Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

German

Major Professor

Chauncey J. Mellor

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the goals of the national Standards for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, published in 1996, with particular emphasis on Standards goal two Cultures and Standards goal four Comparisons and to compare two German language textbooks in reference to their selection and presentation of cultural materials. Deutsch, Na klar! the third edition was published in 1998 by McGraw-Hill and was one of the first to revise the text in light of the new Standards. Moment, mal! was revised in 1997 by Langenscheidt and due to the historical interaction between the company and American educators it appears reasonable to assume that the text reflects the American Standards as adequately as any German published German language textbook. The introduction provides a brief history of the American national Standards and background information for Deutsch, Na klar! and Moment, mal!. An overview of the standards and discussion of the two goals relevant to this thesis are given in chapter one. Chapters two and three deal with the implementation of the Standards in and a comparison of the two textbooks. The final chapter summarizes findings, observations, and conclusions. It was found that both textbooks go beyond merely teaching facts about language and culture by including cross-cultural experiences. However, Moment, mall exceeds Deutsch, Na klar! in the content and quality of realia that permits students to compare and contrast cultural practices, products, and to a lesser extent perspectives and to learn the linguistic structures necessary to acquire cultural and linguistic competence.

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