B1 Deutsch im Job – Profis gesucht: Krankenpflege

not provided

Students

Medicine & Nursing

Autonomous learning

German

Any language

B1

Activity/task
Audio
Reference resources (online Dictionaries/ grammar guides/phrasebooks)
Test

Listening
Speaking
Critical Thinking
Writing
Reading

The B1 course Deutsch im Job – Profis gesucht: Krankenpflege is embedded in a broader learning resource provided by the international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW): it comprises a set of multimedial learning content in form of both videos and audios, as well as different writing and speaking exercises. Thus, all the assessable language skills (listening, writing, reading comprehension and speaking) are covered by the course. Furthermore, the DW platform provides the learner with the possibility to both download the content and to advance through the learning path directly on the website.
This online course presumes a consolidated knowledge of German grammar notions up to the B1 of the CEFR, as its focus is rather to convey specific information and lexycon related to German’s healthcare, based also on real-life testimonials of healthcare’s employees . Nonetheless, different grammar exercises are contextually provided within its 7 learning units, such as imperative verbs (unit Grundpflege), indirect interrogative sentences (unit Dokumentation), modal verbss (unit Verbandswechsel) and the use of the preposition bei + nominalisation. The remaining material is focused on healthcare-related lexycon and, in general, provides the learner with a broad overview over basic-care activities, with a focus on customer care (patient and complaint handling).
In light of that, this course is highly indicated for autonomous learners who are willing to enhance their knowledge in the field of health care and/or to enroll in a related training course in a German-speaking country.

This case study shows how this autonomous learning course can be integrated into a face-to-face or blended learning course.
Target group:
Target group are participants with a completed nursing education in their home country with little or no professional experience and the desire to apply for a job in a German-speaking country (mainly in Germany).
Number of participants: between 8 and 16.
Prerequisite for participation: Level B1 of the CEFR.
Method used:
The resource is used as supplementary material in the face-to-face or blended learning course both for practice purposes and for consolidation, namely in the subject areas: Service meetings, basic nursing care, documentation and to apply and change a dressing.
The common thread in this face-to-face or blended learning course are the communication situations in the respective areas of activity, considering the intercultural aspects. In the everyday professional life of nurses, this is the greatest challenge they must overcome, next to written documentation. The way of communication, especially with patients and their relatives, differs greatly from that in German-speaking countries, depending on the cultural group.
The results obtained:
The course participants are to examine their own or their culture's usual form of communication, with that which is usual above all in Germany, i.e., their own and others' perceptions, and acquire the necessary intercultural competence in everyday professional life by working through case studies and simulations.
The risks to be taken into account when using the resource:
Since it is not possible to design the content from this resource within a unit flexibly for the needs of both the lecturer and the learners, the task instructions (possibly also with an additional list of tasks) for the students must be formulated precisely to avoid them working on tasks that are not thematically planned in the lesson plan.

The resource is available online at the abovementioned link. Thanks to the ‘Settings’ button marked with a ‘=’, one can easily surf through the available contents (e.g. ‘Grammar’, ‘Script’, ‘Exercises’, ‘Course overview’).
The learning path is already set up and is comprised of 7 learning units (Einstieg, Dienstbesprechung, … Wissenscheck), all of which are further subdivided into 10 exercises’ units. At the end of each learning unit, the platform provides a calculation of the correct answers and a consequent evaluation. The learner can easily scroll the learning path backwards and redo the exercises. Once all the exercises’ units are elaborated, an overview of the correct answers and related score is provided.
It is advisable to first register and log in to the platform, in order for the learner to save their score and better keep track of their results, lest the browser should be closed and the results lost.