Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: "e;Should learner errors be corrected? If so, when should learner errors be corrected? Which learner errors should be corrected? Who should correct learner errors? And how should learner errors be corrected?"e; (Hendrickson 1978, p. 389). This series of questions, raised by Hendrickson, frame the diverse decisions a teacher has to make within only few seconds in his/her daily teaching according to a learner's error. To explore special parts of this extensive topic more precisely and to find out what role teacher and learner play exactly in the treatment of oral errors should be the aim of the following investigation. First of all the theoretical concept of error and correction itself will be dealt with to make clear from which perspective the subject of oral error treatment in the L2 classroom will be considered. Then the paper will have a practical orientation to the L2 classroom: in this connection the focus will lie on answering one of the questions raised above namely Should learner errors be corrected? . With reference to this we try to find out on which factors the decision of correcting/not correcting students errors depends. Answering the question how learners errors should be corrected represents such a complex issue that it would be impossible to get a complete look at it in this research. Therefore recasts and elicitations, as special kinds of corrective feedback used in L2 classrooms, are considered in detail to get a deeper impact of possible ways students errors are treated in oral work. Simultaneously it should be found out if recasts/elicitations are effective examples of oral error treatment and whether there are differences in terms of the effectiveness according to the type of error that is made.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: The study of motivation to learn a L2 is a thoroughly discussed and researched subject in the field of L2 acquisition. Nevertheless questions like "e;What is motivation? How do humans get motivated? What specifies motivation in language learning?"e; (Nakata 2006, p. 23) are very difficult, maybe even impossible, to answer entirely. So the aim of the following investigation should not be to give a complete picture of research on L2 motivation but to explore special parts of this extensive topic more precisely and to find out what exactly a teacher can contribute to a motivational teaching in the L2 classroom. To show how to enhance students motivational intensity, it is necessary to know what motivation is. Therefore the complex theoretical concept of motivation itself will be dealt with at first in this paper. Furthermore there are various kinds of motivation which have been identified by researchers. Some of them will be presented in connection with their theoretical concepts and with reference to this it should be discussed if there is a type of motivation being most effective in terms of L2 learning. In a further step the factors of L2 motivation influencing the level of L2 learning motivation will be investigated in more detail. Having dealt with the nature of motivation itself and its factors the research will have a more practical orientation to the foreign language classroom. For that the point of view will be directed towards teachers and their possibilities of using motivational strategies and techniques in the foreign language classroom. The question how students motivation can be increased should be the issue to discuss in this place.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,7, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: Modernism is widely acknowledged as probably the most important and influential artistic-cultural phenomenon of the twentieth-century, whether it is considered primarily as a movement, a period, a genre, a style or an ideology (cf. Poplawski 2003, p. 5). In order to find out what is so special about the literary period between 1901 and 1939 extra-literary developments and contexts as well as thematic and formal innovations according to modernism will be considered at first in this paper. Afterwards the modernist short story, as an important invention of modernist writers, and its main characteristics and features are of interest. In this respect some writers of the modernist era, such as Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Sherwood Anderson etc., and some of their short stories will be considered to get a completed picture of the topic. Katherine Mansfield, one of the great Modernist innovators of twentieth-century English literature, plays a central role in this regard. After a biographical overview her contribution to the invention of the short story with special interest to characteristic features of her way of writing will be presented. Finally, the aim should be to explore how one of Katherine Mansfield s last short stories The Fly can be used for English language teaching. At first a short plot summary and various kinds of interpretations are given to get at the real meaning of the story. Then a concrete example of classroom treatment, including a worksheet, will be dealt with. This worksheet gives attention to text gaps, which can be found within the short story, in the way that they can be seen as adjunctive structures and can be used for text work in groups.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: "e;Should learner errors be corrected? If so, when should learner errors be corrected? Which learner errors should be corrected? Who should correct learner errors? And how should learner errors be corrected?"e; (Hendrickson 1978, p. 389). This series of questions, raised by Hendrickson, frame the diverse decisions a teacher has to make within only few seconds in his/her daily teaching according to a learner's error. To explore special parts of this extensive topic more precisely and to find out what role teacher and learner play exactly in the treatment of oral errors should be the aim of the following investigation. First of all the theoretical concept of error and correction itself will be dealt with to make clear from which perspective the subject of oral error treatment in the L2 classroom will be considered. Then the paper will have a practical orientation to the L2 classroom: in this connection the focus will lie on answering one of the questions raised above namely Should learner errors be corrected? . With reference to this we try to find out on which factors the decision of correcting/not correcting students errors depends. Answering the question how learners errors should be corrected represents such a complex issue that it would be impossible to get a complete look at it in this research. Therefore recasts and elicitations, as special kinds of corrective feedback used in L2 classrooms, are considered in detail to get a deeper impact of possible ways students errors are treated in oral work. Simultaneously it should be found out if recasts/elicitations are effective examples of oral error treatment and whether there are differences in terms of the effectiveness according to the type of error that is made.

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 2,0, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: The study of motivation to learn a L2 is a thoroughly discussed and researched subject in the field of L2 acquisition. Nevertheless questions like "e;What is motivation? How do humans get motivated? What specifies motivation in language learning?"e; (Nakata 2006, p. 23) are very difficult, maybe even impossible, to answer entirely. So the aim of the following investigation should not be to give a complete picture of research on L2 motivation but to explore special parts of this extensive topic more precisely and to find out what exactly a teacher can contribute to a motivational teaching in the L2 classroom. To show how to enhance students motivational intensity, it is necessary to know what motivation is. Therefore the complex theoretical concept of motivation itself will be dealt with at first in this paper. Furthermore there are various kinds of motivation which have been identified by researchers. Some of them will be presented in connection with their theoretical concepts and with reference to this it should be discussed if there is a type of motivation being most effective in terms of L2 learning. In a further step the factors of L2 motivation influencing the level of L2 learning motivation will be investigated in more detail. Having dealt with the nature of motivation itself and its factors the research will have a more practical orientation to the foreign language classroom. For that the point of view will be directed towards teachers and their possibilities of using motivational strategies and techniques in the foreign language classroom. The question how students motivation can be increased should be the issue to discuss in this place.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,7, University of Cologne, language: English, abstract: Modernism is widely acknowledged as probably the most important and influential artistic-cultural phenomenon of the twentieth-century, whether it is considered primarily as a movement, a period, a genre, a style or an ideology (cf. Poplawski 2003, p. 5). In order to find out what is so special about the literary period between 1901 and 1939 extra-literary developments and contexts as well as thematic and formal innovations according to modernism will be considered at first in this paper. Afterwards the modernist short story, as an important invention of modernist writers, and its main characteristics and features are of interest. In this respect some writers of the modernist era, such as Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, Sherwood Anderson etc., and some of their short stories will be considered to get a completed picture of the topic. Katherine Mansfield, one of the great Modernist innovators of twentieth-century English literature, plays a central role in this regard. After a biographical overview her contribution to the invention of the short story with special interest to characteristic features of her way of writing will be presented. Finally, the aim should be to explore how one of Katherine Mansfield s last short stories The Fly can be used for English language teaching. At first a short plot summary and various kinds of interpretations are given to get at the real meaning of the story. Then a concrete example of classroom treatment, including a worksheet, will be dealt with. This worksheet gives attention to text gaps, which can be found within the short story, in the way that they can be seen as adjunctive structures and can be used for text work in groups.