Year 8 SyllabusTest
Year 8 Syllabus
Year Level Description
Year 8 German: Second Language builds on the skills, knowledge and understanding required of students to communicate in the German language developed in Year 7 and focuses on extending their oral and written communication skills and their understandings of German language and culture. Students may need encouragement to take risks in learning a language at this stage of social development and to consider issues of how the experience impacts on the sense of ‘norms’ associated with their first language and culture.
Students communicate in German, initiating and maintaining spoken and written interactions with peers and known adults to discuss and share ideas, views, opinions and experiences of special holidays and travel. They engage in tasks that involve planning, considering options, negotiating arrangements, solving problems and participating in transactions. Students summarise and share information from texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds and present them in different formats for the intended audience. Students respond to a range of imaginative texts, analysing ideas and techniques used to entertain audiences and make connections with personal experiences and other imaginative texts in their own language and culture. They create and present a range of simple imaginative texts to enrich the visual or listening experience.
Students better understand the systems of the German language, applying German punctuation and spelling rules to their own writing. They continue to extend their knowledge of context-related vocabulary and additional elements of grammar such as specifying a person, object or place using knowledge of the German case system, when encountered in familiar expressions and scaffolded language contexts. Students continue to build a metalanguage in German to describe patterns, grammatical rules and variations in language structures.
Students are encouraged to participate in intercultural interactions with members of the German-speaking community to discuss cultural practices, demonstrating awareness of the importance of shared understanding and reflecting on adjustments made as a result of reactions and responses.
In Year 8 students are supported to develop increasing autonomy as language learners and users, to
self-monitor and peer-monitor and to adjust language in response to their experiences in different contexts. German language is being used in more extended and elaborated ways for classroom interactions and routines, task participation and structured discussion.
Communicating
Socialising
Initiate and maintain spoken and written interactions with peers and known adults, using both rehearsed and spontaneous language to discuss and share ideas, views, opinions and experiences of special holidays and travel, for example, Wohin sind Sie in den Ferien gefahren?; Wie feiern SieSilvester? Normalerweise treffen wir uns mit unserenFreunden und unserer Familie zum Abendessen. Letztes Jahrhaben wir Karten bis Mitternacht auf dem Balkon gespielt und dann das Feuerwerk gesehen
(ACLGEC154)
Engage in tasks that involve planning experiences and activities such as a birthday party, Christmas or New Year’s Eve festivities, preparing for a real or virtual event, trip or excursion, a sporting event or community festival, considering options, negotiating arrangements, solving problems and participating in transactions that include purchasing goods and services
(ACLGEC155)
Informing
Access, summarise and share key ideas and information from a range of texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds and present them in different formats for the intended audience
(ACLGEC157)
Organise and present information and ideas to raise awareness of and inform others about texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, using descriptive and expressive language to compare perspectives and experiences
(ACLGEC158)
Creating
Respond to a variety of imaginative texts, analysing ideas, themes, values and techniques used to engage and entertain audiences and make connections with personal experiences and other imaginative texts in their own language and culture
(ACLGEC159)
Create and present a range of simple texts that involve imagined contexts and characters such as raps, poems, picture books or cartoons, selecting appropriate language, rhythms and images to enrich the visual or listening experience
(ACLGEC160)
Translating
Translate and/or interpret texts, including those that use language with colloquial or cultural association and consider why there might be differences in interpretation and how language reflects elements of culture, for example, so alt wie ein Baum/Stein, einen Bärenhunger haben
(ACLGEC161)
Reflecting
Participate in intercultural experiences, with members of the German-speaking community to discuss cultural practices, demonstrating awareness of the importance of shared understanding and reflecting on adjustments made as a result of reactions and responses
(ACLGEC163)
Consider how their own biography influences their identity and communication and shapes their own intercultural experiences
(ACLGEC164)
Understanding
Systems of language
Apply the rules of German pronunciation, rhythm, stress and intonation to a range of sentence types and words
Apply German punctuation and spelling rules to their own writing and learn to systematically edit their own and others’ written work
(ACLGEU165)
Continue to extend knowledge of context-related vocabulary and additional elements of grammar, including:
- specifying a person, object or place using knowledge of the German case system (nominative, accusative and dative) and using definite and indefinite articles, kein, personal pronouns (including man) and possessive, demonstrative and interrogative adjectives such as sein, unser, dieser, jeder and welcher
- comparing the meanings and use of the German modal verbs with their English equivalents, for example, Wir müssen eine Schuluniform tragen; Man darf hier nicht essen
- understanding and applying verbs that can be combined with a separable or inseparable prefix that alters the meaning of the base verb, for example, Er kommt um 17.15 Uhr; Kommst du mit?; Ich bekomme manchmal Geld zum Geburtstag
- describing current, recurring and future actions using regular, irregular, modal, separable and inseparable verbs in the present tense, for example, Wir spielen morgen nicht mit; Er sieht viel fern; Ich muss meine Hausaufgaben machen; Nächstes Jahr bekommen wir neue Laptops
- describing past events and experiences in present perfect and/or simple past tenses using a limited range of common verbs, for example, Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben nicht gemacht, denn ich war am Wochenende krank
- using reflexive verbs in the present tense with their appropriate accusative reflexive pronouns to describe daily routines and express emotions and interests, for example, Ich dusche mich morgens; Interessierst du dich für Geschichte?; Wir freuen uns auf die Ferien
- expressing opinions using, for example, meiner Meinung nach; Ich glaube, dass … Wir sind dagegen/dafür
- understanding and using dative and accusative prepositions with their core meanings, for example, Ich komme aus der Stadt; Der Kuchen ist für dich
- experimenting (using models) with different structures to make comparisons, for example, Englisch ist schwieriger als Mathe; Welches Auto ist am sichersten?; Kaffee ist nicht so gesund wie Wasser
Continue to build a metalanguage to describe grammatical concepts and to organise learning resources
(ACLGEU166)
Apply the structures and conventions associated with a range of text types and identify key features and functions of the different genres
(ACLGEU167)
Language variation and change
Identify features of German that vary according to audience, context and purpose in familiar spoken and written texts
(ACLGEU168)
Understand that German, like other languages, is constantly expanding to include new words and expressions in response to changing environments due to globalisation, language shifts and exchange, technology and intercultural experience
(ACLGEU169)
Role of language and culture
Reflect on different aspects of the cultural dimension of learning and using German and consider how this might be interpreted and responded to by members of the community
(ACLGEU170)
Achievement standard
At standard, students initiate and maintain spoken and written interactions in German with others through collaborative tasks, activities and transactions to exchange information on special holidays and travel. They use mainly rehearsed and some spontaneous descriptive and expressive language to discuss and share ideas, views, opinions and experiences, such as Wohin sind Sie in den Ferien gefahren?; Wie feiern Sie Silvester? Students engage in the planning of experiences and activities by considering options, negotiating arrangements, solving problems and participating in transactions. They summarise and share most key ideas and some information from a range of texts and present them in different formats for their intended audiences. Students organise and present key information and ideas on texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds, using rehearsed descriptive and expressive language to make simple comparisons of perspectives and experiences. Students analyse key ideas, themes, values and techniques used to engage and entertain audiences in a range of imaginative texts, and make some connections with personal experiences and other imaginative texts in their own language and culture. They also create and present a range of simple texts with imagined contexts and characters, selecting mostly appropriate language, rhythms and images to enrich the visual or listening experience. Students translate and/or interpret texts, with some accuracy, including those that use language with colloquial or cultural associations, such as so alt wie ein Baum, and consider why there might be differences in interpretation. Students participate in intercultural interactions with German speakers, begin to discuss cultural practices, demonstrate awareness of shared understanding and reflect on adjustments made as a result of reactions and responses. They also consider how their biography influences their identity and communication, and shapes their intercultural experiences.
Students apply some rules for German and English pronunciation, rhythm, stress and intonation, punctuation and spelling. They use familiar vocabulary and apply elements of grammar in spoken and written texts, with a satisfactory level of accuracy. Students apply knowledge of the case system when using articles and adjectives. They use a range of regular, irregular, separable and inseparable verbs, and compare the meaning of modal verbs with those in English, for example, Ich muss meine Hausaufgaben machen; Kommst du mit? They use reflexive verbs in the present tense to describe daily routines and express feelings, as well as a limited range of common verbs in the present perfect or simple past tense to describe actions and events in the past, for example, Ich habe meine Hausaufgaben nicht gemacht, denn ich war krank. They use some dative and accusative prepositions, for example, Ich komme aus der Stadt. They use modelled language with different structures to make comparisons, for example, Kaffee ist nicht so gesund wie Wasser. They describe how the German language works, using metalanguage to organise learning resources. Students apply most of the structures and conventions of a range of text types, and identify most key features and functions of the different genres. They give examples to demonstrate that German is constantly expanding to include new words and expressions in response to changing environments due to globalisation, language shifts and exchange, technology and intercultural experience. Students discuss aspects of the cultural dimension of learning and using German, and consider how these might be interpreted and responded to by members of the community.
Year Level Description
Year 8 German: Second Language builds on the skills, knowledge and understanding required of students to communicate in the German language developed in Year 7 and focuses on extending their oral and written communication skills and their understandings of German language and culture. Students may need encouragement to take risks in learning a language at this stage of social development and to consider issues of how the experience impacts on the sense of ‘norms’ associated with their first language and culture.
Students communicate in German, initiating and maintaining spoken and written interactions with peers and known adults to discuss and share ideas, views, opinions and experiences of special holidays and travel. They engage in tasks that involve planning, considering options, negotiating arrangements, solving problems and participating in transactions. Students summarise and share information from texts related to aspects of their personal and social worlds and present them in different formats for the intended audience. Students respond to a range of imaginative texts, analysing ideas and techniques used to entertain audiences and make connections with personal experiences and other imaginative texts in their own language and culture. They create and present a range of simple imaginative texts to enrich the visual or listening experience.
Students better understand the systems of the German language, applying German punctuation and spelling rules to their own writing. They continue to extend their knowledge of context-related vocabulary and additional elements of grammar such as specifying a person, object or place using knowledge of the German case system, when encountered in familiar expressions and scaffolded language contexts. Students continue to build a metalanguage in German to describe patterns, grammatical rules and variations in language structures.
Students are encouraged to participate in intercultural interactions with members of the German-speaking community to discuss cultural practices, demonstrating awareness of the importance of shared understanding and reflecting on adjustments made as a result of reactions and responses.
In Year 8 students are supported to develop increasing autonomy as language learners and users, to
self-monitor and peer-monitor and to adjust language in response to their experiences in different contexts. German language is being used in more extended and elaborated ways for classroom interactions and routines, task participation and structured discussion.