Educational trip for MA students of the faculty for German Language and Literature

as part of the DAAD scholarships [9-20/5/2022]

As part of the German Academic Exchange Service (D.A.A.D.) scholarships, a study trip to Germany was approved and carried out from 9/5/2022 to 20/5/2022 with 11 MA students from the Master's programme "Interfaces of Linguistics and Didactics" of the Master's programme "German Philology: Theory and Applications" under the initiative of Anna Chita, Assistant Professor at the Department of German Language and Literature, and accompanied by Dafni Wiedenmeyer, Associate Professor at the Department.

The programme with the main aim of intercultural and interlingual communication included the following objectives:

Visit to the Department of Intercultural German Studies at the University of Bayreuth (9-12 May), which included seminars and lectures as well as information about the activities of the university's International Office. In addition, collaborations were organised within the framework of intercultural approaches and the MA students from the NKUA Department of German Language and Literature had the opportunity to present their work as part of the Master's seminar in Intercultural Linguistics and Literature at the University of Bayreuth. The stay in Bayreuth was combined with a visit to the old town, the opera house, the house and museum of the famous classical composer Richard Wagner and the botanical garden.

The second destination of the study trip on 12 May was the city of Aschaffenburg (12-16 May) and the University of Aschaffenburg. On the first day, the first contact with the teaching staff of the university took place. The group was given a tour of the university campus and then visited the courses of German as a foreign language. The first evening in Aschaffenburg ended with a dinner for the hosts and participants and a working discussion in a restaurant in the city centre. On the second day, the MA students from the NKUA Department of German Language and Literature attended a seminar entitled "Intercultural Communication" in English, which focussed on the stereotypes that have developed in European countries over the years. The contact with students of different nationalities in the course helped to break down negative stereotypes and create positive interfaces.

This was followed by a visit to the Dalberg-Gymnasium, where the group from the NKUA Department of German Language and Literature took part in language lessons. At the end of the lesson, an academic meeting followed, with the aim of exchanging views on a topic of immediate interest, namely the teaching and learning of German for native speakers, as well as the German education system in comparison to the Greek education system. On the following day the group visited the city of Aschaffenburg, toured the city's magnificent castle and participated in cultural activities such as a street market with local food and flowers, a wine tasting and a visit to a nearby winery. The free day on Sunday was dedicated to a day trip to the beautiful city of Würzburg.

The third destination was the city of Mannheim (16-18 May) and began with a planned visit to the Institute for German Language "IDS Mannheim". After a warm welcome, there were targeted presentations of the Institute's educational and research activities as well as informative talks on current trends in the German language. In this context, detailed information was provided on the "grammis" project, a scientific information system on German grammar that presents current research results, explanations and basic knowledge on grammar. This was followed by a presentation on grammatical terminology as well as an introduction and a tour of the newly created digital dictionary of paronyms. Useful tips for searching for academic literature were also given. The third stop of the trip concluded with a tour of the city of Heidelberg and its historic castle.

The fourth stop was Frankfurt (18-20 May) with the aim of visiting the language certification centre "TELC Frankfurt". During the visit, the group of NKUA MA students listened to a presentation about the types of certification, the way and models of assessment, while the common references with the Greek State Language Certificate were the main points of interest. The second day focused on analysing the written and oral assessment, which was completed with the active participation of the NKUA group. The day in Goethe's hometown ended with a visit to the historic centre with its modern architecture, the Main River and an introduction to the city's culinary identity.

The MA students from the NKUA Department of German Language and Literature organised a conference, under the guidance of the accompanying Professor Anna Chita, which took place online on Wednesday 15/06/22 from 18:00 to 20:00 to present their experiences and goals achieved.