The aim of the course is to improve the German fluency of doctoral students to communicate with the partner Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS, Dresden, Germany. Although all scientists and professionals at IKTS do speak English, the knowledge of the local native language will promote mutual collaboration and demonstrate the commitment of doctoral students. It can also help students to disseminate their research activity to potential employers in Saxony and Germany. The course will develop students' communication skills and improve their understanding and knowledge of the professional German language. The course will focus on the development of spoken and written communication skills in relation to published research, technical communication, and dissemination of scientific work to professionals but also to the public. Students will learn how to work with scientific texts and express themselves on topics in their field of study by using complex language structures and general as well as professional vocabulary. They will be able to communicate effectively in both work and study environments thus building their self-confidence in their language competencies. Students will be able to observe and also participate in professional discussions related to their topic of research and interest. The course will introduce theoretical backgrounds of the language, but predominantly students will be encouraged to actively use and practice the language during the course. The course content is as follows: 1. General specifics of professional/academic language in relation to vocabulary and grammar structures. 2. Grammar structures typical for academic as well as professional text and their role in academic/research context. 3. Learning strategies useful for understanding complex professional texts and work instructions. 4. Relevant linguistic resources for specific professional language activities (e.g., argumentation, definitions, description of an experiment). 5. Relevant professional/academic language structures and useful vocabulary for successful communication in specific communication situations (e.g., lectures, discussions, conference presentations). 6. Understanding of statistics, graphs and diagrams and their oral or written description. 7. Describing the funding and conduct of research, writing a report on the research process, and disseminating research results. Literature: 1. G. Schade, S. Drumm, U. Henning, B. Hufeisen, Einführung in die deutsche Sprache der Wissenschaften, Ein Lehrbuch für Deutsch als Fremdsprache Mit einem Lösungsschlüssel. Erich Schmidt Verlag, (2020). Also, available online at https://www.esv.info/t/daf14/aktualisierung.html 2. H. Esselborn-Krumbiegel, Richtig wissenschaftlich schreiben: Wissenschaftssprache in Regeln und Übungen, UTB, (2022). 3. M. Moll, W. Thielmann, Wissenschaftliches Deutsch, UTB, (2022). 4. A. Burdumy, German Reading Skills for Academic Purposes, Routledge, (2020).
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