51% of Third Years and 50% o f First Years
considered the average G erm an to be tall, thin and athletic (which is an already existing
stereotype). This is a very surprising result, considering that all of the sixth year students
had m et G erm an people, presum ably not all of w hom had blonde hair and blue eyes, in
com parison to only 94% o f F irst Years who had m et G erm an people. In addition, 63% of
sixth year students in com parison with 34% o f third year students and 23% of first year
students replied that on average, Germ an people are blonde-haired and blue-eyed.
In a survey carried out by H aerle & Schulz (1992) which aim ed to ascertain which (if
any) stereotypes about G erm an people were m ost prevalent am ongst university students
in A rizona in the U nited States, the researchers asked the students to list those
characteristics w hich they felt w ere m ost typical o f Germ an people. The questions
45
elicited voluntary inform ation; that is, students were not given a choice o f characteristics
from w hich they had to choose those that they felt were most suitable, as is the case in
this study. The physical characteristics most frequently listed in the H aerle / Schulz study
were: schon, grofi, stark, blaue Augen, Blondes Haar. Im m ediately, a correlation is
evident betw een the physical attributes typical of G erm an people m entioned by the
students in the H aerle / Schulz (1992) study and those m entioned by the students n this
study, even though the inform ation in both studies was accum ulated using different
m ethodologies. These results point w ithout doubt tow ards the widespread existence o f a
recogniseable G erm an stereotype. In the next chapter the possible causes o f the
stereotyping w itnessed here shall be exam ined in detail.
The finding relating to questions four and five illustrate that the highest level of
stereotyping is present am ongst sixth year students and first year student students
dem onstrate the low est level. The num ber o f first year students who chose “N either”
when choosing physical attributes by way of reluctance to categorise further confirm s this
observation. 43% o f first year students chose “N either” in com parison with 24% o f Third
Years and 23% o f Sixth Years. Furtherm ore, certain students w ished to ensure that the
reasons for their choice of “N either” did not go unnoticed or m isunderstood by the
researcher and offered explanations in the margins of the questionnaires. These
explanations were offered only by first year students and the following is a sam ple of
their com m ents: “T heir eyes and hair can be any colour at all” (6F), “You can ’t
generalise” (26M ), “You can ’t describe an average person” (18F), “They are all unlike”
(32M).
No such statem ents w ere received from sixth year or third year students. So on the basis
of the above results it w ould appear that the highest level of stereotyping on the basis of
physical attributes occurs in the sixth year group and the low est level occurs in the first
year group. The com m ents m ade by members of the first year group w ould also indicate
the fact that they w ould appear to be the least ethnocentric group of the three. The
findings gained from the answers to question four w ould seem to dem onstrate that the
student begins secondary school with a low or non-existent level of preconceptions which
46
seem s to increase for som e reason as the schooling progresses and to reach a peak at sixth
year level.
Is it possible then, that certain factors in the course o f the pupil’s G erm an language
education m ust in som e way contribute to the birth and growth of stereotypes and
preconceptions w ithin the student? These factors and their possible influence will be
discussed in m ore detail later on in the chapter. W hat is im portant for this study is not ju st
that stereotypes exist, but that the materials used in class seem to contribute to the
practice o f stereotyping. Stereotypes themselves are not dangerous, they are m erely
products o f exposure to generalisations and they can actually help a hum an being to
sim plify and categorise inform ation obtained from a com plex and over-stim ulating
environm ent (H am ilton & G ifford 1976: 392-407).
Indeed stereotypes them selves, since T ajafel’s theory o f a cognition process in the
form ation o f stereotypes (Tajafel 1969), have been considered m ore and more to be an
integral part o f hum an inform ation processing because with such structures one can store,
process and retrieve input m uch faster than without. (Before this theory, the process of
stereotype form ation had alm ost exclusively been attributed to social influences
[Bettelheim & Janow itz 1950]). Although stereotypes them selves are unavoidable, they
are not dangerous. It is the practice o f stereotyping that can be destructive as it renders
the individuals w ithin a particular group interchangeable (Schadron et al. 1994). H aerle &
Schulz (1996: 9) echo these sentiments:
“A lthough we accept the existence o f stereotypes, we w ould nevertheless be
rem iss in our role as educators if we would not attem pt to develop in our students
[...] an awareness that stereotypes impede cross cultural understanding6.”
Stereotyping then, can have a detrim ental effect on the students’ perception of the L2
culture and the m em bers o f that culture. As has been previously explained in the second
chapter, background know ledge o f the L2 country and the inhabitants of that country is
6 M y em p h asis
47
also very im portant as a positive view o f the country can aid language learning. If the
student is indifferent to the culture and inhabitants of the target language country a
concrete, positive view o f the language itself will sim ply not be possible. Ethnocentricity
is born out o f a lack of w ell-balanced, unbiased portrayal of or exposure to a foreign
culture. It is a valid question then, on the basis of the figures obtained for questions four
and five in relation to the student’s educational status, to ask w hether the portrayal o f the
G erm an people becom es m ore biased as the secondary schooling of Irish pupils
progresses.
The answ ers provided for question five also reveal a certain am ount of stereotyping
am ongst the three groups in regard to German personalities. The following table will
illustrate w hich qualities w ere attributed to Germ ans in which proportions and it will
becom e obvious that the boring, unfriendly but healthy German is alive and well.
P ositive T raits
N eg a tiv e T raits
H ealthy 82%
B oring 48 %
H ygienic 74 %
U nfriendly 41 %
H ardw orking 58 %
Pow er-hungry 38 %
Friendly 56 %
R acist 18 %
Patriotic 54 %
Lazy 11%
Easygoing 43 %
U ntidy 12 %
T a b le 1: P o sitiv e a n d n eg a tiv e traits assign ed to th e G erm an p erson ality b y Irish
seco n d a ry sch ool stu d en ts.
As one can see the average num ber of positive traits attributed to German people far
exceeds the num ber o f negative traits given them. This was also the case in the H aerle /
Schulz (1992) study, which concluded that the attribution of stereotypical traits was
directly related to proficiency in the L2. This will be discussed further in the follow ing
chapter. H ow ever, the results obtained from question five (see above table) reveal quite a
48
difference betw een the sixth year view s on the average G erm an personality and the first
year views. On average, first year students attributed significantly m ore positive traits to
G erm ans than did sixth year students. However, it was the third year students who
attributed the m ost negative and least positive characteristics to the Germ an people. The
follow ing table, through the am ount of positive and negative traits attributed to the
G erm an people by each group, illustrates the differences in opinion in relation to Germ an
people betw een first year, third year and sixth year students.
P ositive T raits
N egative T raits
F ir st Y ears
69%
31 %
T h ird Y ears
49 %
51 %
S ix th Y ears
52 %
48 %
T a b le 2: P u p ils ’ p e r cep tio n s o f G erm an p eop le
O ne fem ale respondent in first year, eager to show her appreciation of Germ an people
added in the margin: “I ’m sure G erm ans have a negative side but I ’m not aware o f it.
W hatever I’ve heard about or know n about Germans is that they are an industrious and
proud race” (6F).
3.3 G eneral Knowledge
Q uestions six, seven and eight were general know ledge questions, included in the
questionnaire in order to exam ine the students’ basic geographical know ledge of
G erm any. A ll three questions produced an extrem ely poor standard of answering. The
inform ation gleaned in response to these questions would suggest that the students in
question generally possessed a very lim ited geographical know ledge o f Germany. Even
one o f the m ost fundam ental pieces o f inform ation that one should know about a target
language country (the nam e o f that country’s capital city) was to a large extent unknown.
49
The first o f the general know ledge questions in the questionnaire asked the students to
nam e tw o G erm an rivers. The results were very disappointing, illustrating a lack of
appropriate geographical know ledge am ongst all of the three groups. Out of the sixth year
group, a m ere 52% m anaged to nam e two German rivers w hile 33% m anaged to nam e
one and a sizeable 15% could not nam e a single Germ an river. The results from the third
year group w ere even less im pressive. Only 27% nam ed two rivers, 51% nam ed one and
22% left the answ er spaces blank. O f the first year group, 39% nam ed two correct rivers,
34% nam ed one and 27% did not attem pt an answer. A lthough the results of answers
from the first year group m ay be considered poor, with less than half o f the group
supplying correct answers, they are nevertheless m ore im pressive than the num ber of
correct answ ers given from the third year group who are two years the senior of the first
year students.
D espite the fact the sixth year group is the group with the m ost correct answers, w hich is
to be expected given that they are educationally the m ost advanced group, the results are
still unim pressive given that barely over half (only 13% m ore Sixth Years than First
Y ears, despite a five year difference in educational status) m anaged to supply fully
correct answ ers. At first year level the num ber of correct answers is discouraging, but at
sixth year level the num ber of fully correct answers should be considered unacceptable.
O f the answ ers given, the m ost frequently quoted rivers w ere the Rhine, the R uhr and the
D anube. O f the total num ber of students who quoted the Rhine, only 47% spelt it
correctly. The other 53% postulated num erous variations in the spelling including “rine”,
“ryne” , “ryn” and “rein” . A small num ber of students included the Seine river in their
answ ers. N ot only that, but they even m anaged to spell it incorrectly (Sine, Sien).
T he second geographical question on the questionnaire involved nam ing five German
cities. All three groups o f students fared considerably better on this question than on
question six, even though m ore inform ation was sought, as well as different inform ation.
78% o f sixth year students nam ed five German cities correctly and the rem aining 28%
succeeded in nam ing three or more, 68% of third year students nam ed five cities
50
correctly, 17% nam ed three or m ore and 15% did not supply an answer. 85% of first year
students nam ed five cities correctly and the rem aining 15% nam ed three or more.
As w as the case for question six, the third year students put in the poorest perform ance of
all three groups, granting significantly few er correct answers than the first year students
who w ere tw o years behind them in their education. In response to this question, the
follow ing were the five m ost frequently quoted cities: M unich (82%), Berlin (79%),
Frankfurt (63% ), Bonn (60%), D üsseldorf (53%). There were num erous m isspellings of
M unich w hich included “M ünichen”, “M ünch” , “M unic” and “M uinch” . Frankfurt was
also m isspelled in a small num ber of cases. The answers given included “Frankfort”,
“Frankford” , “Frinkfurt” and “Frankfurd” . The rem aining cities given included Stuttgart,
H eidelberg, Essen, D ortm und and H am burg, as well as the non-G erm an cities of Vienna,
Prague and Strasbourg. 7% o f students listed B randenburg (with spelling variations of
B randenbury and B randenvertenberg [an attempt at Baden-W ürtem burg perhaps?]),
Sachsen, Bayern, “N ordrhein Pfalz” or “N edersachsen” as G erm an cities. There was
obviously m uch confusion present regarding the differences betw een cities and regions
and also the com binations w ithin the nam es of provinces. One first year male (32M)
subm itted “Bayern M unich” as a G erm an city.
The responses to question eight, regarding the name of the G erm an capital city clearly
illustrated the real extent to which the students were uninform ed about their target
language country. It was astonishing to note that the vast m ajority of students in all
groups stated B erlin as the capital of G erm any (74% o f Sixth Years, 79% of Third Years
and 91% o f First Years). K now ing the capital city of the target language country m ust
surely be one o f the m ost fundam ental pieces of know ledge that one acquires when
learning a foreign language. T he rem aining 26% of sixth year students stated Bonn as the
capital, as did the rem aining 21% o f third year students. H owever, M unich was the
second choice as the G erm an capital for the rem aining 9% o f first year students.
51
Q uestions nine, ten and eleven were related to the present and past politics and history of
G erm any. In the H aerle / Schulz (1992) study, the researchers w ere surprised at the little
am ount o f attention given by students to political and historical events in Germany.
U pon being asked w hat they associated w ith G erm any (the students could provide
voluntary inform ation, there was no specification as to the type o f inform ation required),
only 1.8% o f students m entioned the Germ an Reunification, even though at the tim e of
the study (1992) it was receiving w ide coverage in the w orld’s media. The answers
provided in response to this questionnaire m irror those o f H aerle and Schulz (1992) and
w ould appear to com pound the view that young people generally care little for politics in
any shape or form. A lthough the num ber o f correct answers received w ere relatively
sm all (just over a quarter of sixth year students (26%) knew w ho the German Chancellor
(at the tim e o f the study) was along with 33% o f Third Years and 60% of First Years), the
first year students were those who perform ed best.
H ow ever in all three groups, know ing who the Chancellor was and spelling his name
correctly w ould appear to be tw o separate tests. All of sixth year students who nam ed the
C hancellor (26% ), 7% of third year students and 8% of first year students spelled the
nam e correctly while the rem ainder o f students (from all three groups) provided a num ber
of am using variations w hich included the following: H elm et, Helm an, Heinrich,
H erm ann, H elm ot, Helm er, H elm itt and as a surname: Kole, Köln, Cole, Köhle, Col,
Coole, Chole, Cohl. These results could be a reflection on the exposure to (a) politics in
class and (b) current affairs in the m edia in general. It is to be expected that sixth years
w ill have an advantage over both other groups in term s of exposure to these factors.
O nce again, the third year students posited the least num ber o f correct answers, indicating
a low er level o f know ledge o f G erm any and the German people than either of the two
other groups. The second part of this question, “W hich party does he represent?” met
w ith only one correct answ er from the entire body o f students that answ ered the
questionnaire. Surprisingly, this correct answ er was given by a first year student. The
perform ance standard for this question, w here first year students exhibit sufficient
52
know ledge o f various aspects o f the L2 and are closely followed by sixth year students
(see questions 7, 8, 9 (a), 10, 11) or vice versa (see questions 6 & 9 (a)), w ould appear to
indicate a trend in foreign language learning.
This trend seem s to be that students are supplied not only with lessons in language, but
also w ith geographical, historical and other inform ation about the target language country
in the first year o f study. H owever, this seems to wane with time and a lack o f sufficient
reinforcem ent (at third year level). H owever, by the sixth year there w ould appear to be a
resurgence in the level o f know ledge o f the target language country, perhaps accum ulated
through other classes, through contact with Germ ans or Germany or through increased
pressure to succeed in the Leaving C ertificate exam ination as well as through the
language class itself.
For question ten, an exceptionally small 18.5% of sixth year students provided the correct
answ er o f 1989 for the date of German Reunification in com parison with 34% of third
year students and 49% o f first year students. In relation to sixth year students, it is
particularly unsatisfactory that such a tiny proportion of students at such an advanced
stage o f their secondary school career failed to be aware of such an im portant event in the
recent history o f the country w hose language they are learning. There was a very wide
variety of answ ers given to this question from all of the groups and the variations are
probably best shown in table form for clarity.
S ixth Y ears
T h ird Y ears
F irst Y ears
1989
18.5 %
34%
49%
E a rly 1 9 9 0 ’s
26%
27 %
31 %
1 9 5 0 ’s
0%
1 0%
0%
1945
0%
3%
0%
D id n o t k n ow
55.5 %
26%
20%
T able 3: P ossible dates for G erm an R eunification as proposed by students.
53
O f the three groups, the first year students supplied the most correct answers and the sixth
year students supplied the least. The first year students were also the group, o f whom
most, when choosing an alternative answer, opted for an era nearest the correct date.
In stating the titles of the two form er G erm anys, the vast majority o f students opted for
the sim plest titles o f “E ast G erm any” and “W est G erm any” . This answ er was given by
81% o f Sixth Years, 72% o f Third Years and 83% o f First Years. 15% o f students in
sixth year answ ered w ith Federal R epublic o f Germany and G erm an Dem ocratic
Republic, as did 3% o f third years and 3% o f first years. The rem aining students (4% of
Sixth Years, 25% o f Third Years and 14% o f First Years) gave no answer. Once again,
the third year students appear to lag behind their peers in the num bers o f correct answers
given.
Q uestion tw elve, w hich asked
“Is Industry in Germany seen as m ore im portant/less
im p o rtan t/ju st as im portant as in other countries?” did not aim to elicit a factual answer,
but like questions four and five was included in order to establish any stereotyping that
m ight be present. There is a popular perception in existence today that G erm any one of
the forem ost industrial countries in the world. The common view is that G erm ans are an
industrious people, who w ork hard to develop their industry and m aintain a world wide
dom ination. D id this particular stereotype exist in the classroom as well as in the world at
large?
Only the sixth year students showed a tendency tow ards recognising this stereotype, with
55% claim ing that industry plays a more im portant role in G erm any than anyw here else.
75% o f third years and 55% of first years felt that it was of the sam e im portance in
G erm any as it w ould be anyw here else, thereby rejecting the stereotype that G erm any is
full o f factories, offices and pow erful business institutions. The rem aining students (24%
of Third Y ears and 45% of First Y ears) considered it m ore im portant than in other
countries.
54
3.4 Names of well-known G erm an People and Com panies
A sking the students to nam e five Germ an com panies and eight fam ous G erm ans was a
m eans o f establishing the level of “everyday” G erm an names that students w ere exposed
to. G iven that there are w ell m ore than five fam ous Germ an com panies and eight fam ous
G erm an people which receive much daily exposure in the television and new spaper
m edia in Ireland, correct answers were surprisingly low in number. 30% o f sixth year
students correctly nam ed five Germ an com panies but only 3% o f third year students
m anaged the sam e task. In com parison to this very low num ber o f third years, a very
im pressive 29% of first year students m anaged to note a full and correct quota o f five
G erm an com panies.
T he bridge betw een the success rates o f the sixth year students and the first year students
for this question, as for num erous other questions (see questions 6, 7, 8, 10, 11) is very
narrow , perhaps too narrow in relation to their differing educational positions. Question
thirteen indicates a difference of m erely 1% in the abilities of the students from sixth year
and those from first year to nam e five fam ous German com panies, despite a difference of
five years in their educational positions. 22% of Sixth Years, 34% of Third Years and
36% o f F irst Years m anaged to nam e betw een three and five com panies. 37% o f sixth
year students, 37% o f third year students and 21% o f first year students nam ed up to three
com panies and the rem aining 11% o f Sixth Years, 26% o f Third Years and 14% of First
Years gave no answ ers at all.
The five m ost quoted com panies were, in order o f prevalence, V olksw agen (63% ), BM W
(51% ) M ercedes (40% ), Siem ens (7%) and Lufthansa (5%). Other com panies m entioned
in very sm all num bers included Bayer, Krupps, Kinder, M ilka, Becks, Adidas,
Schw arzkopf. A lthough V olksw agen was the m ost quoted com pany and, like all o f the
other com panies m entioned it receives am ple publicity in the m edia here in Ireland, there
w ere m any aberrations in the spelling o f the com pany’s nam e which included
“W olfsw agen” , “V olsw agon” , “W olksw agen” and “W olkesw aken” . The variations in the
55
spelling o f this particular w ord could be due to confusion surrounding the phonetics of
the letters “W ” and “V ” and “G ” and “K ” in German.
Less than h alf o f the students in each group m anaged to com e up with the nam es of eight
fam ous G erm ans. 20% o f sixth year students m anaged it (One fifth o f the total num ber of
sixth year students), 17% o f third year students did and 21% of first year students did.
These results show im m ediately that once again, the third year group lags behind both of
the other groups. This is to an extent understandable w here the sixth year group is
concerned but not w here the First Years are concerned. Third year students are two years
ahead o f first year students in their schooling and should dem onstrate know ledge to that
effect, as should the Sixth Years, w hose success rate is also exceeded by that o f the First
Years.
33% o f Sixth Years could nam e between four and eight fam ous G erm ans as did 49% of
Third Y ears and 36% o f First Years. 30% o f sixth year students nam ed either four or less
fam ous G erm ans with 24% o f Third Years and 36% o f First Years. All o f the sixth year
students nam ed at the least between one and three fam ous Germans but 10% o f third year
students and 8% o f first years did not or could not attem pt an answer.
T he m ost fam ous G erm ans students am ongst the first year students were, in this order,
1. Steffi G raf (59% )
2. M ichael Schum acher (53% )
3. Jurgen K linsm ann (50%)
4. A dolf H itler (39% )
5. H elm ut Kohl (31%)
6. R alf Schum acher / C laudia Schiffer (28%)
7. A ndreas M oller (22% )
8. O liver B ierhof (11% )
There w as a m arked difference exhibited in the famous Germans chosen by m ales and
fem ales respectively. All of the historically fam ous Germ ans m entioned in by the first
56
year group were chosen exclusively by fem ales (except for A dolf Hitler, who was
m entioned by both males and females). These figures included A nne Frank, Luther,
Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, M ozart, Einstein, W agner. N ot one of the above figures was
m entioned by m ale students. M ales, on the other hand, opted for the m ore contem porary
sporting figures o f G erm any.
The fam ous G erm ans m entioned exclusively by first year males were Samm er,
Gutenberg, Riedle, Berger, Beckenbauer, Langer, M oller, Bierhoff, Kopke, Ziege and
Vogts. The G erm ans m entioned by both male and fem ale sixth year students w ere those
exceptionally
fam ous
contem porary
G erm ans
w hose
names
are
internationally
recognised. These w ere Schindler, Kohl, Graf, K linsm an, M. Schum acher and R.
Schum acher. There was also variation am ongst all students in the use of first nam es when
nam ing w ell-know n G erm an people. O f all of the above figures, Anne Frank, Claudia
Schiffer, O skar Schindler, R alf and M ichael Schum acher were the only ones m entioned
with both first and surnam e. All others (for the m ost part historical figures) were
m entioned only by surnames.
The respective answ ers to this question from males and females w ould lead one to
believe that the m ajority o f females w ere m ore aware o f the cultural history of the
country than the m ales. This fact would appear indicate that they w ere paying more
attention to educational cultural material in class which w ould contain for the m ost part
inform ation relating to G erm an people fam ous throughout history, as opposed to the
m ales w ho chose their fam ous Germans from contem porary Germany.
N aturally, contem porary fam ous Germans are also likely to be m entioned in a section of
m odern G erm an textbooks relating to their field but they will also benefit from extensive
publicity in the television and new spaper m edia on an alm ost daily basis. The student is
far m ore likely to rem em ber a contem porary fam ous person from a television program m e
or a large new spaper article than from a small snippet in a textbook. The choice of
G erm an people chosen by m ales and fem ales respectively in response to this question
w ould seem therefore to point to the fact that the m ale students of this group appear to be
57
m ore influenced by m odern m edia such as television and new spaper (and especially the
sporting w orld) than w ould females.
It is also possible that these results illustrate the influence o f traditional m ale / fem ale
interests on the choice o f Germans. M ales are traditionally m ore interested in sport than
are fem ales and this w ould go towards explaining the increased num ber o f sporting
personalities chosen by m ales as opposed to fem ales. Fem ales are traditionally m ore
inclined tow ards the Arts than are males and this could also provide an explanation for
the increased num ber o f historical figures chosen by females as opposed to males.
In the third year group the m ost fam ous Germans were:
1. A dolf H itler (75%)
2. Jürgen K linsm an (68%)
3. M artin Luther (30% )
4. M ichael Schum acher (23% )
5. K arl-H einz R iedle / Thom as Hässler (20%)
6. R alf Schum acher / Steffi G raf (17%)
7. A lbert Einstein / A ndreas K öpke (14%)
8. Franz B eckenbauer / Andreas M öller (10%)
W ithin this group the situation w hich occurred in the first year group w here females
chose m ore historical figures than m ales and m ales chose m ore contem porary figures
than females is alm ost reversed. H ere the males were the students who opted very m uch
for historical as well as contem porary figures in their choice of fam ous G erm ans, thereby
indicating a greater exposure to or interest in history than the females, who chose m ore
contem porary G erm ans than historical Germans (with the exception of Beethoven, Hitler,
Luther, Einstein and G rim m , who w ere also chosen by females).
These were also
m entioned only by surnam es.
T he figures m entioned by m ales but not by females were M ozart, Beethoven, Bismarck,
Schindler, G oering, M atthäis, Ziege, M öller, Völler, Bierhoff, Köpke, H ässler and Hess.
58
H ow ever, with the exception o f only G rim m and Goethe, the females did not choose any
G erm ans that w ere not chosen by the males. The G erm ans com m only chosen by both
m ales and fem ales were Hitler, Luther, Einstein, K ohl, Graf, K linsm an, M. Schum acher
and R. Schum acher. A dolf H itler and M artin Luther w ere the only two m entioned only by
their surnam es. Overall, the males dem onstrated a significantly w ider range o f influences
in their broad choice o f fam ous G erm ans than did the fem ales, who were quite lim ited to
contem porary figures in their choices.
In the sixth year group, the m ost fam ous Germans were:
1. A dolf H itler (74%)
2. Jürgen K linsm an (51 %)
3. Steffi G raf (44%)
4. M ichael Schum acher (29%)
5. B ism arck (22%)
6. M ozart / Bach (19%)
7. Franz B eckenbauer (15%)
8. A lbert Einstein / R alf Schum acher (11%)
The G erm ans chosen by the m ales and females in this group resem bled those chosen by
the m ales and fem ales respectively of the first year group. There was a m arked difference
in the types of people chosen by the m ales and fem ales respectively. Like the first year
group, the fem ale sixth year students were m ore inclined towards celebrated figures of
m usic, literature and other fields o f H ochkultur than the m ale students.
The G erm ans chosen exclusively by fem ale students were Anne Frank, Beethoven,
G oethe, M ozart, G rim m , Strauss, Freud, K aiser W ilhelm , Schiffer and Langer. Anne
F rank was the only figure m entioned with first and surname. The figures chosen
exclusively by the m ale students were contem porary sporting heroes B eckenbauer,
M öller and B ierhoff as well as infam ous m ajor figures of German w ar history G oering,
G oebbels and Hess. A gain, the traditional m ale and fem ale interests of sports / w ar and
arts / fashion respectively could account for this dichotom y in the male and fem ale
59
choices o f Germans. In all o f the groups m ost G erm ans nam ed were presented only by
their surnam es. Both M ozart and Hitler, both of A ustrian nationality were considered by
the students to be G erman. H itler is one o f the m ost prom inent nam es listed by all three
groups (in fourth place for first year students and in first place for Third Years and Sixth
Years).
3.5 M otivation
Q uestion fifteen aim ed to ascertain the types o f m otivation em ployed by the students for
learning German. M otivation in foreign language learning is, as in every other sphere of
hum an activity, the crucial factor which determ ines w hether a person is inclined towards
a task at all and if so, it will determ ine why a person is so inclined. O ver the years,
considerable research has been carried out into m otivation for learning foreign languages,
m ost notably R.C Gardner.
A ccording to G ardner, m otivation involves four key factors: (a) a goal, (b) effortful
(purposeful) behaviour, (c) a desire to attain the goal, (d) favourable attitudes tow ards the
activity in question (G ardner 1985: 50). Broadly speaking, G ardner defines m otivation
as: “T he com bination o f effort, plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language,
plus favourable attitudes tow ards learning the language” (G ardner 1985: 10 cited in Ellis
1994: 509). He then postulates that there are different types o f motivation. M otivation can
be causative (have an effect on learning) or it can be resultative (be influenced by
learning). It can be intrinsic (derive from personal interests and inner needs o f the
learner) or it can be extrinsic (derive from external sources such as material rew ards)
(Ellis 1994: 36). In order to establish the type of m otivation for foreign language learning,
reasons for learning the foreign language m ust be established. Once established, these
reasons can be classified into w hat are known as “O rientations” - types of reasons.
In regard to causative and resultative motivations, G ardner (1985, cited in Ellis 1994:
514) claim s that m otivation is prim arily causative, although it is also to a small extent
resultative. This view concedes that m otivation is affected by achievem ent. A high level
60
o f m otivation stim ulates learning, which in turn will result in an increase in motivation. A
low level o f m otivation on the other hand, will signal low achievem ent which will in turn
result in low er m otivation. This hypothesis is further supported by studies by Savignon
(1972); Strong (1983; 1984) and H erm ann (1980) (all cited in Ellis 1994: 518), each of
w hom discovered that learner m otivation is strongly affected by achievem ent.
In particular, G ardner and Lam bert focus on two types o f orientations: integrative and
instrum ental (G ardner & Lam bert 1959). An integrative m otivation is em ployed when the
learner desires to integrate him self into the L2 culture and to identify with m em bers of
that culture. Integrative m otivation involves learning the language because of “a sincere
and personal interest in the people and culture represented by the other language group”
(Lam bert 1974: 98). Integrative m otivation is strongly related to L2 achievem ent (Ellis
1994: 513), possibly because o f an “em otional” desire to learn the language. Instrum ental
m otivation on the other hand is when the learner learns a language of the target culture in
order to use this language as an instrum ent which (s)he can use to achieve other goals.
The m otivation for learning the L2 is influenced by external factors.
G ardner & M ac Intyre (1991 cited in Ellis 1994: 517) report a study in which forty-six
psychology students were offered $10.00 if they succeeded in a paired associate (English
- French) vocabulary test. The sam e num ber of students w ithin a different group were
sim ply told to do their best. Those offered the reward achieved better results in the test
and spent m ore tim e view ing the w ords (except in the sixth and last trial w here the
possibility o f a rew ard no longer existed). This lead G ardner & M ac Intyre to claim that
once the chance of a rew ard was elim inated, the learners ceased to apply an extra effort.
This in turn lead to the conclusion that instrum ental m otivation can be successful, but for
successful learning the possibility o f a rew ard in some form m ust exist (Ellis 1994: 514).
N aturally the efficacy of both of the m otivations has been questioned in the past (G ardner
& L am bert 1972) but that is not the purpose of this dissertation. Rather, this thesis aims
to ascertain to which extent both o f these motivations are present am ongst the students
who responded to the questionnaire. There was quite a variation in reasons am ongst the
61
three individual groups as to why they were learning
the German language. H ow ever, as
a collective group the reasons for learning G erm an
are broken down in the follow ing
way:
35% o f students chose G erm an because they feel it is im portant for jobs. (Instrumental
m otivation).
26% o f students chose it because they like the German language. (Integrative m otivation
- they like the experience o f learning the language, therefore they wish becom e proficient
in the language, presum ably so that they can travel to the L2).
22% o f students study G erm an because it is a com pulsory school subject (this was the
case in one o f the secondary schools only). (Instrum ental m otivation - they m ust learn
the language in order to sit for their exam inations).
12% chose it because it allows them to learn about another
culture. (Instrum ental
m otivation - they w ish to know about another culture in order to understand that culture).
T he rem aining 5% chose it under the heading of “Other” for a variety of reasons that
included: “M y parents m ade m e” (45M ), “Everyone said it was easy” (36M ) and “My
brother / sister does it and told m e it was good” (15F) and “To go to G ermany in sixth
year” (62M ).
Results point to the presence o f both instrum ental and integrative m otivation am ongst the
students, but there is a sizeable m ajority of 20% of students (two thirds in total) who
practice instrum ental m otivation as opposed to the one third of students who practice
integrative m otivation.
3.6 A ttitudes
O ne o f the m ost im portant variables in the learning of a second language is learner
attitudes. The attitude of a language learner tow ards the L2 has an im pact on the level of
62
L2 proficiency achieved by that learner and (like m otivation) is influenced by the
learner’s success (Ellis 1994: 198). It would appear that in general, positive attitudes
tow ards the L2 are reinforced by success and negative attitudes are reinforced by failure.
Q uestions sixteen to nineteen inclusive of the questionnaire used for this study dealt with
the attitudes o f the students towards the various aspects of German class. In both o f the
schools questioned, the Germ an language option was optional as o f Third Y ear onwards.
In all o f the groups the num ber o f students planning to continue German at a higher
educational level exceeded those who planned to discontinue it. This result appears to
indicate a positive attitude towards Germ an and a perception o f Germ an as a valuable
subject in all o f the three groups. 52% o f sixth year students planned to continue German
after the L eaving C ertificate and 61% of Third Years and 83% o f First Years planned to
continue after the Junior Certificate.
In question seventeen, the students were asked to indicate their opinions of the German
language, the gram m ar and the “cultural side” of learning Germ an respectively. Overall,
first year students had the m ost positive (perhaps the m ost optim istic) attitudes towards
all three aspects o f learning G erman. This could be due to the fact that they were fresh
into first year and because everything was still so new and different to national school,
they w ere very optim istic tow ards their studies. This optim ism is also apparent in the
answers given by first year students in response to question sixteen, w here of all o f the
three groups, the F irst Years were those of whom the largest proportion planned to
continue G erm an after a m ajor exam ination. The first year students liked the three aspects
m ore and disliked everything less than both of the other groups. On average, Cultural
Studies w ere the m ost enjoyed part of learning a language (43% ), follow ed by the
language itself (37% ). These figures are proportional o f the com plete sam ple of ninetyfive students. G ram m ar was the m ost disliked part of Germ an class (60%). This question
provided the first indicator o f attitudes specifically towards Landeskunde; attitudes which
w ere distinctly positive in tone.
63
Q uestion nineteen, by
L andeskunde,
asking the students to choose an
adjective to describe
strove to focus exclusively on the attitudes o f students towards
Landeskunde. It aimed to establish m ore definite attitudes and to accum ulate more
specific inform ation regarding perception of Cultural Studies am ongst students. The
answ ers to this question dem onstrated further positive attitudes towards Landeskunde
am ongst the m em bers o f all three groups.
Culture was seen as “interesting” by 57% of the com plete sam ple o f students (55% of
sixth year, 51% of third year, 65% o f first year) and was seen as “relevant to class” by
48% o f students, 55% o f sixth year, 44% of third year, 46% of first year). H owever, only
4% found it “im portant” . W hile 31% found it boring, only 1% considered it to be
irrelevant to class. As with question seventeen, the results obtained point towards
generally positive attitudes towards Landeskunde.
W hen asked in question tw enty w hether they preferred learning about G erm any to
learning the G erm an language, 40% o f Sixth Years, 51% of Third Y ears, 60% o f First
Years felt that they preferred learning about G ermany to learning G erm an. 18.5% of
Sixth Years, 10% o f Third Year, 21% of First Years preferred learning Germ an and the
rem aining students enjoyed both equally. This statistic would go tow ards cem enting even
further the positive status o f Landeskunde in the foreign language classroom. The reasons
for particular enjoym ent o f C ultural Studies or language were established through the
responses given for questions tw enty-four and twenty-five, in which the students were
asked w hether they w anted m ore or less Cultural Studies in class or w hether Cultural
Studies is im portant or not and the reasons therefore.
In the past, the role of attitudes in foreign language learning has been extensively
researched (G ardner & Lam bert 1972); (G ardner 1985). In these studies, it has been
claim ed that socially-based m otivation, when a learner is very w illing to becom e a valued
m em ber o f the L2 com m unity (G ardner & Lam bert 1959: 271, cited in Ellis 1996: 209)
results in a high success rate in L2 appropriation. This w illingness is indicative of a
64
positive attitude towards the L2 and the L2 com m unity. The learner attitudes established
in this study shall be discussed in-depth in the follow ing chapter.
3.7 T he Role of L andeskunde
Q uestions tw enty-one to tw enty-three aim ed to establish the role o f Landeskunde in the
classroom . This differs from the students’ opinions on Landeskunde or the im portance
(according to the students) of Landeskunde in that students may feel that Landeskunde is
very im portant but it m ight only constitute a very small proportion of class tim e (i.e. play
a very small role). Even though the m ajority of students in all three groups felt that
Cultural Studies are interesting and they enjoy learning about the culture of Germ any, the
actual role played by Cultural Studies does not correspond with it’s popularity rating.
O verall, 11% o f Sixth Y ears, 3% o f Third Years and 39% of First Years w ho responded
to the questionnaire felt that culture played a significant (big) role in their classroom.
These figures seem to com pound the hypothesis that students in first year receive
significant inform ation about all aspects of the target language country, which w anes in
the m iddle o f their educational careers and increases again towards the end, w hen the
pressure on students to succeed in exam inations. 89% of Sixth Years, 79% o f Third Years
and 55% of First Years felt that it played a small role. 14% of Third Years and 6% of
First Years felt that culture, as a part o f their language class played no role at all. The
rem ainder o f the students failed to answer.
It is im portant to note that the group of students who felt that culture played no role
w hatsoever in language class was exclusively com posed of third and first year students.
These findings then, w ould further support the observation made earlier in C hapter Two
that the Junior Certificate syllabus is m odelled prim arily on the Com m unicative
A pproach, a teaching m ethod which tends to place com m unicative language skills rather
than cultural know ledge in the forefront o f the language class. A t Leaving Certificate
level, certain students felt that Landeskunde played only a small role in class. H owever, it
was at all tim es present. N o Leaving C ertificate student felt that Cultural Studies were
65
com pletely absent from the syllabus.
A sking the students w hich aspects of G erm any they learn m ost about was a m eans of
establishing w hether (if at all) the com position o f Cultural Studies varies during the three
stages o f secondary education in question. The extent to which certain topics were
covered in class varied from group to group, although "Education" was the one area that
all groups felt they learned m ost about. The priority given to each topic within each group
is shown below.
S ix th Y ears
T h ird Y ears
F irst Y ears
E ducation 85 %
Education 85 %
Education 39 %
Y outh 52 %
Youth 65 %
Youth 31 %
Industry 11 %
Politics/H istory 3 %
H istory/G eography 23 %
Industry 8 %
H istory 7 %
Politics 3.7 %
T a b le 4: P r io rity g iv en to top ics oth er th an la n g u a g e in G erm an class.
The prevalence o f history and geography in first year classes w ould go a long way
tow ards explaining the excellent perform ance o f first year students in questions seven,
eight, ten and eleven which concentrated on the history and geography of Germ any. As
one can see, E ducation is the topic m ost widely taught to all three groups. One sixth year
fem ale attested to this w hen she answ ered to question tw enty-four that she w ould like
m ore cultural studies in class: “W e are only told about the educational system in
G erm any [...] I w ould like to learn m ore about the politics and industry o f the state. I
only know the history from history class.” (8 IF)
The m eans by w hich the students learned m ost about Germ an culture varied greatly from
group to group. The m ajority of sixth year students learned m ost from their own personal
experience, while Third Years learned m ost from their textbooks and First Years learned
m ost from talking to their teachers. All o f these results correspond w ith the educational
66
level o f each group. Sixth Years are likely to have had m ore experience w ith Germ ans
than either Third Years or First Years, if only because of the advantage in age (see
section 3.14).
Likew ise, because first year students are young and are used to learning directly from a
teacher, a secondary school teacher is likely to explain m ore elem ents o f G erm an life to
first years orally than to third or sixth year students, who are capable o f learning m ore
independently. Third year students are m ore or less in the middle. They can learn a
m easured am ount o f inform ation independently from a textbook, but are not likely to be
as autonom ous in their learning processes as sixth year students. School video was the
least quoted m eans o f learning about Germ an culture in all o f the three groups. V arious
teaching m aterials which can be used in foreign language class will be discussed further
in the follow ing chapter.
The final two questions o f the survey allow ed the students to voice their opinions on the
role and im portance of Landeskunde and aim ed to establish w hether they felt any
changes ought to be m ade to the German syllabus regarding Cultural Studies and if so,
w hich changes. B y establishing the opinions of the students on Landeskunde, one could
in turn establish the potential for developm ent o f Landeskunde within the syllabus. From
the data collected, it w ould appear that there is m ost definitely a need to develop the
existing cultural curriculum as the dem and is certainly there. The overw helm ing majority
o f students w ithin all three groups felt that for various reasons they would like more
C ultural Studies in their school curriculum.
O verall, 89% o f Sixth Y ears, 85% of Third Years and 62% of First Years w anted m ore
Cultural Studies. 11% of Sixth Years, 15% of Third Years and 29% of First Years w anted
less and the rem aining 9% o f First Years were im partial. This is indicative o f yet more
evidence o f the positive view of C ultural Studies held by the m ajority of students who
returned the questionnaire. There were a wide variety of reasons given by the m em bers o f
all three groups fo r w hy there should be m ore or less Landeskunde in class. The
67
follow ing is a list o f the reasons given by m em bers of all three groups in order of
im portance7:
(a) It is interesting: 94% “It m akes German class m ore interesting instead o f reading a
gram m ar book all the tim e” (76F).
(b) O ne needs to know about the L2 if one is going there: 21% “If you w ant to go there
you need to know the peo p le’s habits and their way o f life” (45F).
(c) It is better / an alternative to gram m ar and language: 16% “I ’m not interested in
learning the language but I find G erm any’s culture great. It’s enjoyable and
interesting” (61M).
(d) It helps one to discover the differences betw een Ireland and Germany: 11% “It is
im portant because it gives us a better insight into who they are and it highlights the
differences betw een our culture and theirs” (72F).
O ther reasons given by first year students include the fact that they w ant to know about
the country (3%): “I w ould like to learn m ore about cultural Studies because it is
interesting and I have never done it before” (34M ), and the fact that they feel they are
doing too little at the m om ent (3%): “Because we learn very little at the m om ent” (25F).
A lternative reasons given by Third Years are that they “don’t do enough” (10%):
“B ecause I haven’t learned a lot about the Germ an culture and it is im portant as it helps
you to understand the G erm ans better and do G erm an as a language” (45F). A nother
reason given was that it helps one’s confidence in the language (3%): “B ecause even
though it is not that interesting you do have to know m aybe a good bit about G erm an
culture in order to feel confident in the language its e lf’ (43F). A nd finally, it contributes
to their understanding o f the language (3%): “W e need to understand the country o f the
language and the people who speak it naturally before we can understand it” (40M).
7 Students cou ld c h o o se any num ber o f reasons, each o f equal w eigh tin g. T herefore, the total num ber o f
p ercen tages do not add up to 100% .
68
Sixth Years supplied the follow ing reasons for m ore Landeskunde in class: So that one
w o n ’t cause offence when visiting the country (11%): “Because it is im portant not to
offend som eone while in G erm any. W ith this inform ation you can fit in more easily”
(83M ). It is an escape from exam pressure (7%): “B ecause constantly learning gram m ar
and hearing about exam s is a bit m uch” (90F). One needs it for the exam s (7%): “Som e
o f the questions on the Leaving Certificate are asked about G erm any and because
G erm an culture is not really covered in class, it is hard to talk / write about it” (77F).
Finally, m any felt that the language alone is artificial (4%): “T here’s not much sense in
learning the language o f a country you know absolutely nothing about” (78F).
The reasons given for prom oting less Landeskunde in class were boredom (20% o f all
students who responded felt Cultural Studies were boring) “B oring” (41M ) and
irrelevance (11% o f students felt that Cultural Studies were irrelevant to Germ an class)
“It is not im portant because it’s not as if you are ever going to go to Germany in your life
anyw ay so you d o n ’t need to know about the country” (14M ). This respondent is
unknow ingly dem onstrating a distinct lack o f m otivation to learn the L2. This lack of
m otivation is due to the absence o f a “rew ard” or goal (going to the L2 country to
practise the language, w hich the learner in question feels is not possible). The response in
question is direct evidence o f the hypothesis that the possibility of a rew ard is crucial to
the practice o f instrum ental m otivation (see section 3.5).
3.8 T he Im p o rtan ce of L andeskunde
Q uestion tw enty-five, the final question of the questionnaire, aimed to establish the actual
im portance, according to the students them selves, o f Landeskunde. 53% felt that it was
reasonably im portant, follow ed by 37% who felt it was very im portant and the rem aining
10% felt that it was not im portant. These statistics break down into individual groups in
the follow ing way: 59% o f Sixth Years, 51% o f Third Years and 55% o f First Years
considered C ultural Studies to be reasonably im portant. 37% o f Sixth Years, 34% of
T hird Y ears and 44% o f First Years considered Cultural Studies to be very im portant and
the rem ainder o f each group - 4% , 15% and 1% o f Sixth, Third and First Years
69
respectively found it unim portant. The reasons given for im portance / lack o f im portance
were very sim ilar to those given for w hy there should be m ore or less cultural studies in
class, though their im portance varied.
The num ber one reason am ong first years as to why Landeskunde is im portant is that it is
im portant if one wants to go there (16%). This shows that first year students realise the
im portance o f a background know ledge of the L2. Third year students’ m ost im portant
reason for learning about culture was also that it is im portant if one wants to live or to
travel there (17%). This is another indicator o f integrative motivation. The m ajority of
sixth year students (25%) feel that a language w ithout a cultural context is useless: “It
w ould be pointless to learn the language o f a country you know nothing about” (78F).
The follow ing illustrates the reasons given in order o f im portance by students o f all three
groups for the im portance o f Landeskunde. Again, not all reults will add up to 100% as
students could choose several reasons.
(a) O ne w ithout the other is useless 49%: “B eing able to speak the German language is
useless w ithout know ing about G erm any as a nation and it’s culture” (14M).
(b) One needs to know it if one is going there 45%: “If you w ant to visit G erm any or
w ork there you’ll need to know about the country” (12M).
(c) O ne should know about o n e’s target language country (obligation): 44% “You d o n ’t
have to know everything but you should know a b it” (27M).
(d) It provides a context for the language: 38% “It helps you to understand the language”
(68M ).
O ther reasons given from m em bers of individual groups are:
First Years: You m ight as w ell (8%) “Because if you’re learning about a language you
m ight as well learn about the country” (26M ); It expands your know ledge o f the country
70
(5%); It m akes it easier to get a jo b (5%) “I would find a jo b m ore easily and I w ouldn’t
feel unknow ledgeable” (17F).
Third Years: So that one w on’t cause offence if you go there (3%) “You have to know
som ething in case you are going there (49M); One needs it for exam s (3%) “N eed to
know it for the exam ” (58M ); It is interesting (3%) “It is interesting” (55M).
Sixth Years: It helps to prevent stereotyping (4%) “Prevents bias and stereotyping” (79F);
It increases one's desire to visit the target language country (4%) “It makes m e w ant to
visit the country and experience it first-hand” (74F); It highlights differences betw een the
L I and L2 countries (4%): “it highlights the differences betw een our country and theirs”
72F; It helps survival in the L2 (7%) “Going to a country and being able to speak the
language is one thing, but you should also have a healthy interest and know ledge o f
fellow Europeans” (73F).
The reason given as to w hy Landeskunde is unim portant is that it is sim ply not as
im portant as learning the language itself. The view of the students who feel that Cultural
Studies are irrelevant to class as presum ed by the researcher from this answ er is that in
order to successfully live and ultim ately survive in the L2, the m ajority o f pupils consider
the spoken language is m ore im portant than a know ledge o f the L2 culture. This opinion
may be shortsighted and naive, but it is not the fault o f the pupil that (s)he feels this way.
Rather, it is a direct reflection on the am ount o f im portance placed on Landeskunde by
the teacher, who is the dom inant influence on the student’s opinion on and perception of
a subject.
If the teacher explicitly and successfully dem onstrated to the students that Cultural
Studies are an im portant com ponent o f foreign language learning, this view w ould no
doubt be adopted by the students themselves. O f course, there is great im portance placed
on the language itself in an exam ination context, especially with the inclusion o f the Oral
E xam ination and this w ould also have an effect on the im portance placed by students on
the spoken language.
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3.9 M apw ork
A t the end of the questionnaire was a blank map of G erm any into which the students had
to m ark several cities and the form er border between E ast and W est G erm any (see
A ppendix Three). From the entire group of ninety-five students questioned, not one map
was returned which was fully and correctly com pleted. The answers to this question
correspond w ith the answers to questions six, seven and eight in that the results obtained
from both third year and sixth year students were extrem ely disappointing, reflecting a
very inadequate geographical know ledge in relation to their position in the educational
system . The first year students, on the other hand perform ed very well (again, a reflection
on the am ount o f history and geography studied in Germ an class at this level as opposed
to sixth year and third year level) (see section 3.7).
The 3% o f m aps returned w hich contained five correctly positioned cities were from first
year students alone. The m ajority of students in all groups achieved between one and
three correct cities - 63% o f Sixth Years, 72% of Third Years and 62% of First Years.
The rem ainder o f each group (37% o f Sixth Years, 28% o f Third Years and 38% of First
Y ears) achieved between three and five correct cities. The first year students were also
the group who subm itted the highest num ber o f maps containing correctly m arked
borders. 60% o f First Years m anaged this in com parison with 48% of Third Years and
only 37% o f Sixth Years. 34% o f First Years m arked the borders incorrectly, as did 20%
o f T hird Years and 11% o f Sixth Years.
This further illustrates the lack o f inhibition of the First Years in com parison with the two
other groups when it com es to guessing or trying an answ er that they may not be sure is
correct. Only 5% of First Y ears did not attempt an answ er in com parison to 30% of Third
Y ears and 52% o f Sixth Years. Clearly, the first years are m ore likely to attem pt an
answ er than the Third or Sixth Years. In actual fact, these results would appear to
indicate that the m ore one progresses in learning Germ an at least w here these students are
concerned, the m ore inhibited and less adventurous one becom es in volunteering
inform ation.
72
There have been several studies done into the relationship between m otivation,
persistence and achievem ent (Ellis 1994: 512) and many have indicated that those who
are highly m otivated naturally persist in answ ering and achieve higher success rates.
It has also been suggested that self-confidence is one of the best predictors o f proficiency
in the L2. This w ould appear to be the case with the first year students involved in this
study. Throughout the questionnaire they proved to be the least inhibited, m ost selfconfident group of the three, attem pting the m ost answers and in many cases achieving
the highest success rates (see section 3.3 - they were the only group to have nam ed five
cities correctly and they achieved the highest proportion of correctly m arked borders).
The m ost glaring problem for students in com pleting the m aps was the positioning o f the
form er border. M ost students had an idea that the border was not simply a line through
the centre o f the m ap and they accordingly drew a diagonal line across the map.
H ow ever, there w ere several who clearly w ere com pletely ignorant as to where the border
should have been positioned, and who did sim ply drew a line in the centre o f the map
(see A ppendix Three, m ap one). A nother m ajor problem was the fact that many students
did not actually know w hich side o f G erm any was East and which was W est (see
A ppendix Three, m ap one). This, again is some of the most basic inform ation one should
possess about the target language country.
M ost o f the students had a notion as to w here the cities should have (approxim ately) been
m arked, but this notion was very vague. For instance, Berlin tended to be m arked (very)
roughly in the right hand side o f the map. Likewise, Bonn was generally in the m iddle of
the m ap, slightly to the left. For som e reason, many students m arked M unich in the north
of the m ap and Frankfurt in the south (see Appendix Three, m ap two). All in all, there
w ere m any unintentionally am using attempts at filling the maps in correctly, but it should
not be overlooked that the poor perform ance of students in this question, as in questions
six, seven and eight reflects an exceptionally poor geographical know ledge of G erm any
am ong students, with the first year students achieving the highest success rates.
73
C H A PTE R FOU R
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOM M END A TIO N S
4. Conclusions
Several im portant facts have em erged from this study:
(a) Landeskunde, in the opinions o f students from all three groups is an im portant,
enjoyable and interesting part o f German class (see sections 3.7 and 3.8).
(b) In direct contrast to this, the actual role played by Landeskunde in class is at best
small and at w orst non-existent (see section 3.7).
(c) There is a strong incidence o f both stereotyping and instrum ental m otivation am ongst
students o f all three groups (see sections 3.2 and 3.5).
(d) Students possess a very lim ited (it alm ost appears to be deficient) know ledge of
various aspects o f the target language country such as history, geography and politics
(see section 3.3).
4.1 The Role of L andeskunde as Proposed by the R espondents
The questions posed to elicit student opinions o f Landeskunde were questions seventeen,
nineteen, tw enty, tw enty-one, tw enty-four and twenty-five. A ccording to the vast
m ajority o f students from all groups, of all o f the com ponents of a language class
(language, gram m ar and cultural studies), Landeskunde (cultural studies) proved to be the
m ost popular (see section 3.7). Pupils could pick any num ber o f adjectives to describe
how they view ed Landeskunde. O f all of the adjectives offered to the pupils to describe
how they view ed Landeskunde, “interesting” was the m ost popular, chosen by 55% of
Sixth Y ears, 51% of Third Years and 65% of First Years. The next most popular
description was “relevant to class” (55% of Sixth Years, 44% o f Third Years and 47% of
F irst Years).
74
In response to question twenty, m ost students claim ed that they preferred learning about
G erm any to learning the Germ an language (see section 3.7). M ost o f the students from
each o f the three groups felt that cultural studies, as a part o f a language class were
“reasonably im portant” , as opposed to “very im portant”(see section 3.8). The students
obviously feel that cultural studies are a necessary constituent o f a language class but not
the m ost im portant element.
In the m inds o f the students, the m ost im portant constituent of a language class is the
language itself. This view, that cultural studies should be to a certain extent a part of
language class appears to be reinforced by the answers given to question nineteen. W hen
asked w hether cultural studies w ere im portant, only 12% o f students thought so. In other
words, the view that cultural studies are “im portant” does not appear to be as widely held
as the view that it is interesting (and therefore enjoyable) or relevant to class. However,
the overall perception o f Landeskunde is a very positive one. The vast m ajority o f pupils
enjoy Landeskunde and consider it to be interesting, relevant to their language class and a
reasonably im portant aspect o f learning a language.
D espite the positive views of the pupils about Landeskunde, the realities of its position in
a practical, factual classroom situation are quite negative. W hen asked if they would
prefer m ore or less Cultural Studies in language class, m ost students answered in the
affirm ative (see section 3.7), thereby im plying that they were dissatisfied with the am ount
o f cultural m aterial dealt with in (language) class time. This result consolidates the
findings obtained for question tw enty-one, to which the m ajority o f students responded
that C ultural Studies plays a small role in their language classroom. Several students also
stated that Cultural Studies were com pletely absent from their classes (see section 3.7).
From the above then, it cannot be m isinterpreted that in general, the m ajority of pupils
are dissatisfied with the am ount o f Cultural Studies in class and would w elcom e an
increase in the am ount o f cultural m aterial currently present in language class.
Taking the responses o f the students regarding their own opinions of Cultural Studies
(very positive) and their responses regarding the actual role played by Landeskunde in
75
the language class, it becom es apparent that there is a grave discrepancy in existence
betw een the pupils expectations and wishes regarding Landeskunde and its position in the
reality o f their classroom s.
4.1.1 L im ited G eneral Knowledge of the T arget L anguage C ountry
A very im portant finding of the study was the fact that pupils o f all levels possessed a
very lim ited general know ledge o f the target language country (G erm any). V ery few
students seem ed able to correctly nam e a full quota o f German cities or rivers, or were
able to correctly m ark in the form er G erm an border in the m ap provided. An equally
sm all num ber w ere able to nam e a full quota of fam ous Germ an people or companies.
The types o f fam ous G erm an people nam ed and the possible influences involved in these
choices has already been discussed in section 3.4. However, it m ight be o f interest to
point out that o f all the groups of people m entioned by the students (musicians, sporting
personalities, scientists, literary figures etcetera), one of the groups that is least are
G erm an literary figures.
Goethe, G rim m and Anne Frank are the only three literary figures m entioned by the
students. All three are m entioned to a very lim ited degree only. W hat is very surprising is
that not one m ale student referred to a single one o f these figures, they were m entioned
exclusively by fem ale students. 3% o f First Years nam ed Goethe along with 3% o f Third
Years and 7% of Sixth Years (13% o f the total sample of students). G rim m was named
only by T hird Years (3%) and Sixth Years (4%). Anne Frank was m entioned by 7% of
Sixth Years and 8% o f Third Years. G oethe is m entioned by all three groups, presum ably
because teachers feel that the introduction to Germ an literature m ust be preceded by an
introduction to arguably the m ost acclaim ed Germ an w riter of all, Goethe.
The num ber o f students w ho nam ed G oethe increases as the educational level increases,
doubtless due to increased fam iliarity with the subject. First Y ear students opt for Anne
Frank as the next m ost well-know n author, presum ably because she is the only other
G erm an author w hose literary legacy is fam iliar to them. She is an exceptionally famous
76
figure, recognised even by tw elve and thirteen year old schoolchildren, due to the nature
and circum stances of her fate. Grim m is m entioned again with according frequency only
by Third Y ears and Sixth Years. The first year students do not appear to be fam iliar with
this figure.
These results provide clear evidence o f a lack o f German literature encountered by
students in G erm an class. The vast m ajority o f students are unable to nam e a Germ an
author and the sm all proportion who do are restricted to a very lim ited selection o f very
w ell-know n literary figures. This is all in spite of the numerous opportunities to use
literature as a m eans of m ediating cultural inform ation and the advantages o f doing so
(see sections 1.2 and 4.2.3).
4.1.2 Stereotyping and In stru m en tal M otivation
A nother notew orthy conclusion elicited from the survey is the high incidence of
stereotyping and instrum ental m otivation am ong pupils of all groups. As discovered in
the previous chapter, stereotyping and instrum ental m otivation are not only present
am ong all three groups, b u t the level o f both seems to actually increase as the students
progress through secondary school. For instance, 63% o f Sixth Years, 34% o f Third
Years and 23% o f First Years considered the average German to be blonde-haired and
blue-eyed. 56% o f Sixth Years, 51% o f Third Years and 50% o f First Years felt that an
average G erm an person is tall, thin and athletic. Both o f these results appear to show that
there is a steady increase in the dom inance o f a stereotypical im age am ong students as
their schooling progresses. T he First Years stereotype least, the Third Years a little more
and the largest proportion o f Sixth Years practise stereotyping.
From this study, it seems that the students begin secondary school with a very open mind
(som e o f the first year students took extra care to add com m ents to make sure that their
reluctance to generalise did not go unnoticed - see section 3.2), w hich seems to dissipate
as the schooling progresses, to be replaced with an unim aginative, unchallenged view of
the target language country at sixth year level. The only possible conclusion, in the light
77
o f this finding is that in the course of their secondary school studies, the students are
being exposed to a stereotypical im age o f G erm an people either through the am ount of
cultural studies they experience in class (for exam ple very little would not be enough to
dispel an already established stereotypical view o f Germ an people), or through the
content o f the cultural studies aspect of the language class.
Several sources have adm itted to the existence o f stereotypes and to the im possibility of
dispelling them (H aerle / Schulz 1996; Schadron et al. 1994).
“W enn w ir alle der Erbsünde der Stereotypisierung verfallen und der A bsolution
der Sozialw issenschaftler und Soziopsychologen sicher sind, die uns versichern,
daß Stereotypen unser Erbe aus Adams Zeiten sind, dann sollen w ir uns dam it
abfinden und das B este daraus m achen” (H usem ann 1993: 389).
It m ight be o f interest to m ention briefly that stereotyping has also been linked with the
learner’s proficiency in the foreign language (H aerle / Schulz 1996); (H am ilton / Sherwin
/ R uvolo 1990). A ccording to these studies, those learners who are not yet in any great
m easure proficient in the foreign language are m ore likely to opt for stereotypical images
when describing people than those who possess a greater proficiency.
The basis for this assum ption lies in the fact that researchers felt that so much mental
capacity is taken up by the dem ands of the task of describing a person or a thing (for
exam ple attention to gram m ar and spelling) that not enough is left for screening the
descriptive inform ation in detail and the students tend to opt im m ediately for the
stereotypical im age that autom atically enters his or her head (Hamilton, Sherw in, Ruvolo
1990 cited in H aerle / Schulz 1996).
Such a hypothesis cannot be tested am ongst the respondents in this survey as all o f the
responses w ere in English. In any case it w ould appear that the results of this study would
not support this hypothesis. As has been shown in chapter 3.2, those students m ost
proficient in the L2 language are in actual fact the students who are prone to practising
78
the m ost stereotyping (sixth year students) and those least proficient in the second
language are also those who practise least stereotyping.
4.1.3 Inconsistencies in the Im portance A ttributed to P articu lar Topics
for Discussion at Ju n io r and Senior Stages of Secondary E ducation
A m ong all three groups “Education” is the topic dealt with m ost in class (see section 3.7),
follow ed by “Y outh” (see section 3.7). H owever, the first year group is the only group,
am ongst w hom the history and geography of G erm any play a dom inant role (see section
3.7). In the case of the Sixth Years, “Industry” is attributed more class tim e than history
(see section 3.7). F or the third year group, politics and history are dealt with in equally
small measure. G eography was not m entioned at all am ong Sixth Years or Third Years as
a com ponent o f G erm an class (see section 3.7). These figures are im portant in that they
highlight those aspects o f the G erm an cultural curriculum w hich are attributed m ost class
tim e, and those w hich are attributed insufficient attention at all three levels.
D evoting m uch class tim e to a particular aspect or particular aspects of Germ an class and
neglecting others can have dire consequences for the am ount and kind of know ledge that
the students accum ulate about the target language country, some of w hich can be seen in
the responses from all three groups to the general know ledge questions within the
questionnaire (see section 3.3). The first year students outperform ed both the sixth year
and third year groups on several occasions. The third year group perform ed dism ally for
questions six, seven, nine, ten, eleven, thirteen and fourteen, achieving the low est number
of correct answ ers in all cases, despite the fact that they are two years ahead of the first
year group (see section 3.3). First Years do not appear to learn anything about politics
and Sixth Y ears and Third Years learn little about the history and nothing about the
geography o f G erm any.
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4.2 R ecom m endations - In tegration of Stereotyping into the L earning
Experience
Teachers m ust learn to accept stereotypes and stereotyping as a fact of life. Then,
stereotypes can actually be integrated into the classroom and transform ed into useful
pedagogical aids (H aerle / Schulz 1996: 9). This can be done in the form o f discussions
on the origins and form ation of stereotypes both in general and those relating to Germ an
people in particular (e.g blonde hair and blue eyes). Such discussions should act as a
m ajor contribution towards students’ consideration of the phenom ena of stereotypes and
the reasons for their existence and should therefore reduce the spontaneous, autom atic
use o f stereotypes on the part o f the student.
Like stereotyping, instrum ental m otivation is also rife am ong the students of all years
who responded to the questionnaire. The vast m ajority o f students are studying Germ an
because they w ant to travel to G erm any generally to w ork there because they feel that
G em an is a valuable asset for the jo b m arket and that having a com petence in the Germ an
language will help them to advance their career prospects (see section 3.5). The presence
o f instrum ental m otivation is evidence of a lack o f a deeper insight into and interest in the
target language culture, because instrum ental m otivation is only em ployed if the reason
for learning the L2 is superficial (i.e. there m ust be a rew ard present, or at least an ulterior
motive).
The dom inance o f both stereotyping and instrum ental m otivation in all groups and
m arkedly increasing as the groups progress in the education system (see section 3.2)
illustrates a conflict betw een the aim s o f the Leaving C ertificate C urriculum G uidelines
and the extent o f the achievem ent o f these aim s within schools. A ccording to the
G uidelines, learners’ “perceptions and insights into the other culture should not remain
unchanged and superficial” (D raft G uidelines for Teachers n.d.a: 22).
If the learners’ im age o f G erm any and the Germ an in actual fact becom es m ore form ulaic
as they progress through school, and they are learning the language prim arily for
80
superficial reasons, w ithout any real interest or desire to learn more about or at least
becom e fam iliar with the target language culture (as seems to be the case from the
research produced from this study), then the teaching m ethods and / or the m aterials
being used in the classroom are clearly ineffective in fulfilling the aims of the C urriculum
G uidelines.
4.2.1 R e-evaluation of Im portance A ttrib u ted to P articu lar Topics at
Ju n io r and Senior stages of P upils’ Secondary School C areer
If the above is the case, then a re-evaluation o f both the teaching m ethodology and
didactics in the foreign language classroom is in order. As has been shown in sections 3.3
and 3.7, there is quite a discrepancy in the value placed on particular topics at different
stages o f the secondary school career of the pupil. For the m ost junior students (First
Y ears) history and geography are obviously the m ost im portant, while industry and
politics take over at m ore senior level.
O bviously, for all o f the groups, both the topics and the w ay in which they are dealt dealt
with should be m ore integrated. In a language class, the portrayal o f history and
geography of the target language tends to be rather simplistic. This is because o f the fact
that the language itself is considered (understandably) to be the m ost im portant subject to
be learned. H istory and geography are school subjects in their own right and therefore,
w hen they are included in a language class, teachers tend to concentrate on a few
landm ark historical or im portant geographical facts about the target language country,
generally learned by rote. It w ould appear that the inclusion of history and geography in
language class is m erely the inclusion of ‘token’ know ledge about that country.
B ecause o f the sim plistic facts learned about the target language country (sim plistic when
view ed in the light o f the com plexity of history and geography as subjects in their own
right) and the sim plistic m ethods o f learning this token inform ation (generally by rote), it
is often the case that history and geography com e to be seen as “uncom plicated” topics in
the language class and the likes o f politics and inform ation about the industry o f the L2
81
country are considered m ore high-brow or more com plex.
The fact that Sixth Years and Third Years are m ore advanced than First Years does not
autom atically m ean that they have “outgrow n” history and geography in favour o f more
“com plicated” topics such as politics and industry, although this seems to be the
dom inant perception, given the level of attention attributed to both of these topics at sixth
year level (see section 3.7). In any case it is evident from the results o f questions nine (a)
and nine (b) that the im portance placed by the teacher upon political inform ation has not
m ade a lasting im pression on either the third year or the sixth year group (see section
3.3).
In the sam e vein, the fact that first year students are betw een tw elve and thirteen years of
age does not m ean that politics o f the L2 country should be excluded from the course for
fear o f it being too com plicated in favour o f “easier” , “less com plicated” topics such as
(sim ple) history and geography (an idea which is apparent from the evidence regarding
the im portance attributed to certain aspects of language class - see section 3.7). The
correct spelling o f the nam e o f the political leader o f the target language country along
with a brief explanation o f the principles o f the leading political party should not tend to
be view ed by som e teachers as too com plicated or possibly incom prehensible m aterial for
a first year group.
In actual fact, this w ould appear to be the case from the answers received from first year
students in response to question nine (a). 60% of First Years knew the nam e o f H elm ut
K ohl, the G erm an C hancellor at the tim e of this study, but a m ere 8% m anaged to spell
his nam e correctly and all pupils bar one did not know which party he represented. This
appears to indicate that teachers consider know ing the nam e of the political leader
im portant for first year students but the correct spelling of his name or any inform ation
about the policies o f his political party are for some reason considered to be either not as
relevant to or too com plicated for first year students. In the same way, an occasional brief
history or geography lesson should not be seen as too facile for a third or sixth year
group. As is apparent from the standard o f answers received for questions six, seven,
82
eight, ten and eleven, the history and geography of Germany do not appear to be such
elem entary topics that teachers can afford not to continuously revise and teach them (see
section 3.7).
N aturally, the individual aspects o f history, geography or politics chosen by the teacher
for the class will vary according to the level of the class (w hether it is strong or weak),
because the deciding factor in choosing material is the relevance of the content both to
the learners them selves and to the world they live in. By varying the content o f
Landeskunde, the teacher is offering the learner a w ider scope for his or her know ledge of
the target language country and culture. A wider scope of know ledge creates a greater
potential for the learner to develop an interest in a particular aspect of the target language
country. The learner should not find him self / herself in a position (as would appear to be
the position of the learners in this study) where (s)he is fam iliar with every possible
elem ent and variation o f one aspect of the L2 country but possesses not even the most
elem entary know ledge o f another aspect of the L2 country.
4.2.2 D evelopm ent of P upil Interest in the T arg et L anguage C ulture
Just as im portant in the teaching o f culture as the m ediation of cultural knowledge is the
m ediation o f interest in the culture of target language country. Once an interest is
established, a desire to learn even m ore about the country o f the L2 is awakened and it is
the interest in the target language country which leads to the developm ent and prom otion
of an integrative m otivation for learning the language.
“Ebenso w ichtig w ie die V erm ittlung von K enntnissen und die Entw icklung von
landeskundlichen K önnens dürfte es sein, das V erstehenw ollen zu initiieren bzw.
Interesse für das Z ielsprachenland” (Ehnert / W azel 1994: 274).
If there is grow th and developm ent in the learner’s interest in and desire to learn m ore
about the target language country, growth and developm ent of learner autonomy should
also ensue. The learner will no longer be prepared to w ait for the teacher to provide all
83
the inform ation he needs or wants about the target language country, nor will the teacher
have to constantly encourage and m otivate the learner to begin and persist at learning.
Rather, if the desire for know ledge is strong enough, (s)he will be eager to initiate and
develop the learning process.
4.2.3 V ariation in the Teaching M aterials Used in Teaching C ulture
H ow ever, it is not m erely the content o f the Landeskunde which m ust be re-evaluated
across all three groups, but also the m ethodology em ployed in the m ediation of this
material. F or each o f the groups there appears to be very little variation in the
m ethodology o f teaching Landeskunde (see section 3.7). The follow ing is a list which
proposes som e o f the aims o f Landeskunde.
(a) Integrationshilfe
(b) V ertieftes Sprach-/Literaturverständnis
(c) Persönlichkeitsentw icklung / Identitätsfindung
(d) Förderung interkultureller K om m unikationsfähigkeit
(e) W issenserw eiterung über das Zielsprachenland
(f) B estim m ung des gesellschaftlichen Standorts
(g) V erm ittlung von W ertvorstellungen
(h) V erbesserung der internationalen Beziehungen
*
(i) Faktenverm ittlung über das andere Land (Dclmas / V orderw ülbecke 1989: 181).
This list does not claim to encom pass flawlessly every aspect and aim of Landeskunde
(H enrici / R iem er 1994: 274) rather, it offers a broad view of several valid aims of
L andeskunde, both im plicit (a, c, d f, g, h) and explicit (b, e, i). In order to accom plish
successfully even som e o f these aims, the m ethodology used in the teaching of culture
should be as varied as possible in order to offer the learner as varied a portrayal and
perspective o f the target language country as possible.
84
As m entioned earlier (see section 1.2), literary texts from various epochs in the L2
country’s history are a w ell-established means o f portraying the culture of the target
language country, but there are also various other types o f texts which can be used in
G erm an class. Com ics, poem s and songs are also useful in m ediating the culture of the
L2. Texts w hich are w ritten by non-G erm an authors about G erm any are also valuable
because as well as illustrating the L2 culture, they also m ay encourage the learner to try
w riting in G erm an (Schm idt 1994: 411).
G am es are another alternative m ethodology that appear to be under estim ated in this
study, and w hich can be put to greater use in class. They provide a superb opportunity to
m ake the learning process fun. Often, learning is actually disguised when games are
played because the learners are happy to be rem oved from the constraints of a traditional
classroom setting and they are not fully conscious o f the fact that through playing a game
they are actually learning valuable inform ation. W hat the teacher m ust do is base the
gam es around cultural know ledge or cultural aspects of the target language country. The
com petitive nature of gam es will m ean that the learners will try to acquire as much
know ledge as they possibly can in order to win the game. Som e suggestions for games
could be “H angm an” , a Table Q uiz or “Tw enty Q uestions” (see A ppendix Three).
O ne m edium which in this study at least seems to be particularly under-used is video,
w hich is in actual fact considered by m any (H eidecker 1994; H erron et al. 1992) to be
particularly valuable and effective in the portrayal of various elem ents o f the L2 culture.
V ideo brings the target language culture alive, adding colour, m ovem ent and em otion to
an otherw ise static subject.
“V ideo perm its the second language learner to witness the dynam ics of interaction
as they observe native speakers in authentic settings, speaking and using different
accents, registers and paralinguistic cues e.g. postures and gestures” (Herron et al.
1992: 420).
85
In relation to video, the question of accessibility to both video m achines and video tapes
often arises. Both o f the schools in question in this survey possessed a num ber of video
m achines. Both schools were also in close proxim ity to the G oethe Institut library in
D ublin w hich offers a very w ide selection of video tapes which teachers can borrow for
up to six w eeks at a tim e (this lengthy borrow ing time also offers teachers who may not
have easy access to the G oethe Institut am ple tim e to make the best use o f the video they
have borrow ed). M any teachers also choose to video language learning program m es
shown on television and bring them into school to show to the class. There are
innum erable types o f video w hich can be used in foreign language class such as
discussions, advertisem ents, cartoons, language teaching film s and productions m ade by
the learners them selves (H eidecker 1994: 437), providing these portray, m ake explicit
reference to or are in some w ay connected to a particular cultural theme.
Once they do, all o f these genres of videos are excellent m ediators o f cultural know ledge
and can act as a “Q uelle des Zuw achses an W issen über kulturelle, politische, technische,
w issenschaftliche,
industrielle,
soziale, religiöse usw. D aten
aus dem
Land
der
Z ielsprache” (Faber 1983/84 cited in Henrici & R iem er 1994: 439).
In short, video is a superb m ediator of situations and role-play in the foreign culture in
that they dem onstrate explicitly, in an authentic setting the behaviour, habits and norms
of the inhabitants o f the target language community.
4.2.4 A n In teg rated an d C om parative A pproach for the P o rtray al of the
T arg et L anguage C ountry
The m ost effective m ediation o f know ledge about and interest in not only the country of
the L2 but also o n e’s ow n country can be achieved through the use o f any o f the above
m aterials in a com parative approach; that is, the above m aterials can be used to com pare
the history, geography and m any other aspects o f both Germ an and Irish culture.
86
Through com parison with o n e’s ow n country, pupils achieve a clearer understanding of
not only the sim ilarities of their country and the L2 country, but also the differences.
W ithout distinct com parison with one’s own country, many pupils are likely to feel that
there m ay be vague differences betw een the LI and L2 countries, o f which they are not
particularly aware, but that the one m ajor (and therefore the m ost im portant) difference is
the language.
N aturally, not a ll aspects of the cultures can be compared. There are many elem ents o f a
culture w hich are im plicit in that culture only and extrem ely difficult, if not im possible to
decipher by a non-m em ber o f that culture (anthropology describes a “cultural code” , an
im plicit, alm ost subconscious code of behaviour and beliefs w ithin cultures). H owever, as
many concrete, tangible, com prehensible aspects as possible of the L2 culture should be
m ade prom inent in the language class and com pared in-depth with the sam e aspects of
the L I culture. Through com parison of their own country with the L2 country, the pupils
will not only begin to see the target language culture in the light o f their own, but also
their culture in the light o f the L2 culture, a concept upon w hich the Intercultural
A pproach is based (see section 1.5).
It is not only a com parative approach which is desirable in the classroom , but also an
integrated approach. The use o f all of the above m ethodologies in an integrated fashion
(i.e. not over-using one to the neglect o f another) should benefit the foreign language
learner by offering him / her a range o f portrayals, settings and them es relating to the
country o f the L2 and not restricting him / her to an unchanging m ethod of portrayal
w hich,
due
to
repetitiveness,
is
likely
to becom e
m ediocre
and
consequently
uninteresting.
A variation by the teacher in both the content and mediation of cultural studies should
also help to reduce the am ount of stereotyping and instrum ental m otivation in the foreign
language class. Frequent exposure to m any vaired elements of the L2 culture should both
aw aken the pupils to the differences am ong people (not all of the G erm ans they encounter
87
will be blonde-haired and blue-eyed) and develop an interest in at least one aspect of
German culture (there is m ore to learning G erm an than jo b prospects).
O f course, it is not only aspects within culture, within Landeskunde w hich should be
integrated. The tw o overall aspects of language learning, language and culture should be
united, or integrated if a truly balanced approach is to be achieved. Just as language
should not be taught w ithout culture (see section 1), nor should culture be taught to the
detrim ent o f language learning - this w ould com pletely defeat the point o f the language
class. L anguage class should com prise equal parts language and culture in order to impart
to the learner a balanced, all-encom passing experience of learning a language.
If the pupils feel that Landeskunde is enjoyable, interesting and im portant, then the role
played by Landeskunde in class should reflect this and not directly contradict it (As it
appears to do in the schools in this study). Through using a wide variety o f teaching
m aterials in an integrated fashion and as a m eans o f com paring the cultures o f the L I and
the L2, teachers o f G erm an m ight be able to begin to respond to the needs and
preferences o f the pupils and succeed in placing Landeskunde w here the pupils w ant it in a dom inant position in class. If pupils are interested in a subject they will want to learn
(more) about it. This is the case with Landeskunde.
Landeskunde should not underm ine the com m unicative elem ent of the syllabus, but
likew ise under no circum stances should it be underm ined. It has proved, in the course of
this study, to be a valuable teaching constituent which teachers can use as a means to
develop and encourage enthusiastic learning am ong students.
A ppendix O ne
Q uestionnaire
1)
A ge
Sex
Year
2)
H ave you ever m et any G erm ans?
3)
W ere they
4)
Y
N
a)
German relatives
b)
Germans living here
c)
German penpals
d)
German visitors to Ireland
e)
O ther (please state)
W hat do you think the average German looks like? Please tick one answ er per
section.
5)
a)Tall
a)Fat
a)A thletic
a)Brown eyes
a)Brow n hair
b)Sm all
b)Thin
b)U nathletic
b)G reen eyes
b)B lack hair
c)N either
c)N either
c)N either
c)Blue eyes
c)Red hair
d)N either
d)N either
W hich o f the follow ing characteristics fit the average German personality?
Positive
6)
Negative
H ealthy
Y
N
Unhealthy
Y
N
H um orous
Y
N
Boring
Y
N
H ygienic
Y
N
Untidy
Y
N
Friendly
Y
N
U nfriendly
Y
N
H ardw orking Y
N
Lazy
Y
N
P atriotic
Y
N
Racist
Y
N
E asy-going
Y
N
Pow er-hungry Y
N
N am e tw o G erm an rivers
a)
89
b)
7)
N am e five G erm an cities
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
0
8)
W hat is the Germ an capital?
9 (a)
W ho is the G erm an Chancellor?
9 (b)
W hich party does he represent?
10)
W hen was G erm any re-unified?
1 I)
W hat w ere the two form er Germ anys called?
a)
b)
12)
13)
Is industry in G erm any
a)
M ore im portant than in other countries
b)
Just as im portant as in other countries
c)
Not as im portant as in other countries
N am e five G erm an com panies
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
14)
N am e eight famous G erm ans, living or dead
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
90
f)
g)
h)
15)
Why are you learning G erm an?
a) W anted to learn about another culture
b) Good at the language
c) Com pulsory subject
d) Important for jobs
e) Like the language
f) O ther (please slate)
16)
W ill you continue learning German after the Junior Certificate / Leaving
Certificate? U nderline which applies to you.
17)
N
Please tick w here appropriate.
It’s OK
Like a lot
Language:
Grammar:
Cultural Studies:
18)
Y
o
o
o
o
o
O
D o you find gram m ar
a)
T oo difficult
b)
M anageable
c)
Easy
D islike
o
o
o
d)
19)
Do you find the cultural side a)
Interesting
b)
B oring
c)
Important
d)
Relevant to learning German
e)
Irrelevant to learning German
f)
O ther (please state)
91
20)
21)
22)
23)
Do you prefer learning
a)
German
b)
About G erm any
c)
Both
In your classroom , does learning about G erm any play
W hich aspects do you learn most about?
a)
a big role
b)
a sm all role
c)
no role at all
a)
Industry
b)
Education
c)
Young people
d)
Politics
e)
History
f)
O ther (please state)
How would you learn most about German culture?
a)
Textbook
b)
TV
c)
School Video
d)
Personal
experience
with G erm ans
e)
O ther (please
state)
24)
Cultural studies in German class: would you like
a)
M ore
b)
Less
W hy?______________________________________________________________
92
25) In y o u r opinion, learning about the country w hose language you are learning is:
a)
Very im portant
b)
Reasonably important
c)
Not at all im portant
W hy?____________________________
93
Appendix Two
Three samples of completed maps offered by students
94
Please
insert
on
the map s h o w n
below
the
following German cities:
1. B e r 1 in
2.
Bonn
3. Munich
4.
Frankfurt
5.
Dü sse ldo rf
Also please dr a w the border between the
West Ge r m a n y i n d i c a t i n g East and West
former
East Germa ny
and
PLease
insert
1.
Berlin
2.
Bonn
on
the map
shown
below
the
following German citie s:
3. Mu n i c h
4.
F r a nk fu rt
5.
D üs s e l d o r f
Also please draw the border between the
West G e r m a n y i n d ic at i n g East and West
former
East Germany and
Please Insert
on
the map
shown
below the
f o ll ow ing Ger ma n c it ies :
1. Berlin
2.
Bonn
3. Munich
4.
Fra nkfurt
5. D üs s el d o r f
Also please dr a w the bor der between the
West G er ma ny i n d i c a t i n g East and West
former
East G e r m a n y and
Appendix Three
Sample Papers for
a)
b)
Junior Certificate Examination
Leaving Certificate Examination
95
Junior Certificate German (H)
SECTION II - READING COMPREHENSION
(100 marks)
Read the information carefully and then answer as instructed in each case.
A
1.
You are in a department store.. Which of the following signs indicates a special offer? Rewrite the chosen word.
SONDERZUG
2.
SONDERFALL
SONDERSCHULE
You are in a supermarket, looking for something for a pain in your stomach. Which o f the following words
would you look for on packaged medication? Rewrite the chosen word.
HALSWEH
3.
SONDERANGEBOT
ZAHNSCHMERZEN
MAGENSCHMERZEN
KOPFWEH
You are reading a brochure to plan a family holiday. Which of the following words would tell you that children
are welcome? Rewrite the chosen word.
KINDERFREUNDLICH
KEINE KINDER
KINDISCH
KINDERLOS
Junior Certificate German (H)
B
Write the number of the ADVERTISEMENT beside the item or service it is advertising. Beware of extra items!
W
I <7
Wines
Riding holidays
D E R
1
Health food shop
K I N D E R S C H U H L A D E N
r 4 < U '* w u u
r» M » .iiiir n
m
iu if
11
Guitar lessons
HtVTV tCT MI1N
Sports gym
1. G EBURTSTAG
AU M KINDVIt U N D
HIRZLiCM M N N U 0 M 1
Children’s shoe shop
Children’s party food
Second level school
(2)
R
‘ ich a rd 9 (ü fn
T V magazine
Wein und Sekt direkt vom Wirizer
n1
r6
'B
- 1IB
■■-*
Wo? An unsornm M
!f>l 1
B
im N ordw ratzonirum
lenirum
M OM
MTINHMM
W ann? W ih ra n d d««
OcMrnwHttM
um W
ocn»
ttg'rcn uncr;*o#
Wocn*
von Da tu» San *tag
Windows and doors
rfflk
(3)
W A
S 3 ,
WeingutRichard Kühn - 56876Oreflheen Tel. 06133'2611
p£HiAR\lQd
BHffiB fUHK
IMMER FREITAGS 9
BEIM Z E I T S C H R I F T E N H Ä N D L E R
(4)
|Urn’ Injtkr *rtll* * l*giflmp*nd>*ri Ekhn
lOUM.’t : Um iw— .SethUcvro», HIGfl.
(5)
THE / n / O l N I ) HF MIUüNt.h...
O
MALM
... lat Ihnen sicher, wenn Sie eich
für HBI Fenster und Haustüren
entscheiden: Ihre schlaflosen Nächte
I? gehören der Vergangenheit an. Denn
G Y M N A S IU M
FÜR JUGENDLICHE
AB l l JAHREN
B E G IN N
15. AUGUST
Dar Nsturkoattaden auf dar Leipziger
' Nt l l ES
Wir freuen uns täglich
von 6,90 b is 10,30 Uhr und Sa melagli
von 0.00 b is 13.30 Uhr über Ihren Besuch.
¡Gymnasium
Malm N itu rk o s l - Leipziger Straß« 18
60487 FrankfurVBockenhelm
YtrtechaiT»-
M«w*pr*eftilcl>6*^
IymnaUum
Oynmaiüum
J m
J m
T a is lo n 069/70 22 27
H B r
auch die Schallisolierung unserer
Produkte ist nach dem neuesten Stand
der Technik entwickelt. Sie haben die
Wahl und der Lärm bleibt draußen.
(7)
(6)
GYMNASI UM
Hum
lumantsiiacn*«^
antailaehM
stiin-NHUfwtta^
'f M
%
:
Bilie se n d e n S ie mir Ih r« Dokum entatio n
Nom «
A
A d re s se
Anzeige a u ssc h n e tte n und Infom aterial anfo rd em bei:
HBM4olz»Bau*lnduatrfe G mbH A Co. KG • Postfach 1162 • 27364 Hemsbünde
Telefon: 04266/933-0 « Telefax: 04266/457 u. 456
PlZ/On
Neuss Gymnasium M in e r v a
Sl A lb an v o r s i a d f 3 0 / 3 2 . 4 0 5 2 B otel
Telefon 2 0 1 7 0 3 0
fü r J u n g e
ernsten
Leute von 8 16
Proepekf sofort von 04605/227
40
Fa* 201 7 0 03
Leaving Certificate German (Ordinary Level) - Folens Sample Paper 1
TEXT 1: LESE VERSTÄNDNIS
(60)
M artin besucht öfters seine Großeltern und fin det es interessant, wie gern sein Großvater die N achbarn
aus dem Fenster beobacthet.
17
M artins Großvater sitzt den ganzen Tag am
Fenster. Er wohnt im Eichenweg und schaut sich
gern alles an, was au f dieser Straße u n ter den
schönen Eichenbäumen so passiert. Zum Beispiel,
am Tag der Hochzeit bei Schmidts. Er h at alles
gesehen, kann das Brautkleid beschreiben, den
viel zu kurzen Anzug von V ater Schmidt, die Au­
tos, die vor der T ür parkten, und auch den riesen­
großen, gelben S trohhut von Frau Schmidt - das
alles kann er jetzt in allen Details beschreiben.
2.
Und so geht es weiter. Sobald im F rühjahr die
Eichen die ersten grünen B lätter zeigen, ruft M ar­
tins Großvater M artins Eltern an und sagt es ih­
nen. Wenn der Müllwagen über eine Stunde zu
spät kommt, notiert er sich die genaue Zeit und
schreibt noch am selben Abend einen Beschwerde­
brief, daß die M ülltonnen wieder mal spät geleert
wurden. Wenn H err Meier, der Briefträger, beim
Metzger länger als fünf M inuten bleibt, weiß er
Bescheid: N atürlich trinken die beiden je tzt ihre
vier, fünf Bierchen, und der Meier steckt nachher
mal wieder die Briefe in die falschen Briefkästen.
3.
Einm al h at M artins Großvater der Polizei sog­
ar einen Einbruch melden können. D arauf w ar er
noch tagelang stolz, obwohl der Einbruch ei­
gentlich gar kein richtiger Einbruch war. F rau
Flocks Tochter h atte die Schlüssel vergessen und
w ar durchs offene F enster gestiegen. Doch n a tü r­
lich h ätte es ein echter Einbruch sein können; die
Polizei hatte M artins Großvater dam als sehr für
seine Aufmerksamkeit gelobt.
4.
M artins Großvater ist sehr stolz darauf, daß er
genau weiß, was in der Straße geschieht, wer mit
1.
wem im Streit liegt, wer welche Sorgen und Nöte
h at und was die Leute in ihrem Leben so treiben.
„Man muß sich um seine Nachbarn küm m ern“,
sagt er oft. „Ich mag es nicht, wenn man nur so
nebeneinander lebt, ohne mit den Nachbarn zu re5 den und einander zu helfen.“ Aus diesem Grund
haßt M artins Großvater den Fernseher. Der Fernseher schafft eine Distanz zwischen der Realität
und dem „richtigen“ Leben, sagt er. Wenn er das
sagt, denkt er vor allem an seine Frau, Klärchen,
10 M artins Großmutter, die nie aus dem Fenster sie­
ht, sondern immer nur fernsieht. Die Großmutter
behauptet genau das Gegenteil, sie sagt, daß der
kleine Fernseher ihr viel mehr vom Leben zeigt
als der langweilige Blick aus dem Fenster.
Ob in Mexico bei einem Erdbeben viele Men­
schen ums Leben kommen, in Indien ein alter
15 Tempel bei einer Explosion zerstört wird oder in
Norwegen ein Schiff untergeht - der Fernseher in­
formiert sie sofort darüber. Will sie lachen, muß
sie n u r eine lustige Sendung wählen. Außerdem
bringt der Fernseher immer wieder alte Filme, die
20 sie an ihre Jugend erinnern.
25
5.
M artin w ar eines Tages bei den Großeltern zu
Besuch. M artin glaubte erst, der Großvater wäre
gar nicht da, weil er nicht aus dem Fenster
blickte. Aber dann war er doch zu Hause - und
hockte vor dem Fernseher! „Nur wegen der Nach­
richten“, sagte er verlegen. „Man muß ja wissen,
was in der Politik so alles passiert.“
M artin setzte sich still dazu und sah den Groß­
vater au f einmal lächeln!
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
30
Frei nach: KLAUS KORDON, Nachbarn und an­
dere Leute
R ich tig oder falsch? K reu zen S ie an!
richtig
1.
Martins Großvater konnte die Hochzeit der Nachbarstochter genau beschreiben
2.
Der Briefträger machte manchmal Fehler, weil er zuviel getrunken hatte.
3.
Martins Großvater hat einmal einen Dieb erwischt.
4,
Martins Großvater sieht viel fern.
5.
Martins Großmutter interessiert sich sehr für alles, was in der Nachbarschaft
geschieht.
6.
Als Martin eines Tages zu Besuch kam, fand er den Großvater im Garten.
falsch
Leaving C ertificate German (Ordinary Level) - Folens Sample Paper 1
2. • Add h ead in gs to th e (nu m b ered ) paragrap h s to s u it th e content. E x p la in b riefly in E n g lish your
reason for th e choice o f h e a d in g for ea ch paragraph.
E xam ple: 1. “H och zeit bei S c h m id ts” - M artin ’s gran d fath er w atched th e n eigh b ou r’s w ed d in g from
th e w indow .
Einbruch
2.
Überraschung
3.
H ochzeit bei Schmidts
4.
Beschwerden
O m as Einstellung
5.
3
R ead over th e en tir e p a ssa g e a g a in . L ocate and w r ite dow n three b its o f ev id en ce to in d icate th e
g ran d fath er took great in te r e st in a ll th a t w e n t on around him .
4
W h at w a s th e differen ce in a ttitu d e tow ards tele v isio n b etw een th e gran d fath er and th e grand­
m other?
Leaving C ertificate German (Ordinary Level) - Folens Sample Paper 1
-TEXT II: L E SE V E R ST Ä N D N IS (60)
SMOG: So schützen Sie sich und Ihre Kinder
J e tz t is t es w ied er sow eit: D er W e tte r ­
b erich t w arn t vor G latteis, sc h le c h te r S ich t
un d - Sm og. Aber Sm og ist n ic h t n u r ein e
W etterla g e. Er greift die G esu n d h e it an:
N a s e , B ronchien, H als, L u nge, H erz u n d A u- 5
gen . In E uropa - das ergab e in e S tu d ie der
W e ltg esu n d h eitso rg a n isa tio n (W H O ) - s te r ­
ben je d e s Jah r über 2000 M en sch en an den
F o lg en der L u ftversch m u tzu n g. U n d noch
m eh r erk ranken durch Sm og. D e sh a lb
10
w a r n e n U m w eltb eh örd en über R u n d fu n k ,
w e n n die K onzentration an S ch a d sto ffen zu
groß wird.
W as ist eigen tlich Sm og? D er A u sd ru ck
„Sm og“ sta m m t aus dem E n g lisch en . E r s e tz t 15
sic h zu sa m m en au s „sm oke“ (R auch) u nd
„fog“ (N ebel). Sm og en tste h t durch S c h a d sto f­
fe au s In d u striean lagen , A u tos und p riv a ten
H a u sh a lte n .
D er A rtzt Dr. H elm u t B ram m er em p fiehlt: 20
„Trinken S ie viel Z itronen- oder O ran gen saft.
S m o g und die d am it v erb u n d en en S ch ad stof­
fe sin d V itam in-C -K iller.“.
K ranke, ältere M en sch en u n d ju n g e
K inder sollten m öglich st in der W ohnu ng
25
bleib en , K inder sollten d rau ß en n ich t h eru m ­
sp ielen . D ie W ohnung n u r kurz lü ften . F e n ­
s te r nicht län ger als fü n f M in u ten au fla ssen .
B e n u tzen S ie kein e L öse- und R ein ig u n g s­
m itte l, keine K lebstoffe oder S p rays. U n d vor 30
allem : nicht rauchen. S o n st sorgen S ie für
S m og in der W ohnung.
W enn S ie sich d raußen a u fh a lte n m ü ssen ,
so llte n Sie (und Ihre K inder) m ö g lich st nur
durch die N a se atm en. N ic h t durch d en
35
M und. D ie N a se filtert v ie le S ch ad stoffe aus
der Luft. Dr Bram m er: „H alten S ie sic h ein
T uch vor das G esicht oder e in e n Schal. D as
R ead th e article on sm og, th e n fill in th e in form ation in th e box below.
Season:
P a r ts o f th e body affected
A n n u a l d ea th s in Europe d u e to
sm o g
H ow are sm og w arn in gs given?
W h a t ca u ses smog?
2.
W h a t b e lo n g s t o g e t h e r ?
In d ica te your an sw er in all c a ses by in se r tin g th e letter s w hich correspond to th e nu m b ers in the
box below .
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
S m og
D ie L u ftversch m u tzu n g
S m og
M an braucht m ehr V itam in -C
M an m uß verm eid en
M an soll sich draußen
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
ist ein e n g lisc h e s W ort
w en n S m ogk on zen tration en hoch
daß Sm og in die W oh n u n g gerät
gefäh rd et die G esu n d h eit
gegen Sm og sch ü tzen
veru rsach t den Tod
Leaving Certificate German (Ordinary Level) - Folens Sample Paper 1
r
3.
R ead th e follow ing se n te n c e s. In d ic a te your a n sw e r in a ll cases by in ser tin g th e correct letter,
(a) or (b) or (c) or (d), in th e box.
1. S m og e n tste h t
(a)
w e il die L uft seh r k a lt ist.
(b)
w e il es G latteis gibt.
(c)
w e il es sch lech te S ich t gibt.
(d) w e il w arm e Luft n ich t ab zieh en kann .
2. 2 0 0 0
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
M en sch en sterb en je d e s J a h r an d en F olgen der L u ftversch m u tzu n g
in E uropa
in der gan zen W elt
in D eu tsch la n d
in E n glan d
3. M an
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
so ll v ie l O ran gen saft trin k en
um d en Sm og zu verh in d ern .
u m g esu n d zu bleiben.
w e il Sm og das V itam in-C zerstört.
u m die Schadstoffe abzu b au en .
□
4. M an so ll
(a) d ie W ohnu ng g u t lü ften .
(b) n u r kurz lü ften
(c) n ie die W ohnung lüften.
(d) e in paarm al am T ag lü ften .
5. W en n m a n sich draußen a u fh ä lt s o llte m an
(a) durch die N a se atm en .
(b)
durch den M und a tm en .
(c)
ab w ech seln d durch d en M und und d an n durch die N a se atm en.
(d) w e n ig ein atm en.
6. E in T u ch oder ein S chal
(a)
b ie te t k ein en S ch u tz g eg en Sm og.
(b)
b ie te t nur S ch u tz, w e n n m an d a s G esich t d a m it deckt.
(c)
b ie te t nur Schutz für die N a se.
(d)
b ie te t nur Sch u tz für den M und.
____
□
A ppendix F o u r
Foreign Language Games
H angm an
“H a n g m a n ” is a gam e w hich can be played either in pairs, groups or am ong an entire
class. Student A m ust choose a word and m ust draw a series of blank spaces, each
representing a letter o f that w ord (e.g dog = — ). The other student or students m ust try to
guess w hat the w ord is by offering a selection o f different letters. Each tim e a correct
letter has been found it is written into the corresponding space. Each tim e an incorrect
letter is offered, Student A m ust draw a section of a hangm an’s platform and a man
hanging from the platform . The object of the gam e is to guess the correct word before the
draw ing o f the platform and m an is com pleted by Student A.
Tw enty Q uestions
“Tw enty Q uestions” can also be played in pairs, small groups or among a w hole class.
Student A chooses a topic or object of the target language country. The other student(s)
m ust try to ascertain w hat this subject is by asking Student A a series of questions to
w hich (s)he m ay only reply “yes” or “no” . The m axim um num ber of questions which can
be asked is tw enty. B y analysing the “yes” and “no” answers the students m ust try to
identify the topic or object that Student A has in mind. Any cheating such as the student
changing his or her topic or object can be quashed by asking him or her to w rite it down
on paper before the gam e begins.
In the case of both gam es, teachers can initiate a discussion about the various topics
w hich have been m entioned in the course of the games and can supply further
inform ation and design hom ew ork relating to the topics.
96
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