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Incorporating Critical Thinking and Authenticity into Business German Testing
Author(s) -
EGBERT MARIA,
MAXIM HIRAM
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.1998.tb02589.x
Subject(s) - german , critical thinking , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , pedagogy
For some time, foreign language proficiency theoreticians and practitioners as well as executives in international business have identified critical thinking as an essential skill. Despite this demand, the leading world‐wide examinations for assessing oral and written communicative competence in Business German, the Prüfung Wirtschaftsdeutsch International [International Business German Examination] (PWD) and the Zertifikat Deutsch für den Beruf [German Certificate for Professional Purposes] (ZDfB), test only students' information retrieval skills and fail to assess their critical thinking abilities. This article proposes to integrate critical thinking and problem solving into the exams and to contextualize the tests' tasks in a more authentic business setting without compromising the PWD's and ZDfB's content. These proposals should then be researched using qualitative as well as statistical methods in order to develop a stronger test. For each component of these exams, this article offers ways to include an assessment of the students' ability to reflect on, analyze, and critically evaluate business information. Parallels are drawn to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Given the enormous influence of the PWD and the ZDfB on Business German curricula worldwide, these improvements will contribute to a more realistic preparation of Business German learners for their successful participation in the global marketplace.