German

6

Mgr. Dita Gálová, Ph.D.

Institute of Foreign Languages

Language knowledge at least at the level B2 CEFR. The course focuses on developing technical language skills and assumes that students are able to communicate independently in German.

Course-unit credit is awarded on condition of having attended the seminars actively, worked out assigned tasks and passed a credit test. 60% points at the credit test as minimum.

The examination at level B2+/C1 CEFR consists of a written and an oral part.
The written part tests, in particular, knowledge of the grammatical and lexical structures of technical German, comprehension of written and spoken texts, and the ability to express oneself in writing independently.

The oral part of the exam assesses the student’s ability to independently present a chosen specialized topic in German and to actively participate in the ensuing academic discussion. The student demonstrates the ability to formulate and defend their own views, present arguments, explain academic contexts, and respond appropriately to questions and comments from other participants in the discussion.

Attendance at seminars is compulsory and is systematically checked by the teacher. Students are allowed to miss two seminars. Absence may be in justified cases compensated for with the consent of the teacher.

The aim of the course is to develop students’ language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) in German, with a focus on specialised communication, particularly in technical fields. Students will acquire and deepen their knowledge of specialist terminology and the specific lexical, grammatical and syntactic structures of technical language, and will become familiar with the principles of structuring and presenting technical communication.

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to apply their acquired language skills to understand specialized texts and spoken messages, as well as in their own oral and written communication. They can identify key information in technical texts, interpret it, and reproduce or summarize its content. They can write technical and argumentative texts, describe technical objects, their properties, and functions both in writing and orally, explain work procedures, and interpret information contained in tables, graphs, and statistics. They are able to independently prepare and deliver a presentation on a technical topic in German, convey technical information in a clear and structured manner, formulate and defend their own opinions, and respond appropriately to questions and comments in a technical discussion.

Programme N-VSY-P: Production Systems, Master's, compulsory-optional

26 hours, compulsory

1. German for specific purposes
2. Verbalising formulas and definitions. Describing graphs, charts and trends
3. Guidelines for oral presentations I: Key words and phrases for introduction, main parts and conclusion, discussion rules, mathematics
4. Guidelines for oral presentations II: Nonverbal communication, visual aids, language speed vs. efficiency, prefixes, all about flying
5. Description of Functions: Presentation of everyday objects of one’s own choosing: describing design and function, idioms, adjectives, basic geometric concepts
6. Description of Processes: An insight into various working methods, students´ individual presentations of technological processes
7. Description of Material Properties: Students´ individual presentations with comparing and contrasting
8. Methods of Argumentation: Students´ individual presentations of technical article
9. Explanation and Reasoning: Students´ interpretation of a professional text.
10. Inquiries and Objections: Presentation of Independent Project I., Bearings, TÜV
11. Presentation of Independent Project II., Presenting an academic topic, tools, abbreviations
12. Presentation of Independent Project III., Presentation skills
13. Course evaluation/ Credit test.