Fremdsprachendidaktik inhalts- und lernerorientiert / Foreign Language Pedagogy - content- and learner-oriented – serie

In the last three decades the field of language teaching and learning has undergone a paradigm shift towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which has put an emphasis on meaningful interaction and implied an abrupt departure from an extensive study of learner errors. Although learners in CLT classes are expected to be competent, yet not perfectly accurate communicators, the impact of the CLT paradigm on learner errors has not been investigated thoroughly. This study examines the extent to which the CLT paradigm shift has left its mark on learner errors. Written production is analyzed and compared with learner data recorded in the early stages of the shift to CLT. The data reveal that while morphosyntactic errors have not undergone drastic changes, discourse organization and lexical skills have improved.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an established approach to support multilingualism in Europe by teaching various school subjects in an additional language. The practices used, however, vary considerably. Our book considers this diversity by looking at CLIL scenarios, defined as learning environments supporting content learning, language learning and skill development in task-based learning settings, with a strong focus on interaction in different curricular contexts (primary and secondary school and CLIL teacher education at university) and at various levels of proficiency (primary, secondary, tertiary). CLIL by Interaction is understood here both as negotiation of meaning and form as well as discourse to empower CLIL learners to participate in social interaction.

This work, concerned with the significance of literacy and multiliteracies in the 21st century, examines pedagogy from the perspective of Web 2.0 tools and the potential of social networks to improve the quality of learning. Drawing on five years research in German and Italian universities, the author investigates different scenarios in which technology can support the learning process. The focus is on online interaction and collaboration from the standpoint of Educational Technology. With this approach, key pedagogical issues are analysed in relation to theoretical models as well as to the specific learning context. The resulting LearnWeb2.0 Design Framework provides a systematic and up-to-date reference and guide for teachers, researchers and developers when discussing course design and learning supports.

The book introduces an innovative way of teaching grammatical language awareness via socio-cultural learning tasks (SCLTs). It takes a close look at task-supported teaching/learning and socio-cultural learning theory and how they are combined to develop challenging and motivating learning tasks. It also presents ways to implement SCLTs in heterogeneous EFL classrooms and evaluates the learning potential of SCLTs against the backdrop of a more traditional teaching and learning approach (PPP). Besides the illumination of the very promising concept of SCLTs, the applied qualitative and quantitative research methods hope to be a valuable contribution to SLA research.

In the last few years, global education has become a key concept within the TEFL domain, suggesting competences, topics, and methods that enable students to become responsible and knowledgeable participants in a globalized world. With the help of a triangulated blended learning study conducted in five different middle school EFL classes, and an additional small group study, the author investigates the potential of digital games that have an educational purpose, so called serious games, for global education when used in EFL scenarios. The results show a clear contribution of serious games to global education when used with EFL learners, leading to a reference model of digital game-based learning in the EFL classroom.

This book deals with reading authentic English picture books in the primary school EFL classroom in Germany. Questioning whether teachers and researchers underestimate young learners’ competences in English as a foreign language, the author conducted a mixed methods study that investigated Year 4 EFL learners’ reading of six different picture books. While focusing on the learners’ reading comprehension and reading strategies, the study also explored the possible effects of regular reading on foreign language development. The results of the study suggest a greater focus on meaningful reading tasks in the primary school EFL classroom to create a challenging, authentic and individualised learning environment for young learners of English.This study contains additional information as an appendix. You can download it here

Classroom observation has become a tool for analysing and improving English Language Teaching (ELT). This book represents the state of the art in language education and classroom interaction research from a data-driven empirical perspective. The micro-analytic, multimodal, and videographic approaches represented here understand classrooms as sites of complex, naturally occurring interaction. The volume demonstrates that the investigation of this communicative setting is the basis for insights into the inner workings of classrooms and the development of strategies for teacher education. The introductory article complements the volume by giving a comprehensive overview of the theories and methods that have come to bear in classroom observation.