Just an overview over the course

  • Primary illiterates
    There, people that have never learned to read or write nor have gone to any sort of school for a few years and therefore hadn’t been able to acquire any sort of competence neither in reading nor writing are addressed.
  • Functional illiterates
    Functional illiterates refers to people who are functionally able to read and write but can’t completely fulfil the conditions society puts on them. Within the context of migration this means that the capabilities concerning language acquired in their home country isn’t sufficient in their new cultural environment.
  • Learners of a second written language
    People who have been trained in a non-Latin oriented language can’t possibly be called an alphabet. Here, we talk about more or less trained people with working literary skills in other languages, but not are not at all – or are only very little – familiarized with the Latin script of writing. This group of people exists within the context of migration. Within this context, we talk about re-learners of literary skills. In recent publication the term re-an alphabet is substituted by learners of a second written language.

 

Junge Dame im Büro

Migrants can take this course because they have a lack of or non-sufficient knowledge of read-and-write competence.

Test of classification
Whether taking part in such a course is necessary will be tested by an initial talk on competence within the framework of getting into the courses of integration.

Lessons per week
Maximum number of lessons per week are 25, whereby one teaching lesson always lasts for
45 minutes.
Just like with every integration course, several course modules that are linked together in a rising order will be performed witin a range of 100 teaching units each.

Alpha-courses consist of three parts

  • Basic-alpha-course with 300 lessons
  • Build-up-alpha-course A 300 lessons
  • Build-up-alpha-course B 300 lessons

The course can be continued with a further 300 units called

  • Build-up-alpha C with 300 more lessons to be taught.

After that, which normally means after 1200 teaching units, the

  • Course of orientation with 100 teaching units will follow.

For practical reasons, the common re- an alphabetising of all the partaking member of alpha-courses (primary, functional, learners of a second language) is being preferred.

Number of course members
Because of the experiences we have made so far with alpha-courses with male and female migrants and under consideration of our experience with German functional an alphabets, we think the number of course members of 16 shouldn’t be exceeded. Members of a course of integration including teaching literary skills can be divided between members by their knowledge of read-and-write, speaking and their life-situation. We recognize a link between the biography of learning and the read-and-write knowledge. A person who has gone to school is clearly to be differentiated from a person who has never seen a school from inside. The speaking capabilities of the partakers vary a lot. Sometimes, there is hardly any knowledge of grammar existing.

Who can take part in this course?
On the one side, there are people who have never seen a school from inside, don’t have any experience about holding a pencil, and, at the same time don’t have any knowledge of German and only have a very small sort of experience about their own way of how to learn their mother tongue. On the other side of the box, ideally, there are functional an alphabets that have gone to school for several years, have been taught literary skills, but in a non-Latin script-system. (Learners of a second written language).

Final exam
After having reached the proposed amount of teaching lessons, the members of the course sit a final exam. The level of getting a language certificate A2-B1 should be successfully passed according to the common European standard (EFR: Common European Framework of Reference), together with the DTZ (Deutsch Test für Zuwanderer) with in English means ‘Exam for German as a second language for migrants’. Continued by the orientation test a republic-wide test will be performed concerning the items ‘Politics in Democracy’, ‘History and Responsibility’ and ‘People within society’.