Great Scot April 2018 GreatScot_153_April_2018_Online | Page 16

News
ABOVE: TIMOTHY SINGH, JUSTIN OOI, HAMISH WRIGHT, EDISON WANG, CHRISTOPHER O’CONNELL, TOMMY KLUCKOW,
ASHVIN APPU, EOIN COOPER, HAMISH DISSANAYAKE, JUSTIN NGUYEN, JASON KRIESNER, HENRY ROGERS WITH TEACHER
FRAU CORNELIA KOEHNE-DRUBE ABSENT: ZAK BARRY, LAXMAN APPU
‘Fit in Deutsch’ —
a great boost for
language learning
The Junior School has successfully
conducted the ‘Fit in Deutsch’ A1 level certificate
this year, with 14 boys now having graduated and
received their certificates.
At the end of Term 1, 2017, Junior School
Head of LOTE, Cornelia Koehne-Drube, had
presented the idea to her school leadership
and discussed the timetable implications. It was
decided that boys were not to be withdrawn from
classes, but they could do the course in addition
to their regular timetable.
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All Year 6 level boys — three classes of
26 boys — were consulted, and were asked
two questions: Who would be prepared to
participate in an early morning extension class?
Who would be prepared to follow up, and
extend his vocabulary by working with a ‘Fit for
Deutsch’ buddy? This follow-up would involve a
daily personal commitment of at least 15 to 20
minutes. Once boys had expressed interest and
had requested to sign up for classes, a letter
was sent to parents, then the boys and their
parents were invited to find out more about the
expectations of the certificate classes during a
special after school meeting.
Originally classes were run using a text and
workbook provided through the Goethe Institut,
but the boys soon ordered their own textbooks,
which not only lightened the teacher’s load, but
also made it easier for the boys, allowing greater
organisation with reduced paperwork.
During classes the boys became familiar with
the expected tasks for writing, reading, listening
and speaking. Each unit began with an expansion
of vocabulary, using small flash cards that boys
could use for testing with their buddy or a family
member. They learned the W-questions and
began to form questions around vocabulary.
This extended the boys as they looked at verb
endings for personal pronouns, and helped them
to discover another way of forming a question,
including the more challenging modal verbs.
As the class proceeded, boys became
comfortable in looking for keywords and drawing
links between new and previously known
materials. The boys already had sufficient skills
to cope with the writing demands of the course.
However, listening was a real challenge, as there
were very fast speakers on tape and the boys
had had little previous exposure to such tasks
during normal class time. This gave Cornelia
Koehne-Drube some ideas on what she could
build into the regular curriculum in the future.
Cornelia negotiated with the Goethe Institut
for the exam to be conducted at the end of Term
3, and then made an outing of it. After sitting
the examination at the Goethe Institut in St Kilda
Road, boys were treated to a special robotics
workshop, an extension activity in which the boys
participated with great enthusiasm, supported
by their parents and the kind and understanding
Goethe Institut staff — not to mention a hard-
working teacher!
The extra commitment of the staff member
paid off, providing an opportunity for boys who
wanted to take their language learning further,
although they knew they were adding a further
commitment to an already busy timetable. An
excellent outcome is that the teacher is now able
to sustain a longer conversation with these boys,
and they all have an internationally-recognised
certificate of achievement. Congratulations to
Cornelia and the boys!
WARREN PRATT — SENIOR SCHOOL
GERMAN TEACHER
Great Scot Number 153 – April 2018