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Language(s)

German

Learner level

Intermediate

Institution

Foreign Language Centre, University of Exeter

Name(s)

 Paul Joyce

Objectives

A guide to letter-writing in German for non-native speakers was designed as an extension of the Foreign Language Centre website devoted to German. The aims were twofold. Firstly, to aid students in their year abroad who find it difficult to phrase and structure official letters. Secondly, “Letter-writing in German” was to become a core component of the MLG 2001 second-year German language course, and an Internet back-up to this component was felt to be essential.

The web-site consists of the following components

1) 40 model letters covering the following areas:

  • Curriculum vitae
  • Job Applications
  • Asking for work during the year abroad
  • Asking for references
  • Leaving a job
  • Booking accommodation
  • Writing to a bank
  • Writing to the phone company
  • Registering with the authorities
  • Letters of complaint
  • Letters of apology
  • Letters of condolence
  • Letters of congratulations
  • Writing to friends

    Many of these letters (particularly the curriculum vitae) have written assessments of their effectiveness, and some translations are supplied.

    2) A guide to all aspects to letter writing, with separate sections on:

  • How to write a curriculum vitae
  • Use of photographs on a CV
  • Which documents should be included on a CV?
  • The use of references in Germany
  • Addresses and titles
  • “Dear Sir” and “Yours faithfully” in German
  • How to write German dates on a letter
  • How to apply for jobs in Germany
  • Writing to friends and colleagues - which register should be used?

    3) A comprehensive dictionary of useful vocabulary and phrases, which covers 45 separate pages, with each section clearly interlinked to the appropriate letters and guides.

    4) A bibliography of books to consult on letter-writing, grouped under the following headings:

  • How to apply for jobs in Germany
  • The letter of application
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Work references
  • Assessment centres
  • The job interview
  • First steps in your career
  • How to find company addresses
  • Miscellaneous

    • Implementation

    A questionnaire was designed in association with the members of the Foreign Language Centre staff who designed the equivalent pages for French and Spanish. It was then distributed to students on the MLG 2001 German language course who had started to study "Letter-writing in German" for the first time in the academic year 1999/2000. As a compulsory part of this course, students taking this course had been required to consult the Internet site and then to compose a number of letters of their own to be marked by their individual language teacher. Questions on letter-writing in German will also appear on the MLG 2001 exam paper. Students currently on their year abroad were also asked to contribute their impressions.

    Outcome

    Analysis of responses
    Number of responses: 20 (some still outstanding)

    Question 1. Have you ever needed to write a CV or letter like those on these web pages?
    Response: 19/20 said yes - which, as it is a compulsory part of the course, does not speak volumes for the diligence of the 20th respondent to the questionnaire...

    Question 2. If you answered yes to the previous question, what resources did you use?
    Response: Nearly all students indicated that they had used the Internet site, and, helpfully for the site designer, indicated which particular pages that they had used. Dictionaries were also mentioned, although it was felt that they were only partially useful. Some individual language teachers had also given their students texts to consult.

    Question 3. Were these pages adequate to complete the task, or did you need to consult other resources as well?
    Response: All students found the site "adequate" or "very adequate", with the exception of the student who felt that he/she "did not need it" (a native speaker?). Whilst some indicated that they needed a dictionary to search for adequate translations for phrases pertaining to their own life, a high percentage stated that they needed "no other resources" than the information supplied on the homepage.

    Question 4. Were you able to complete the task within the time available?
    Response: 19/20 students responded affirmatively.

    Question 5. Did you find the pages well laid out and easy to read? Please tick a box from 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent).

    Response:
    1 = 0 students
    2 = 0 students
    3 = 1 student
    4 = 11 students
    5 = 8 students
    (Average mark = 4.35)

    Question 6. If or when you study abroad, would you consider using this resource via the Internet?
    Response: All respondents replied either "yes" or "yes definitely", some indicating that it would be good to help them find part time jobs.

    Question 7. What situations not covered by the pages do you feel it would have been helpful to indicate in the future?
    Response: Most students found the list "very exhaustive", "fully complete", or "very complete as links within links" and did not produce any suggestions of their own. The following areas were suggested:

  • “Letter of introduction vocabulary”
  • “Thank you letters” (x2)
  • “How to write persuasively”
  • “At work / in the office vocabulary”

    Question 8. Please add any other comments or suggestions Response: The following reactions were recorded:

  • “I thought the pages were incredibly useful and clearly presented”
  • “I found it much easier to use the Internet rather than consulting dictionaries etc.”
  • “In the future I would use the Internet if it was easy to access and easy to print out.”
  • “A very useful educational resource & asset to the department”
  • “The pages were very useful and thorough”
  • “Jolly useful”
  • “Very helpful” (x2)
  • “Well done!”
  • “I found the dark goldy colour a bit monotonous”
  • “The pages could be made to look more interesting with more pictures / icons.”

    • Evaluation

    From a designer’s point of view, the exercise necessitated quite straightforward HTML work. It nevertheless proved to be a quite time-consuming exercise due to the sheer weight of letters, guides and (particularly) vocabulary required by the German Department / FLC in order to produce a comprehensive overview of German letter writing.

    The overall response of the students in the questionnaires is a positive one, an impression backed up by discussions with the individual language teachers for whom the students produced letter-writing work. Most students have indicated that they will be using the material in their year abroad, and we will be closely monitoring their experiences with the Internet site in this practical field to see which additions and improvements may be required.

    Equally significant is the number of students who did not use the site despite being instructed to do so. Here the repeated complaint that “it is impossible to get access to a Pallas computer in daylight hours” was recorded, although the validity of such an excuse remains inconclusive. Why, for example, did so few of them think to use the Foreign Language Centre itself? There also remains a significant number of students for whom the Internet (and computer-based learning as a whole) is an uncharted area which provokes confusion and even fear.

    From the result of the questionnaire we can identify the following areas where the Internet site can be improved:

  • An expansion of the areas covered to include the situations raised in response to Question 7 of the questionnaire.
  • An improvement in the visible impact of the site, particularly the background colour which tends to look like a particularly stubborn grass stain on some monitors.
  • A greater use of icons and graphics.

    • Project url

    http://www. exeter.ac.uk/flc/index.html