WACE ATAR German: Background Language study guide
WACE ATAR German: Background Language · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
German: Background Language is a Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) ATAR Language course for senior secondary students who already have a background in German. It is administered by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (the Authority), and the syllabus materials on the Authority's page describe the course as building on and further developing a student's language capability through engagement with German-speaking communities locally and overseas, and through the study of contemporary texts, topics and issues. The course strengthens personal connections to German language and culture, focuses on the interrelationship of language and culture, and extends literacy in German as well as literacy development in English, preparing students to function in a globalised society and a culturally and linguistically diverse local community. Assessment has two external components: a written examination and a practical (oral) examination, each weighted at 50 per cent. Topics on this exam: Written examination and Practical (oral) examination. The WACE ATAR German: Background Language study guide has 2 sections and about 934 words.
01Written Examination: Text Analysis, Language Awareness and Production
The WACE ATAR German: Background Language written examination asks you to work with authentic German texts and to produce German of your own. Think in three layers: comprehension (extracting stated and implied meaning), analysis (recognising register, intention, structure and stylistic devices), and production (writing accurate, well-organised German for a specified audience and purpose).
477 words, about 2 min02Practical (Oral) Examination: Interaction, Discussion and Presentation
The practical examination assesses your ability to sustain spoken German in real time: a conversation with the examiner on familiar and unfamiliar topics, a discussion in which you defend a viewpoint, and often a short presentation or stimulus response based on a picture, statistic or short statement. Marks reward fluency, range, accuracy, pronunciation and, crucially, Interaktion - how well you keep the exchange going.
457 words, about 2 min