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Database of Teaching Sources

A database of selected, reviewed, tested, assessed and validated e-learning based language teaching sources addressed to Higher education students for the learning of 18 different European languages.

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Marktplatz: Lektion 08 – Consulting (DW)

Date of Publication

2001

Target Group

Students

Domain Area

Business & Communication

Learning Scenario

Autonomous learning

Target Language

German

Language of Instruction

Any language

CEFR level

B2

Type of Material

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

Linguistic Features

Vocabulary
Grammar

Skills

Listening
Critical Thinking
Writing
Reading

Description

Prerequisites - The following OER presumes a consolidated knowledge of German grammar and linguistic notions up to the B2 of the CEFR. In order to have full access to its contents, a PDF reading software is required. Content - Marktplatz: Lektion 08 – Consulting is available on the broadcasting platform Deutsche Welle and is integral part of a series of 26 lessons focused on the business field. It is divided into three main didactical elements: an audio track (duration 23’51’’), a transcript of the audio track in PDF format, and the lesson itself in PDF format: the latter contains two reading comprehensions, an oral comprehension task, consulting-related lexicon, a cloze task, and the solutions to all the abovementioned tasks. The core of this lesson is the audio track, featuring a dialogue within a real-life scenario. Hence, Lektion 08 covers relevant language skills such as listening, reading comprehension, writing and also critical thinking (see cloze task). The business-related topics that are covered are: consulting, social insurance, emerging markets and leasing. Target – It is aimed at autonomous learners who are willing to strengthen their intercultural competencies and business-related knowledge. Although it is conceived for self-study, it could also act as didactical material for an asynchron lesson within a classroom context. Other features – The lesson being neatly arranged, its use is intuitive and easily accessible. Moreover, the Deutsche Welle platform offers wide-ranging content that makes up a rich and stimulating learning context.

Case study

The resource was evaluated for a group of students in a course for business German at level B2 (group size 16-20). Suggested use of the material: Additional material for autonomous learning after explaining the tasks in class. Only the reading text and case discussion in exercise 1 are also suitable for classroom work and they could serve as an introduction to the topic. Exercises 3 and 4 help to improve vocabulary and develop reading skills. Exercise 5 relates to the audio but the task description is rather unclear so I would recommend to skip this part of the resource. The terminology on page 10 seems very useful as well as the following exercise 6 that will help students to improve their vocabulary and reading skills.
There is no real introduction and the whole resource is rather unstructured so key to success is explaining the tasks in class beforehand. The audio of almost 24 minutes comes without a clear structure or reference to the exercises. It is also problematic that the worksheets date from 1998 and current developments are not reflected. The use of outdated (and nowadays incorrect) German orthography is also considered a risk when using the resource.

Guidelines

The resource is available online at the above mentioned link. It is integral part of the online course “Marktplatz” by Deutsche Welle, which is overall composed of 26 chapters. Each and every chapter is based on: 1) A bilingual audio track 2) The original audio track 3) The transcript of the audio track 4) The “Lektion zum Herunterladen”, that is the core of the online lesson, with its content-related exercises and activities Number 1) and 2) are available both on the platform and for download in MP3 format, whereas number 3) and 4) can be downloaded in PDF format. Therefore, the use of a PDF reader is essential. The chapter is provided with a title and brief introduction of the topics. As the “Lektion zum Herunterladen” usually contains exercises related to the audio’s content, one should first focus on the listening and comprehension of the audio track and then move on to the study of the written content.

Review

Category
Rate
Comprehensive approach
Capacity to match the needs of lecturers and students

4

Added value
The provided tangible improvements

1

Motivation enhancement
The capacity to motivate students to improve their language skills

4

Innovation
Effectiveness in introducing innovative, creative and previously unknown approaches to LSP learning

3

Transferability
Measurement of the transferable potential and possibility to be a source of further capitalisation/application for other language projects in different countries

3

Skills assessment and validation
Availability of appropriate tools for lecturers to monitor students’ progress and for students to assess own progress and to reflect on learning

1

Adaptability
Flexibility of the contents and possibilities for the LSP lecturers to adapt the contents to their and to students’ need

3

Usability
Assess the technical usability from the point of view of the lecturer and the student

4

Accessibility
Assess the accessibility from the point of view of the lecturer and the student

5

Comments:
Intuitive and easy-to-go, Consulting is a thorough resource to improve the learner’s knowledge of relevant topics in the framework of the world of work (pension, ensurance, etc.).This is best used as an addictional tool to a broader learning path, best used by a professional teacher who guides the learner and provides them with further explanations, especially regarding grammar content, which is not provided here. The real added value lies in the fruitful use of extended audio tracks of real-life case scenarios, that help strengthen the oral comprehension of the language. Overall, the resource is intuitive and easy to use, even though it is not quite as interactive and entertaining as other more recent resources may be.
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