Economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries

Teacher(s)

Etienne Dany;

Language

Deutsch

Prerequisites

B2 level of listening and reading and B2 level of speaking (Common European Framework of Reference).

Main themes

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries. It describes the political institutions and the different actors (parties, trends) and tackles the important legal questions discussed in society. During the course, we will describe the major recent social trends by studying the different participants (employers, trade unions, etc.) Finally, the economic underpinnings of the country will be tackled (finance, employment, the structure of companies, management, etc.), in order to speed up the economic immersion in the economic life of these countries. This course also has a seminar component (15 hours) where different aspects of the course are discussed in German using articles and videos.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	By the end of the course, students should have acquired a solid knowledge of the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries. They should be able to describe in detail the political institutions, the different social actors (employers, trade unions, etc.) and the important social questions discussed in the German-speaking countries.

Content

The course touches on the economic, legal, social and political issues in German-speaking countries using a variety of sources: newspaper articles, videos, internet sites, etc.) Emphasis will also be placed on the current events of the countries concerned using different media (newspapers, television etc.)

Evaluation methods

Oral examination:  The "culture" part of the exam (60% of the mark) will be based on a presentation (+ slides to be handed in -printed out- on the day of the exam) related to one of the topics dealt with during the course (40% of the mark). The second part of the exam will be a question related to the course (60% of the mark).
The practival part (40% of the mark) will consist of :
-        Speaking  (50%),
o   individual speaking : oral presentation
o   interactive : interactions during the course
-        Writing (50%) :  abstract and two summaries

Other information

- Compulsory readings will be part of the course.
- Part 2 of the course (15 hours) is given by the Institut des Langues Vivantes (ILV).

Bibliography

Christa Wolf, Was bleibt. Lecture obligatoire
Freddy Derwahl, Bosch in Belgien (ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9054332131  ou ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9054332138). Lecture obligatoire

Faculty or entity

ELAL