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AQA GCSE German Exam
Introduction
GCSE German is divided into four papers. German also has a Foundation Tier (grades 1–5) and a Higher Tier (grades 4–9). Students must take all four question papers at the same tier. All question papers must be taken in the same series.
There are four assessment objectives, which are specified for students. Please find our full breakdown of GCSE German below, with requisite assessment details and objectives. In addition, all themes and grammar relevant to the exam are outlined.
Paper 1: Listening
Students are expected to be able to:
• demonstrate general and specific understanding of different types of spoken language
• follow and understand clear standard speech using familiar language across a range of specified contexts
• identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer spoken passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
• deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer spoken texts, involving some complex language and more abstract material, including short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of relevant contemporary and cultural themes
• recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended spoken text, including authentic sources, adapted and abridged, as appropriate, by being able to answer questions, extract information, evaluate and draw conclusions.
Paper 2: Speaking
Students are expected to be able to:
• communicate and interact effectively in speech for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
• take part in a short conversation, asking and answering questions, and exchanging opinions
• convey information and narrate events coherently and confidently, using and adapting language for new purposes
• speak spontaneously, responding to unexpected questions, points of view or situations, sustaining communication by using rephrasing or repair strategies, as appropriate
• initiate and develop conversations and discussion, producing extended sequences of speech
• make appropriate and accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, with reference to past, present and future events
• make creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to express and justify their own thoughts and points of view
• use accurate pronunciation and intonation such as to be understood by a native speaker.
Paper 3: Reading
Students are expected to be able to:
• understand and respond to different types of written language
• understand general and specific details within texts using high frequency familiar language across a range of contexts
• identify the overall message, key points, details and opinions in a variety of short and longer written passages, involving some more complex language, recognising the relationship between past, present and future events
• deduce meaning from a variety of short and longer written texts from a range of specified contexts, including authentic sources involving some complex language and unfamiliar material, as well as short narratives and authentic material addressing a wide range of relevant contemporary and cultural themes
• recognise and respond to key information, important themes and ideas in more extended written text and authentic sources, including some extracts from relevant abridged or adapted literary texts
• demonstrate understanding by being able to scan for particular information, organise and present relevant details, draw inferences in context and recognise implicit meaning where appropriate
• translate a short passage from German into English.
Paper 4: Writing
Students are expected to be able to:
• communicate effectively in writing for a variety of purposes across a range of specified contexts
• write short texts, using simple sentences and familiar language accurately to convey meaning and exchange information
• produce clear and coherent text of extended length to present facts and express ideas and opinions appropriately for different purposes and in different settings
• make accurate use of a variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures, including some more complex forms, to describe and narrate with reference to past, present and future events
• manipulate the language, using and adapting a variety of structures and vocabulary with increasing accuracy and fluency for new purposes, including using appropriate style and register
• make independent, creative and more complex use of the language, as appropriate, to note down key points, express and justify individual thoughts and points of view, in order to interest, inform or convince
• translate sentences and short texts from English into German to convey key messages accurately and to apply grammatical knowledge of language and structures in context.
Themes
Theme 1: Identity and culture
Topic 1: Me, my family and friends
Topic 2: Technology in everyday life
Topic 3: Free-time activities
Topic 4: Customs and festivals in German-speaking countries/communities
Theme 2: Local, national, international and global areas of interest
Topic 1: Home, town, neighbourhood and region
Topic 2: Social issues
Topic 3: Global issues
Topic 4: Travel and tourism
Theme 3: Current and future study and employment
Topic 1: My studies
Topic 2: Life at school/college
Topic 3: Education post-16
Topic 4: Jobs, career choices and ambitions
Grammar
Foundation tier
Nouns
gender,
singular and plural forms, including genitive singular and dative plural,
weak nouns: nominative and accusative singular (Herr, Junge, Mensch, Name) (R),
adjectives used as nouns (ein Deutscher).
Articles
definite and indefinite,
kein.
Adjectives
adjectival endings: predicative and attributive usage, singular and plural, used after definite and indefinite articles, demonstrative and possessive adjectives,
adjectival endings after etwas, nichts, viel, wenig, alles (R),
comparative and superlative, including common irregular forms (besser, höher, näher),
demonstrative (dieser, jeder),
possessive,
interrogative (welcher).
Adverbs
comparative and superlative, including common irregular forms (besser, lieber, mehr),
interrogative (wann, warum, wo, wie, wie viel),
adverbs of time and place (manchmal, oft, hier, dort),
common adverbial phrases (ab und zu, dann und wann, letzte Woche, nächstes Wochenende, so bald wie möglich),
Quantifiers/ intensifiers
sehr, zu, viel, ganz, ziemlich, ein wenig, ein bisschen
Pronouns
personal, including man
reflexive: accusative
reflexive: dative (R)
relative: nominative
relative: other cases (R) and use of was (R)
indefinite: jemand, niemand
interrogative: wer, was, was für
interrogative: wen, wem (R)
Verbs
regular and irregular verbs
reflexive modes of address: du, Sie
modes of address: ihr (R)
impersonal (most common only eg es gibt, es geht, es tut weh)
separable/inseparable modal: present and imperfect tenses, imperfect subjunctive of mögen
infinitive constructions (um…zu…; verbs with zu…) (R)
negative forms interrogative forms
Tenses:
• present
• perfect: excluding modals
• imperfect/simple past: haben, sein and modals
• imperfect/simple past: other common verbs (R)
• future
• pluperfect (R)
• imperative forms.
Prepositions
fixed case and dual case with accusative and/or dative with genitive (R)
Clause structures
main clause word order
subordinate clauses, including relative clauses
Conjunctions
coordinating (most common eg aber, oder, und)
subordinating (most common eg als, obwohl, weil, wenn)
Number, quantity, dates and time
including use of seit with present tense
Higher Tier
Nouns
weak nouns
Adjectives
adjectival endings after etwas, nichts, viel, wenig, alles
Pronouns
reflexive: dative
relative: all cases, and use of was
interrogative: wen, wem
Verbs
mode of address: ihr
impersonal
infinitive constructions (ohne…zu…; um…zu…); verbs with zu… eg beginnen, hoffen, versuchen
modal: imperfect subjunctive of können, sollen
Tenses:
• imperfect/simple past of common verbs
• future
• conditional: würde with infinitive
• pluperfect
• imperfect subjunctive in conditional clauses: haben and sein.
Prepositions
with genitive (most common eg außerhalb, statt, trotz, während, wegen)
Conjunctions
coordinating and subordinating
Time
use of seit with imperfect tense
Assessment details
The first paper (listening) assesses the candidate’s ability to understand and respond to different types of spoken language. Please see below for exam features.
• Written exam: 35 minutes (Foundation Tier), 45 minutes (Higher Tier)
• 40 marks (Foundation Tier), 50 marks (Higher Tier)
• 25% of GCSE
(Each exam includes 5 minutes’ reading time of the question paper before the listening stimulus is played).
The second paper (speaking) assesses the candidate’s ability to communicate and interact effectively in speech for a variety of purposes. Please see below for exam features.
• Non-exam assessment
• 7–9 minutes (Foundation Tier) + preparation time
• 10–12 minutes (Higher Tier) + preparation time
• 60 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)
• 25% of GCSE
The third paper (reading) assesses the candidate’s ability to understand and respond to different types of written language. Please see below for exam features.
• Written exam: 45 minutes (Foundation Tier), 1 hour (Higher Tier)
• 60 marks (for each of Foundation Tier and Higher Tier)
• 25% of GCSE
The fourth paper (writing) assesses the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively in writing for a variety of purposes. Please see below for exam features.
• Written exam: 1 hour (Foundation Tier), 1 hour 15 minutes (Higher Tier)
• 50 marks at Foundation Tier and 60 marks at Higher Tier
• 25% of GCSE