GACE German (742) flashcards
GACE German (742) · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Top-down listening
- A comprehension process in which the listener uses prior knowledge, schema, and discourse context to predict and interpret meaning before decoding individual sounds.
- Bottom-up listening
- A comprehension process in which the listener decodes phonemes, stress patterns, and intonation to build meaning from smaller units to larger ones.
- Final devoicing
- A German phonological rule in which voiced obstruents become voiceless in syllable-final position, so Rad sounds like Rat and Tag ends in [k].
- Modal particles
- Unstressed words such as doch, mal, ja, and eben that convey speaker stance, emphasis, or familiarity rather than adding propositional content to a sentence.
- Glosse
- A short German newspaper opinion piece that uses irony and wit to comment on current events, distinct from a straight Nachricht or a balanced Kommentar.
- Inference item
- A reading question whose correct answer is logically supported by textual evidence even though it is not stated explicitly; unsupported plausible claims are distractors.
- Nominalstil
- A writing style that favors noun phrases and nominalizations over verbs, typical of official and academic German and associated with higher reading difficulty.
- Scanning versus skimming
- Scanning locates specific data such as times or prices; skimming obtains gist or purpose. Item stems should signal which strategy the task requires.
- Register in correspondence
- The choice between formal Sie with Sehr geehrte and Mit freundlichen Grüßen and informal du with Liebe Grüße, determined by relationship and text type.
- Erörterung structure
- A German argumentative essay format with an introduction and thesis, supporting arguments, a counterargument, and a concluding synthesis or position statement.
- Konjunktiv I in reports
- The mood used for reported speech in German journalism (er sei, er habe), signaling that the writer distances from the claim rather than asserting it.
- Cohesive connectors
- Words such as außerdem, jedoch, deshalb, and obwohl that link ideas and are scored as evidence of text organization in writing rubrics.
- Circumlocution
- A speaking strategy in which a learner describes or paraphrases an unknown word to keep communication going instead of switching languages or stopping.
- Comprehension check
- An interactive speaking move such as Verstehen Sie, was ich meine? or Wie bitte? used to confirm understanding and repair communication breakdowns.
- Signposting phrases
- Expressions like Zunächst möchte ich and Abschließend that organize a presentational monologue and make its structure explicit to listeners.
- Analytic rubric
- A scoring tool that rates separate dimensions such as fluency, accuracy, and comprehensibility independently, reducing halo effects in speaking assessment.
- Verb-zweit rule
- In German main clauses the finite verb occupies the second position, so an initial adverbial forces the subject to follow the verb.
- TeKaMoLo
- A mnemonic for German adverbial ordering: temporal, causal, modal, then local, as in heute wegen des Regens schnell nach Hause.
- Two-way prepositions
- Prepositions like in, auf, and über that take the accusative for motion or change and the dative for location or state.
- n-Deklination
- A declension pattern for masculine nouns ending in -e, -ent, -ant, -ist, or -or that add -n or -en in all cases except the nominative singular.
- Zustandspassiv
- A passive construction with sein plus the past participle that describes a resulting state, as in Die Tür ist geschlossen, rather than an ongoing process.
- ß versus ss
- German orthography uses ß after long vowels and diphthongs (Straße, heißen) and ss after short vowels (Fluss, müssen); Swiss German uses ss throughout.
- DACH concept
- The grouping of Deutschland, Österreich, and die Schweiz as the core German-speaking countries, used to frame cultural and linguistic variety instruction.
- Swiss Standard German features
- Swiss usage includes Velo, Trottoir, and Natel, omits ß entirely, and coexists with spoken Swiss German dialects in everyday communication.
- Duales Ausbildungssystem
- A German vocational model combining part-time Berufsschule instruction with paid on-the-job training in a Betrieb, leading to a recognized occupational qualification.
- Swiss direct democracy
- Swiss citizens can launch a Volksinitiative and vote in Referenden on legislation, a practice reflecting the confederation's federal and participatory structure.
- Backward design
- An instructional planning sequence that first identifies desired results, then determines acceptable evidence, and only then designs learning experiences and instruction.
- Integrated Performance Assessment
- A thematic assessment cycle with an interpretive task, an interpersonal task, and a presentational task, each scored with a mode-specific rubric.
- Formative assessment
- Ongoing checks such as exit tickets, quizzes, and peer feedback that inform instruction rather than documenting final achievement for a grade.
- Authentic materials
- Realia such as Speisekarten, Fahrpläne, Nachrichten, and Podcasts produced for real audiences, used with pre-, during-, and post-tasks to build proficiency.
- ACTFL proficiency levels
- A scale from Novice through Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and Distinguished describing what learners can do with language in real-world contexts.
- Target-language use
- The instructional practice of conducting class in German at roughly ninety percent or more, supported by visuals, gestures, and paraphrasing for comprehensibility.