1. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT 2014 – 2015 GERMAN DEPARTMENT

2. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT: introduction
Assessment of the Year Abroad is an integral and compulsory part of the Year Abroad (YA). Students who will be undertaking a full year placement should complete one Year Abroad Assessment worth 120 QMUL credits. Students who will be undertaking split year placements should complete two Semester Abroad Assessments, each Semester Abroad Assessment is worth 60 QMUL credits.
The different departments in the School operate slightly different assessment modes for the Year Abroad. In order to find out which modes of assessment are available to you, you must consult the section of the YA handbook devoted to the language in which you will be spending your period of residence abroad.
Students who plan to split their Year Abroad should consult the relevant sections in the YA handbook.
It is vital that you understand the requirements of your assessment BEFORE you leave for your YA.

3. Progression into the final year
Progression into final year is automatic even if you do not complete the Year Abroad Assessment or if you do not pass it.
However a fail mark for the Year Abroad Assessment will have a negative impact on your degree classification since the Year Abroad mark counts for 12.5% of your overall degree result (the same as your first year results; your second year results count for 25% and your final year results for 50%).

4. Resitting the YAA
Students who fail the Year/Semester Abroad Assessment can opt to resit it while in their final year.
If they choose to do so, they will be given one or several written assignments to complete; these will be spread out over their final year.
Details of the resit assessment are given in the YA handbook at the end of the assessment section for each language.
Please be aware that under College Regulations, all re-sit exams are pegged at 40%.

5. Normal school rules apply to the YAA and SAA
Please note that normal School regulations apply to the YA and SA assignments.
This is true in terms of deadlines (if you submit an assignment within 2 weeks after the deadline without having been granted an official extension, your mark for that assignment will be pegged at 40%; if you submit that assignment later than 2 weeks after the deadline without having been granted an official extension, you will get 0%), word number (your mark for the assignment could be lowered by a certain percentage if the word number falls short or is over the recommended limit. This percentage is at the discretion of the marker) and plagiarism (you could face disciplinary action in case of suspected plagiarism as it is an examination offence).

6. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT
Students who plan to split their Year Abroad should consult the relevant section in the YA handbook.
It is vital that you understand the requirements of your assessment
BEFORE you sign a contract for a work placement
BEFORE you leave for your YA
There are two modes of assessment:
- Study Placement: ECTS credits + Examination
certificates (Scheine)
- Work placement and Ab-Initio Pathway students: YA Log

7. YAA/SAA for students on Erasmus/ Independent Study Placements
The year abroad assessment will be based BOTH on proof of fulfilment of the agreed contract (via presentation of certificate of attendance and transcript of exam results) AND on the accreditation of their studies abroad as approved by the Department of German at QMUL.
Number of credits:
Students on full year ERASMUS/Independent Study Placements must register for courses amounting to 60 ECTS and sit examinations at the host university (including any resits). Students on one-semester only ERASMUS Study Placements or Independent Study Placements must register for courses amounting to 30 ECTS and sit examinations at the host university (including any resits).
Please remember that German usually students have more weekly contact hours than UK students !

8. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON FULL YEAR ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Students on full year study placements are required to return with 60 ECTS made up from:
8 Teilnahmescheine (attendance certificates including
language courses in German as a Foreign Language)
at least 4 Leistungsscheine (examination certificates,
modules for which you receive a mark)
obtained in content courses at Seminar, Proseminar or Einführung level
+ one of the Leistungsscheine has to be from a language course Deutsch als Fremdsprache
(advanced level)

9. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON FULL YEAR ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Local ECTS will be converted into Queen Mary credits
For students on full year study placement:
the final grade is composed of the average of the 4 Leistungsscheine
if you present more than 4 Leistungsscheine, the 4 Leistungsscheine that have been given the highest marks will count
It is strongly recommended that students
register for more than four content courses in case one of the courses is not completed successfully.   

10. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ONE SEMESTER ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Students on an one semester ERASMUS Study Placement or Independent Study Placement are required to return with 30 ECTS made up from:
5 Teilnahmescheine (attendance certificates including
language courses in German as a Foreign Language)
at least 2 Leistungsscheine (examination certificates,
modules for which you receive a mark)
obtained in content courses at Seminar, Proseminar or Einführung level
+ one of the Leistungsscheine has to be from a language course Deutsch als Fremdsprache (advanced level).

11. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ONE SEMESTER ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Local ECTS will be converted into Queen Mary credits
For students on one semester study placements
the final grade is composed of the average of the 2 Leistungsscheine
if you present more than 2 Leistungsscheine, the 2 Leistungsscheine that have been given the highest marks will count
 It is strongly recommended that students
register for more than two content courses in case one of the courses is not completed successfully.

12. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON FULL YEAR/ONE SEMESTER ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
All essays (Hausarbeiten) that are written to obtain a Leistungsschein
need to be written in German
copies of the essays need to be presented to the German Language Co-ordinator at Queen Mary before 1st October 2015.
+ the copies of the essays also need to be signed by the course organizer of the seminar at the German/Swiss or Austrian University

13. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR AB-INITIO STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Ab-initio students will be required to submit the Year Abroad Log and their YA mark will normally be calculated solely on the basis of the marks received for the Year Abroad Log.
In all cases, ab initio students on a full year ERASMUS Study Placement or Independent Study Placements are still required to register for
courses amounting to 60 ECTS
sit examinations at the host university
meet the study requirements

14. Choice of your modules: FULL YEAR
STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON FULL YEAR ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Choice of your modules: FULL YEAR
+ should reflect your degree programme
+ should be discussed and approved by the German Year Abroad Coordinator
Semester 1
Language courses: German as a Foreign Language: at least 5 contact hours per week
2 Vorlesungen at least (normally 2 hours each week)
1 Übung (or Einführung) at least (2 hours per week)
 Plus additional courses corresponding to your needs and aspirations
Semester 2
Language courses: German as a Foreign Language: at least 3 contact hours per week
2 Proseminare at least, reflecting your choice of course at QMUL (4 hours)
1 Vorlesung at least (2 hours)
1 Übung (or Einführung) at least (2 Hours)
Plus additional courses corresponding to your needs and aspirations

15. Choice of your modules: ONE SEMESTER
STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ONE SEMESTER ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Choice of your modules: ONE SEMESTER
+ should reflect your degree programme
+ should be discussed and approved by the German Year Abroad Coordinator
Semester 1
Language courses: German as a Foreign Language: at least 5 contact hours per week
2 Vorlesungen (normally 2 hours each week)
1 Einführung) (2 hours per week
Plus additional courses corresponding to your needs and aspirations

16. STUDY REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ON ERASMUS/ INDEPENDENT STUDY PLACEMENTS
Important:
Courses must be taught in the target language German!
a) The choice of courses should be discussed with your Year Abroad Coordinator prior to your stay abroad.For ERASMUS study placements the ERASMUS Learning Agreement should be completed accordingly and a first draft needs to be finalised by 31st May 2014.
b) When returning from your host institution it is YOUR responsibility to supply a transcript of your results: this must be submitted to the departmental Year
Abroad Coordinator before 1 October 2015.

17. Year Abroad Learning Log
YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT for students on Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements
Year Abroad Learning Log
Students completing an ERASMUS/ Non-ERASMUS Work Placement are expected to fulfil their contractual duties (as set and certified by their employers)
+ complete the Year or Semester Abroad Learning Log
The Year Abroad Log consists of
three academic assignments (with sub-assignments)
to be submitted at set intervals throughout the year

18. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT for students on FULL YEAR Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements
Year Abroad Learning Log for students on FULL YEAR work placements Submission: All tasks should be submitted via QMplus on the dates specified in the YA Handbook Printed sources need to be scanned and submitted electronically as well. If you cannot attach the original text(s) to QMplus you will have to send it/them by post to the German Year Abroad Coordinator.

19. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT for students on FULL YEAR Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements
Year Abroad Learning Log for students on FULL YEAR work placements & Ab-initio students (students ONE SEMESTER work placement only need to complete Assignment 1 & 2) The Assessment is divided in three parts: Assignment 1: Task 1a: Grammatical Analysis (800 words) Task 1b: Cultural Analysis (800 words) Task 1c: Translation from German into English Assignment 2: Task 2a: Reader’s Letter ( words) Task 2b: Work Placement Report (1500 words) Assignment 3: Task 3a: Outline of Research Project (500 words) Task 3b: Anglo-German Research Project (3000 words)

20. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT for students on FULL YEAR Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements
Anglo-German Research project
Learning objectives:
The research project is designed to assess cultural understanding of Anglo-German topics,
The design of a research question as well as the development of academic and linguistic skills.
Written in the target language (i.e. German), it is an essay that argues analytically, comparatively and, if relevant, from an interdisciplinary perspective.

21. YEAR ABROAD ASSESSMENT for students on FULL YEAR Erasmus/ Independent Work Placements
Weighting of the assignments is allocated as follows: Task 1a counts 1.0 times (10%) Task 1b counts 1.0 times (10%) Task 1c counts 1.0 times (10%) Task 2a counts 1.0 times (10%) Task 2b counts 2.0 times (20%) Task 3a counts 1.0 times (10%) Task 3b counts 3.0 times (30%) The deadlines for these assignments can all be found in the YA Handbook 2014/15 at the end of each assessment section. Please make sure you write these deadlines in your diary and set up reminders on your computer/mobile phone etc. a week before! It is YOUR responsibility to submit your assignments by the deadline!

22. SUBMISSION PROCESS OF ASSIGNMENTS
Each task should be completed in the target language (German) and should be submitted via QMPlus. The electronic submission will provide you with proof of submission and it also allows us to run coursework through anti- plagiarism software. Feedback will be returned within 4 weeks.
Please remember that we cannot let you get unauthorised help by a native speaker on any of these assignments as the mark you will receive for your work will be based both on content and your written German! Assignments where unauthorised help has been received will be marked down!
The School rules regarding late submission of work apply: if assignments are submitted late but no later than 2 weeks after the deadline, then the mark will be pegged at 40%. A fail mark (0%) will be given if these assignments are submitted with more than 2 weeks delay or are not submitted at all unless substantial extenuating circumstances can be demonstrated (e.g. protracted illness) and an extension has been officially granted by the Senior Tutor.

23. YA/SA resit information
If students were to fail their Year Abroad, they would be offered a resit option which consists of 2 written assignments in German that they would do in their final year. These assignments are as follows:
For students on a Full Year Placement:
- Essay on the Year Abroad Experience (1500 words)
- Anglo-German Research Project (3500 words)
For students on a One Semester Placement:
- Essay on the Year Abroad Experience (2000 words)
Like with all resits, their mark will be pegged at 40%.