German University 4 (Revised Edition)

Author: Zhang Shuliang, Chief Editor
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-11-26
Features: Since its official publication in 1994, College German has been used for seven years and has been well-received by the German language community in China and praised by German language teachers. College German has been widely used in university German language teaching in China and has played an important role. It has also been designated as a reference book for the "National Professional and Technical Personnel Title German Language Proficiency Examination" by relevant authorities. During these seven years of teaching practice, some problems and shortcomings of the book have also become apparent. To adapt to the development and needs of German language teaching in the new era, it is necessary to revise this textbook. In 2000, the German Language Group of the College Foreign Language Teaching Guidance Committee of Higher Education Institutions revised the College German Teaching Syllabus published in 1991, following the spirit of the Ministry of Education's instructions. The newly revised College German Teaching Syllabus, namely the College German Teaching Syllabus (Second Edition), revised the "Teaching Objectives" from: "The teaching objective of College German (as a foreign language) is to cultivate students' certain reading abilities while also developing preliminary listening, speaking, and writing skills, laying a language foundation for obtaining the necessary professional information and further improving their German language proficiency." to: "To cultivate students' certain reading abilities while also developing preliminary listening, speaking, writing, and translation skills, enabling them to communicate simple information in German." and proposed that "textbooks should pay attention to the diversity of topics and genres" and "should emphasize the cultivation of cross-cultural communication." The College German Teaching Syllabus (Second Edition) undoubtedly sets higher requirements for German language teaching and textbook writing. When revising the original College German, we strove to embody the spirit and requirements of the College German Teaching Syllabus (Second Edition), discard the shortcomings of the original book, retain its strengths, and select new texts and exercise formats. Compared to the original College German, the newly revised College German has the following features: Some texts in the textbook have been replaced to highlight a sense of the times and give the book a fresh look; the textbook includes a variety of genres, with added conversational texts to facilitate the development of multiple skills; grammar explanations are concise and more practical; exercise formats are more diverse, benefiting the cultivation of language skills and the training and expression of communicative intent; attention is paid to improving the efficiency of exercises and ensuring the implementation of teaching plans. Additionally, the authors have considered the characteristics of the currently implemented "College German Level 4 Examination" and the "National Professional and Technical Personnel Title German Language Proficiency Examination" to make some question types compatible with them. College German (Revised Edition) is divided into four volumes. , and the second volume basically cover basic grammar while also training various skills, focusing on laying a solid language foundation. The third and fourth volumes gradually increase reading volume and improve reading, listening, speaking, writing, and translation skills. The fourth volume of College German (Revised Edition) contains 11 lessons and requires approximately 66 teaching hours to complete. According to the syllabus, the remaining time can be used for review and examination. Teachers can also make practical arrangements based on teaching conditions. The texts are divided into A and B types, selected from original sources with diverse topics. After each lesson, there are supplementary reading texts (C) for students to study independently. In line with the spirit of the College German Teaching Syllabus (Second Edition), the selection of texts has paid attention to the diversity of topics and genres while also giving due attention to the content of cross-cultural communication. To meet the syllabus's requirement of "cultivating students' certain reading abilities," we have added some reading skills content in this revision, accompanied by relevant exercises. The vocabulary in the texts is based on the vocabulary list of the College German Teaching Syllabus (Second Edition). Any vocabulary beyond the Level 4 requirements is marked in the total vocabulary list at the end of each volume, allowing students to focus on mastering the most commonly used Level 4 vocabulary. The texts and grammar are accompanied by diverse exercises to help students master and apply the knowledge they have learned, improving their basic skills. Over the past seven years, the teachers, students, and fellow professionals who have used the College German edition textbook, as well as those who are concerned about this textbook, have provided valuable suggestions and opinions on its shortcomings and how it could be further revised. This book is based on the original College German (4) and has been revised and updated. In addition to the chief editor of this volume, Gu Shiyuan, the original College German (4) was also compiled by Zhu Jianhua, Han Zhonggao, Zhai Yonggeng, and Shi Dehua (Dirk Skiba). We express our gratitude for their contributions to this book. During the revision process, Mr. Andreas Guder, an expert from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), reviewed the entire fourth volume of the College German (Revised Edition), and we sincerely thank him for his efforts. We hope that this revision of College German will benefit the improvement of university German language teaching and the cultivation and enhancement of students' various foreign language skills. Given the authors' level of expertise, we sincerely welcome colleagues in the German language field and readers to point out any errors or shortcomings in this book for correction.