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Research into the acquisition of L2 German word order has provided strong evidence for a sequence of incremental stages of development. Studies of the acquisition of German verb morphology so far have focused on establishing a correlation between the acquisition of word order and of verb morphology, neglecting the question how verb morphology per se is acquired. This article discusses the latter question on the basis of a qualitative analysis of longitudinal written data produced by 15 anglophone university students. It confirms some of the results of earlier studies involving tutored learners of German, such as Pienemann (1987) and Diehl et al. (2000), and provides evidence for a sequence of acquisition, as well as for a more holistic development for certain verb classes. Although most of the subjects produce perfect tense before preterite, the article suggests that teaching the preterite before the perfect tense may be feasible. It also draws attention to the importance of morphosyntactic features affecting subject-verb agreement, and calls for more research in that area. (Contains 5 tables.)

This article reports on a cultural studies course about Switzerland conducted within the German Studies program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2005. It discusses the pluricentric concept of "Landeskunde" of the German-speaking region which informed the design of the course seminars and presents the main themes which were explored with reference to seven prose texts by contemporary Swiss authors.

Teachers like to believe that students learn what they are taught. Following up on research that questions this belief, a large-scale study of the acquisition of German as a foreign language by French-speaking school students in Geneva (DiGS, or "Deutsch in Genfer Schulen," "German in Geneva schools") further explored the question with some significant new results that could benefit foreign language teaching generally. In an exemplary collaboration between researchers and teachers, the project team focused on grammar and compared what students were taught (according to the school curriculum) with what they used productively. The results of the project showed not merely major differences between teaching and learning, but also the different ways in which the learners carved their own paths. In continuing collaboration with teachers, the project team complemented its findings by developing practical proposals for curriculum change that are currently being implemented in Geneva schools. As the outcomes of the project, published in Diehl et al. (2000), are not well known outside Europe, this article endeavours to present and discuss them and thus make them available to Australian teachers of German and languages other than English in general. (Contains 1 table.)

Background and Aims: The study explores the diversity in sensory characteristics of Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Australia and analyses the relationship between sensory attributes and wine composition. Methods and Results: Descriptive sensory analysis was conducted by eighteen panelists who rated the intensity of 16 aroma attributes and four taste attributes. Sensory results indicated that 15 of the 20 sensory attributes assessed were significantly different among the wines assessed. The primary differentiation was between wines that were fruity and those that exhibited vegetal and herbaceous characteristics. A recently developed analytical method (headspace solid-phase microextraction comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry) was used to analyse over 350 volatile compounds in the wines assessed. Other measures of the major non-volatile components including ethanol, phenolics, acids and sugars were also determined. Compositional results were used to predict each sensory attribute using partial least squares regression and showed that each sensory attribute could be well explained by the compositional results. Conclusions: The results of this study further demonstrate that the sensory perception of wine is complex and involves the interaction of both volatile and non-volatile components. The use of a recently developed analytical technique allows the researcher greater capacity to explore complex relationships between wine sensory characteristics and wine composition. Significance of the Study: The study increases the understanding of commercial wine composition and identifies a number of candidate components that are correlated with sensory attributes of Cabernet Sauvignon wines from Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed: This review of injury articles describes how selected primary print media sources in Australia report injury events and explores how this may impact on public perception of the injury risk and the opportunities it may present to health professionals., Methods: Media articles specific to injury, compiled by the Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia (PHAIWA) through their MediaWatch service during 2011, were collated and analysed. Articles were gathered from The West Australian, The Australian and The Sunday Times newspapers and ABC Online. Each article was categorised into injury topics and target groups, and preventive strategies were identified., Results: Of the 546 articles that contained injury as a key word, 424 articles were used for the present study. The majority of articles related to community-based injuries (65%) and the most frequent reported injury was violence and assault. The results also indicate that although there is regular media reporting on injury issues, only one-fifth of reports discuss possible preventive measures., Conclusions: Selected Australian newspapers and the ABC Online are important and low-cost sources of injury-related information for the general public and can impact how the public perceives injury. It is important for public health professionals to embrace media advocacy strategies to assist in influencing and setting local public policy. So what? Public attitudes and understanding of issues are influenced by media coverage. Media monitoring is one tool to track what media sources are reporting about public health issues, the industry and stakeholders. Influencing the quantity and quality of media coverage is critical to advancing healthy public policy, particularly when advocating for prevention strategies to be reported and acted upon. Advocacy is an important health promotion strategy; it is therefore important for health professionals to understand media advocacy and position public health issues as societal issues with policy solutions.