5 | I use our OER lesson, constructed around the music video advertisement text "Is mir egal" (It's all the same to me), in a first semester German language class at the University of Texas at Austin. The video illustrates a hip hop song, featuring a Turkish German rapper, to advertise for the Berlin transit operator, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, or BVG. The goal of the OER lesson is to teach about grammar, rhythm, transportation, modern German urban life, advertising, pluralism, and tolerance using everyday language. Students really enjoy the lesson on a number of levels, but perhaps the most successful element is the follow-up assignment. Students are asked to compose their own verses of the song in reference to their everyday lives and city. They are thus given the opportunity to connect the meaning of the original video to the political climate of Austin and the university. The result is typically a range of views from across the political spectrum, expressing a desire for greater tolerance and acceptance. At the same time, students, perhaps without always recognizing it, are able to connect the language they use to the meaning of their texts, focusing on rhyme, meter, stress, prosody, as well as vocabulary, style, and meaning. They also love the humorous music. |
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