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FTCE German K-12 Test

The FTCE German K-12 Exam is divided into two subtests. The first subtest is the oral interview component, which assesses your verbal skills. The second subtest assesses your listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as your knowledge of German culture, grammar, and the skills that you need to teach German. The sections in the second subtest may be completed in any order.

The FTCE German K-12 Exam encompasses ten core competencies, and each includes between one to 18 skill areas. Content specialists have determined that these competencies, or areas of content knowledge and skills, are important for beginning German teachers. Each core competency is assigned a percentage, and this represents the proportion of competency items to the total number of items on the exam.

Oral Interview
The oral interview of the FTCE German K-12 Exam assesses your German speaking skills, including pronunciation and grammar. This subtest should take approximately 20 minutes to complete and will be recorded for later evaluation by trained raters.

The interviewer will ask several types of questions that are designed to test daily communication and will include short scenarios about everyday situations. A guided conversation, designed at the intermediate-high level, will also occur and be about a single topic.

You may ask the interviewer to clarify or repeat information. Communication in languages other than German will result in a lower score. No partial or extra credit will be given, as this component is pass/fail.

For the second subtest of the FTCE German K-12 Exam, candidates will receive both a test booklet and an answer booklet. The answer booklet includes an answer sheet for responding to the multiple-choice questions and lined paper for the essay section.

Listening/Receptive Skills Section
This section assesses your comprehension of spoken German. You will listen to recorded passages; each passage is up to three minutes long. These recorded passages will use either formal or informal German and will cover a wide range of familiar topics, including news items, lectures, or reports.

After each passage, between two to four recorded questions will be presented. The recorded passages and questions will then be played a second time.

The recorded passages and questions will not appear on your test booklet; however, the answer multiple-choice options will be there, written in German.

Multiple-Choice Section
You will respond to multiple-choice questions that cover reading comprehension and vocabulary, language structures and linguistics, culture, and pedagogy.

Essay Portion
This section of the FTCE German K-12 Exam counts for 20% of the score for the second subtest. You will write two short letters or passages in German while presenting personal preferences, opinions, needs, and observations. Additional information will be given in English or German, and one of the writing prompts will have an accompanying graphic.

The writing samples need to demonstrate your ability to meet most practical writing needs and provide a satisfactory classroom model of written German for students.

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