PunktUm

In order for international staff (in science / technology and administration) to have a successful stay at Bielefeld University, an appropriate German learning programme is required in addition to professional and organisational integration. An overview of the courses offered by the German language centre PunktUm can be found here.
In addition, individual lessons tailored to your specific needs are also possible. If you are interested, please contact Andrea Didier: punktum@uni-bielefeld.de

As teaching staff, we also support you with individualised subject and communication-specific German lessons. We focus on the linguistic preparation and follow-up of your courses, office hours or similar. If you are interested, please contact Andrea Didier: punktum@uni-bielefeld.de

In order for a study visit for international students, graduates and visiting academics to be successful, an appropriate range of subject and communication-specific German courses is required in addition to subject-specific support. An overview of the existing German courses offered by PunktUm can be found here.
Customised courses are also available - if you are interested, please contact Heike Brandl. You can also find more information on this at

Planning German learning programmes (interdisciplinary and subject-specific)

An increasing number of subjects are concluding co-operation agreements with foreign universities. As a result, foreign students come to the university for a limited period of time, who are exempt from the compulsory language test before starting a degree programme and who complete their studies (at least partially) in German.

This group of students requires specific support in acquiring the German language of study and academic language. The staff of the PunktUm project offer conceptual advice on the planning and financing of German learning programmes during the planning phase.

The following example shows what a subject- and group-specific programme looks like: The DaF department is planning a cooperation with a Malaysian university. A group of selected students are to be trained in the German as a foreign language (DaF) bachelor courses. PunktUm has developed the following language support programme in close cooperation with the DaF department, the general aim of which is to support Malaysian students in coping with the language requirements of their studies so that they can successfully complete their Bachelor's degree within the standard period of study of 6 semesters.

The programme provides students with the following support

• are successively introduced to successfully completing their coursework in close connection with the specialised seminars,
• prepare them specifically for the associated language requirements,
• accompanied during the preparation of all coursework and supported with any questions that arise.

Students are taught skills in the following areas in particular:

• Reception of specialised texts, systematic vocabulary expansion
• Preparation processes for coursework, preparation for oral and written examinations
• scientific textual norms
• cultural differences in academic styles
• Self-study strategies

Students are supported by a language tutor throughout their stay. The language teacher is funded by the sending institution.

Contact person: Heike Brandl

 

Organisation and implementation of German courses for international students in English-language degree programmes and contexts

In recent years, PunktUm has already developed an interdisciplinary programme for those graduates and visiting academics who communicate in English at the university. Basic German language skills are taught to facilitate orientation and communication at the university and in everyday life.

Please also take a look at our range of German courses

Contact: Heike Brandl

 

Implementation and organisation of interdisciplinary and subject-specific courses

In everyday university life, teaching staff often observe that foreign students make little contribution in seminars or submit written work with language deficiencies. In order to counteract this, the staff of the PunktUm project have developed a comprehensive programme of German language courses to accompany their studies over the past few years. Since the winter semester 05/06, this has been differentiated according to study phases.

You can find an overview here:

BA
MA
Doctoral students
Law
Economics

We are happy to present our programmes at specialist meetings, also to discuss how the situation of international students in your faculty or subject can be further improved. We are also happy to combine specialised events with PunktUm offers or to consider together with you how the subject-specific language skills of international students can be promoted so that they can successfully complete their studies at our university in a reasonable amount of time.

Contact: Heike Brandl

 

Offers for other universities and institutions

The internationalisation of German universities has become increasingly important in recent years, and the number of foreign students coming from abroad to study at German universities has risen significantly.

But do foreign students always know exactly what academic achievements are expected of them at a German university? Does a Chinese student understand academic work in the same way as a German professor? Is it always clear to a Polish student what is meant by "discussion of results"? Does a diploma student from Cameroon know exactly what he is supposed to understand by the "research question" and the research interest? Academic styles and traditions differ. What is correct in the home country is not necessarily always good in Germany. In addition, there are language barriers and intercultural differences that sometimes make it difficult for international students to carry out academic work in a German academic context.

Our programme at Bielefeld University offers you a first insight into our work, which we have also made available to other universities and institutions in the past.

In recent years, PunktUm has organised teacher training courses and events on writing didactics and academic writing in a foreign language for the following institutions in Germany and abroad, among others:

• Ruhr University Bochum
• Körber Foundation Hamburg
• Scholarship programme of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Berlin
• Language Teaching Centre University of Bonn
• International DAAD Academy (IDA)
• Language Centre of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster e.V.
• University of Rzeszów (Poland)
• DAAD London (Great Britain)
• Università degli Studi di Torino (Italy) - Facoltà die Lingue e letterature straniere
• St. Petersburg State University (Russia)
• German College at Tongji University Shanghai (China)
• VDZ at the TU Hanoi (Vietnam) in cooperation with the DAAD
• Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (German Department) in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Hong Kong (China)

Contact person: Heike Brandl