Unit 7 — Mediation: A German Feature Article

Learning objectives Link to heading

• I can mediate a 250-word German feature article into 8 English sentences.
• I can preserve voice and register; mark hedged claims; drop ceremony.
• I can use 8 reporting verbs.

curriculum framework (“Bildungsplan”) alignment Link to heading

• 3.3.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
• 3.3.3.5 Schreiben
• 3.3.3.6 Sprachmittlung
• 3.3.3.7 Verfügen über sprachliche Mittel – Wortschatz

(Source: https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/SEK1/E1)

Lead-in story Link to heading

Maja’s German aunt forwarded a feature article from a national paper about a small-town mayor who had rebuilt the local library on a near-zero budget. Maja’s English-speaking pen-pal in Toronto, who is studying public administration, asked for a real summary, not a textbook one.

1. Activate Link to heading

Voice scan. Slide shows three lines from the German source. Mark each as fact / opinion / colour.

2. Input Link to heading

Source — German feature article (excerpt) Link to heading

Bürgermeisterin Anna Vogel hat ihre kleine Gemeinde, deren Bibliothek seit Jahren geschlossen war, mit einem unkonventionellen Plan zurück auf die Karte gebracht. Statt auf große Zuschüsse zu warten, organisierte sie eine Reihe von Sonntags-Workshops, in denen Bewohner gespendete Bücher sortierten und Regale bauten. “Ich habe nicht erwartet, dass es funktioniert,” gab Vogel zu, “aber die Leute kamen zuverlässig.” Die neue Bibliothek wurde nach acht Monaten eröffnet. Kritiker werfen ihr vor, das Modell sei nicht skalierbar.

Mediation — feature-article moves Link to heading

Voice — keep the speaker’s voice via reported speech with the right verb (admitted, claimed, added, argued). Register — match the addressee. A peer-message drops the Bürgermeisterin honorifics; a public-admin reader keeps role + name. Hedge — preserve the journalist’s hedging (Critics argue …) without inventing certainty.

Reporting verbs (extended) Link to heading

to admit, to claim, to argue, to add, to confirm, to deny, to point out, to stress, to note, to concede, to dismiss, to maintain.

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau E — controlled Link to heading

1. Match German verb → English: zugeben → ?, behaupten → ?, hinzufügen → ?, abstreiten → ?
2. Choose the most accurate verb for: Vogel said: ‘I didn’t expect it to work, but people came.’

Niveau E — productive Link to heading

3. Build a 6-sentence English mediation of the source above.

4. Produce Link to heading

Mediation, 8 sentences. Read the German source above. Write 8 English sentences for an English-speaking public-administration student. Preserve voice + use 5 reporting verbs.

Sample Link to heading

Hi Jordan, here’s the gist of that feature on small-town public administration. Mayor Anna Vogel rebuilt her town’s library — closed for years — with a near-zero budget. Rather than waiting for grants, she organised a series of Sunday workshops in which residents sorted donated books and built shelves themselves. Vogel admitted that she hadn’t expected the plan to work; she added, with some surprise, that people had shown up reliably. The library opened eight months later. Critics argue, however, that the model is not scalable beyond small towns. The article stresses that Vogel doesn’t claim it is — only that it worked here. The reporting tone is admiring but cautious.

5. Reflect Link to heading

• I can mediate a feature article into 8 English sentences.
• I can preserve voice and register.
• I can use 5 reporting verbs accurately.

One thing in your notebook: Write one sentence using something you learned in this Unit.

Exam example Link to heading

Task 1 — Listening (10 BE) Link to heading

Listen twice.

“Bürgermeisterin Vogel rebuilt her town’s library with a near-zero budget. She organised Sunday workshops in which residents sorted books and built shelves. She admitted she hadn’t expected it to work. Critics argue the model is not scalable.”

1. Project: ___ . 2. Method: ___ . 3. Vogel admitted: ___ . 4. Critics’ view: ___ .

Task 2 — Reading (12 BE) Link to heading

Read the German source above.

1. Mayor’s name: ___ . 2. Project length: ___ . 3. Vogel’s quoted line: ___ . 4. Critics’ line: ___ .

Task 3 — Use of English (10 BE) Link to heading

Choose the right reporting verb.

1. Vogel ___ that she had not expected it to work. (admitted)
2. Critics ___ that the model is not scalable. (argue)
3. The article ___ that residents came reliably. (notes)
4. Vogel did not ___ that the model is universal. (claim)

Task 4 — Writing (13 BE) Link to heading

Mediate: write 8 English sentences from the source for a public-administration student. Use 5 reporting verbs.

Downloads Link to heading

Common pitfalls Link to heading

• sagte automatically translated as said — pick the verb that carries the speaker’s stance.
• Carrying Bürgermeisterin into peer-talk → use Mayor Vogel or Anna Vogel depending on register.
• Inventing the journalist’s certainty by dropping the hedge.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

• Goethe-Institut — Sprachmittlungs-Beispielaufgaben Oberstufe.
• The Atlantic — CityLab features for register comparison.

Downloads

Presentation

Download .pptx

Worksheet

Download .pdf