Unit 12 — Klausur: Composition and Comment

Track E · Klasse 12 · Niveau E (Basisfach / Leistungsfach)

Template: Activate → Input → Practise → Produce → Reflect.
Niveau: E. Klausur (assessment) at Niveau E (90 BE).
Course tagging: basic course (Basisfach, E-BF) and advanced course (Leistungsfach, E-LF).

Learning objectives Link to heading

  • I can complete a Klausur Composition section (~18 BE) — argument or creative response — under timed conditions.
  • I can complete a Klausur Mediation section (~30 BE) for a named English-speaking addressee.
  • I can manage time across the second half of the Klausur.

curriculum framework (“Bildungsplan”) alignment Link to heading

  • 3.4.1 / 3.5.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen
  • 3.4.3.5 / 3.5.3.5 Schreiben
  • 3.4.3.6 / 3.5.3.6 Sprachmittlung
  • 3.4.4 / 3.5.4 Text- und Medienkompetenz

(Sources: https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/GYM/E1/IK/11-12-LF / https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/GYM/E1/IK/11-12-BF)

Lead-in story Link to heading

Second of two Klausur-prep Units. Today’s focus: Composition + Mediation — the two sections most reliant on producing original text under time pressure. The class is using the same source as Unit 11 to build a complete 90-BE Klausur experience across the two Units.

1. Activate Link to heading

Composition-vs.-Mediation budget scan. Of the remaining ~110 min, how do you split 18 BE (Composition) vs. 30 BE (“Mediation”)?

2. Input Link to heading

Composition section — pattern Link to heading

Typical Composition tasks:

  1. Discuss / comment — 250-300 words, your own argument grounded in the source.
  2. Creative response — letter, diary entry, speech: shifts genre but keeps the source’s argumentative weight.

Sprache check: clear thesis in first 2 sentences, evidence + counter, conclusion. Academic discourse markers + cleft + 1 integrated quote.

Mediation section — pattern Link to heading

Typical Mediation tasks:

  1. For a named English-speaking addressee, mediate the German source in ~250 words / 12-15 sentences.
  2. Sprache check: preserve hedges + modal nuance; drop ceremony; use 7+ reporting verbs; add cultural notes where needed.

Mediation is Inhalt-weighted but Sprache-checked. Both axes count.

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau E — controlled Link to heading

  1. Match Composition task → likely word count: discuss / comment → 250-300 words; creative response → 250-300 words.
  2. T or F: Mediation rewards literal translation; Composition rewards original argument.

Niveau E — productive Link to heading

  1. Outline a 250-word Composition response to a comment on the writer’s central claim prompt.
Answer key

Controlled. 1. all true. 2. F (Mediation rewards addressee-fit + register, not literal translation), T.

Productive. 3. Open.

4. Produce Link to heading

Klausur sections, timed. 110 minutes total. 50 min Composition (18 BE) + 50 min Mediation (30 BE) + 10 min review. Submit. Class debriefs collectively with focus on production speed under time.

Sample Link to heading

(See Reflection on the rehearsal — the production task is the timed sections themselves.)

5. Reflect Link to heading

  • I can complete a Composition section under timed conditions.
  • I can complete a Mediation section for a named addressee.
  • I can manage time across the second half of the Klausur.

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

Exam example Link to heading

Klausur (assessment) — Niveau E (full paper, 90 BE)
Time. 4 hours including 20 minutes of breaks (220 active minutes). Total. 90 BE.
Inhalt / Sprache split. Basisfach (basic course): 50/50. Leistungsfach (advanced course): 40/60.

Part A — Comprehension (~24 BE) Link to heading

Composition prompt: Discuss the writer’s central claim about attention economies in 280 words. Use 1 integrated quote + 4 academic discourse markers + 1 cleft + 2 hedges.

Part B — Analysis (~18 BE) Link to heading

Mediation prompt: For an English-speaking media-policy researcher, mediate a 250-word German Bundestags-Anhörung extract on attention regulation (Aufmerksamkeitsregulierung). Use 8 reporting verbs + 2 cultural-note brackets. (Source provided in class.)

Part C — Composition (~18 BE) Link to heading

Time-budget exercise. Allocate 110 minutes: ___ min Composition; ___ min Mediation; ___ min review. Justify in 2 sentences.

Mediation (~30 BE) Link to heading

Reflection prompt: In 200 words, reflect on your full 90-BE Klausur experience across Units 11 and 12. Which section did you handle best? Which needs the most rehearsal before Klasse 13?

Expected-answer profile (Erwartungshorizont) — sample
Comprehension. Reward thesis + integrated quote + 4 markers + 1 cleft + 2 hedges + clear structure. Analysis. Reward addressee-fit + register + 8 reporting verbs + 2 cultural notes + preserved hedges + appropriate modal mapping. Time budget. Suggested: 50 min Composition / 50 min Mediation / 10 min review. Reflection. Open.
grading scale (Notenschlüssel) (von 90 BE)
| 86–90 | 1+ | 81–85 | 1 | 76–80 | 1- | | 71–75 | 2+ | 66–70 | 2 | 61–65 | 2- | | 56–60 | 3+ | 51–55 | 3 | 46–50 | 3- | | 41–45 | 4+ | 36–40 | 4 | 30–35 | 4- | | 22–29 | 5 | 0–21 | 6 | | |

Downloads Link to heading

**Slide deck timing.** 90 minutes total (Doppelstunde). Lead-in 6 min · Activate 8 min · Input 25 min · Practise 15 min · Produce 30 min · Reflect 6 min.

Differentiation — support (below Niveau E).

Sentence frames to draft the Composition argument (fill the gaps, then keep writing):

  • Thesis: In this text, the writer argues that our attention has become a resource that companies compete to capture, and on the whole I find this claim ___.
  • Add evidence: One reason this matters is that ___; the writer shows this when they point to ___.
  • Concede, then push back (hedge): It could be argued that ___; however, this seems to overlook the fact that ___.
  • Conclusion: Taken together, these points suggest that ___, which is why readers should ___.

Extension (above Niveau E / Oberstufe).

Write a 300-word critical comparison that sets the writer’s account of the attention economy against one earlier warning about mass media (for example, Postman’s argument that entertainment reshapes public thought, or Huxley’s fear of a population distracted into passivity). Argue whether today’s attention markets represent a genuinely new mechanism or merely an old anxiety in digital dress, and defend your position using at least two cleft sentences, precise concessive markers, and evaluative rather than descriptive language throughout.

Common pitfalls Link to heading

  • Spending 70 min on Composition because it feels more creative — Mediation is 30 BE, not 18.
  • Carrying source language directly into Composition (plagiarism risk).
  • Dropping reporting-verb variety in Mediation under time pressure.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

  • Bildungsplan-aligned Klausur collections.
  • Goethe-Institut Sprachmittlungs-Beispielaufgaben Oberstufe.

Downloads

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