Level Description

The nature of the learners

Children enter the early years of schooling with established oracy skills in one or more languages and varying degrees of early literacy capability. For young students, learning typically focuses on their immediate world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. They are learning how to socialise with new people, share with others and participate in structured routines and activities at school. Typically they have little to no experience of German language and culture.

German language learning and use

At this stage, games, music, movement, familiar routines, and imaginative activities such as role-plays provide essential scaffolding and relevant contexts for language development. Learners engage with the sounds, shapes and patterns of German through activities such as rhymes, songs, clapping and action games. They identify and use simple formulaic expressions, one- or two-word responses to prompts and cues, and non-verbal German communication strategies. They learn to write by tracing and copying, forming letters legibly. They learn to write words and simple sentences independently using modelled language, for example, by matching pictures with single words, labels or captions.

Contexts of interaction

The primary context of interaction is the language classroom, as learners interact with the teacher and with one another. Their use of German relates primarily to classroom routines and activities, draws on curiosity about the world around them, and engages their interest in play, movement and games.

Texts and resources

Learners engage with a variety of spoken, written and digital texts. They listen and respond to teacher talk, share ideas, and join in stories, songs, play and simple conversations. Physical, virtual and digital resources provide access to additional German language and cultural interactions, connecting learners’ social worlds with those of their peers in other German-speaking contexts.

Features of German language use

Learners become familiar with the sounds and rhythms of German, approximating the pronunciation and phrasing of single words and short phrases, including distinctive sounds such as ch, r, th, u and z, and diphthongs such as au, ei, eu and ie. They use simple basic sentence structures and familiar vocabulary for everyday functions such as greetings, asking and answering questions, responding to instructions, and participating in games, performances and simple shared tasks. They learn to write single words and simple phrases, noticing the use of the Eszett and how an Umlaut changes the sound of vowels. They notice similarities and differences between German and English. They use modelled language to produce their own short texts and to interact. They begin to notice that language behaves differently in different situations and that German speakers communicate in some ways that are different from their own. As they communicate about differences and similarities, they begin to understand that they are part of a connected world. This introduction to the reflective dimension of intercultural language learning begins to develop an understanding of culture.

Level of support

Support is provided through visual and tactile materials such as pictures, realia, objects and charts, and through the use of gesture and movement. The teacher provides prompts, cues, and opportunities for repetition and recycling to help learners identify and remember frequently used words and simple phrases. Learners rely on modelled language, scaffolded tasks, feedback and encouragement to build their language capability.

The role of English

Learners are encouraged to use German whenever possible, particularly when engaging in classroom interactions and routines. The teacher uses German as much as possible for instruction. English is used for explanation and discussion, allowing learners to communicate about differences and similarities they notice between German and their own language(s), to ask questions about language and culture, and to consider their experience of learning German.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Year 2, students interact with teachers and peers through action-related talk and play. They introduce themselves, exchange greetings and farewells, for example, Ich heiße … Auf Wiedersehen! and express likes and dislikes. When interacting, they use short formulaic expressions, for example, Morgen! Danke! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Frohe Weihnachten! Guten Appetit! and make simple statements, such as Das ist … Ich wohne in … Ich mag … They use repetitive language and respond to simple instructions when participating in games, shared activities and classroom routines. They use visual, non-verbal and contextual cues such as intonation, gestures and facial expressions to help make meaning, and reproduce some distinctive sounds and rhythms of spoken German, including ch, u, r and z. Students identify specific words and information, such as names of people, places or objects, in simple shared texts related to personal worlds. They convey factual information about self, family and possessions at word and simple sentence level. They respond to and create simple spoken and written texts, using modelled examples and formulaic language. They use short phrases and simple sentences to identify and describe people and objects in the family and school domains such as der Lehrer, eine Freundin, Das ist mein Stift, including some pronouns, for example, ich, du, er, sie, es, wir and possessive adjectives, mein/e, dein/e. They use nein and nicht for negation, and verb forms bin, bist and ist, with an adjective. Students explain the meaning and use of different German words and expressions, and create texts in German and English for their immediate learning environment. They identify similarities and differences between German and their own language(s) and culture(s), noticing that using a language involves behaviours as well as words.

Students identify ways that German sounds different to English but recognise that it uses the same alphabet. They identify some words that are written the same in both German and English but pronounced differently. They identify features of different types of texts. They give examples of words that German and English borrow from each other and from other languages, and identify different ways of greeting and interacting with people. They make connections between the languages people use and who they are and where they live.