Techn. Hochsch., Diss.--Aachen, 2000.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Darmstadt.

This study examines if and how the use of writing process and peer review can be beneficial to the text quality when writing a short essay in a foreign language. The study focuses on a group of Swedish high school students, 17 and 18 years of age, studying their second foreign language, German, with no prior experience of working with peer review in any subject. To investigate the efficiency of the use of writing process and peer review, four research questions were formulated:   1   To what extent does peer review lead to an improvement of the text quality?      a)  What comments to the texts do the students give during the group discussion?      b)  What do the students change in their own text after the group discussion?      c)  What are the students’ attitudes toward the work with peer review?   In order to understand how the students worked with the comments and how it affected the text quality, the conversations were compared with the actual changes made between the two text versions. The comments were mostly very polite. Even when the students criticized, they tried to give feedback very gently. All texts were improved after the peer review, although most of the errors from the first draft were still present in the second version. After the writing of the second draft, the students took a survey, where they were able to express their views on various aspects of the project. The students were mostly positive to this way of working with texts, although some of them found that they did not know enough German yet. Nevertheless, most of them wanted to try it again, to see their own progress.

In this study, pupils’ use of digital tools for learning vocabulary is compared to the use of a traditional way of learning vocabulary from a list in a book. The goal of the study is to find out if digital tools are more efficient than using vocabulary lists, when learning new words. Furthermore, this study investigates how the use of words in a context affects learning. The 40 pupils who took part in this study are learning German in the ninth grade in two different schools in the southern part of Sweden. Three vocabulary tests were conducted within four weeks. During the experiment the pupils were divided into two groups, where one used digital learning tools and the other ordinary vocabulary lists. The results in the first test did not differ much between the groups. The second test on the other hand shows a difference where many in the digital group got better results whereas several in the traditional group got lower results. In the third test both groups showed better results in the vocabulary test. The conclusion of this study is that there is no big difference between the use of digital learning tools and a traditional vocabulary list when it comes to learning new words. However, the use of words in sentences was seen to have an effect on the words that pupils remembered best. In this study, the pupils were also asked to fill in a questionnaire. This study also shows that a combination of traditional and digital learning is preferred by the pupils.

In dieser Arbeit geht es um die Frage, ob deutschlernende SchülerInnen einer Grundschule in Schweden in der Lage sind, einen Humoristen wie Loriot hinsichtlich auf seinen Witz und seine Situationskomik zu verstehen, und ob man den deutschen Humor nicht in den Fremdsprachenunterricht einbinden könnte. Durch das Zeigen von Loriots Clip Die Nudel sollten die SchülerInnen in das Thema Humor Einblick erhalten und später nach Erarbeitung diverser Fragen und Interpretationen selbst einen weiteren Clip Ins Essen gequatscht kreativ umsetzen und nachspielen. Diese Arbeit möchte eine Alternative für andere LehrerInnen zum herkömmlichen Unterricht aufzeigen und als eine Art Leitfaden bzw. Unterrichtsvorschlag fungieren. Auch wenn das Ergebnis dieser Untersuchung zeigt, dass Loriots Humor nicht dem der SchülerInnen entspricht, so ist diese alternative Unterrichtsform dennoch für eine 9. Klasse empfehlenswert, da sie den LehrerInnen und SchülerInnen einen anderen Zugang zur deutschen Sprache und zueinander eröffnet und am Ende doch der Humor entfaltet wird und überwiegt.

This study aimed at determining whether the use of indigenous techniques of communication can have a positive impact on the motivation of the learner of English as a foreign language in Cameroon. By indigenous techniques of communication we mean techniques like role-play, songs, the telling of folktales, riddles and proverbs. This work is intended as a contribution to the search for improvement of student motivation and enthusiasm, whereby they can be more responsive as they participate spontaneously in learning English as a foreign language. Some writers agree that it is beneficial to learn a foreign language using the material that the learners are familiar with (Lado 1964, Gee 1987, Post and Rathet 1996). The telling of folktales, role-play, songs, and the use of riddles and proverbs are found in all societies and every indigenous society uses them in teaching in one way or the other. Most foreign language learners are familiar with them. Their abundance in the Cameroonian society presents an excellent opportunity for foreign language teaching/learning. My interest in this research has been substantially influenced by my experience of working for almost a decade with learners of English as a foreign language in Francophone secondary/high schools in Cameroon. This work led me to the realization that students respond to English language teaching with very little motivation and enthusiasm. They make little or no progress in learning the language, much less in communicating in it. One of the major questions I have often asked myself is why Francophone students find English language learning boring and what could be done to solve the problem of teaching English to these students. I have tried on a number of occasions to tell folktales or teach a song in class when I found the students were bored with the lessons and discovered that the students immediately became alert. Their alertness was probably not for the direct purpose of making any linguistic gain but for the sheer entertainment of listening to a story or taking part in the singing, all of which they seemed to enjoy. Based on this positive change in the students, it was hypothesized that the introduction of some indigenous techniques of communication in the foreign language classroom might help improve its learning. The results from this study indicate that the recommendations for the use of these techniques in language teaching will help improve on the present negative attitude of foreign language learners. This study is significant to foreign language teaching/learning in all developing countries but most especially to the Cameroonian educational system where the study was carried out. Its relevance is due to the fact that most of the facilities that are presently used for the teaching of foreign languages in advanced countries are absent in developing countries. To help improve on the enthusiasm of the learner of a foreign language therefore, educational planners should resort to the use of indigenous techniques, which this study has found out could be very helpful in any foreign language classroom if properly applied. / Es ist allgemein anerkannt, dass es für Schüler, die eine Fremdsprache erlernen sollen, von Vorteil ist, wenn ihnen vertrautes Material im Unterricht verwendet wird (Lado 1964, Post und Rathet 1996). Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist deshalb, die positive Wirkung von indigenen Kommunikationsstrategien und –techniken auf die Lernermotivation kamerunische Schülern und Schülerinnen zu ermitteln, welche Englisch als Fremdsprache erwerben. Unter indigenen Kommunikationstechniken verstehen wir Rollenspiele, Lieder, das Erzählen von Märchen, Rätseln und Sprichwörtern. Die vorliegende Studie soll einen Beitrag bei der Suche nach Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten von Schülermotivation und Enthusiasmus leisten und dazu beitragen, das Schülerinteresse durch spontanes, teilnehmendes Erlernen zu wecken.

Zugl.: Eichstätt, Ingolstadt, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Regensburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2006.

This study aims to investigate when and how much German as well as Swedish is spoken by teachers and pupils in two high school classes. On top of that, the study includes both the teachers´and pupils´attitudes towards the usage of the languages in their German lessons. To answer this, observations during lessons were made and both online surveys to teachers and group interviews with a handful of pupils were constructed. The information gathered was later analyzed with a qualitative content analysis. What could be observed was that both Swedish and German were spoken by teachers, but for different parts of the lesson. They spoke Swedish for example when teaching grammar and clarifying instructions, but German when they asked simple questions or talked about texts during the lesson. The students on the other hand mostly spoke Swedish with each other and sometimes even when asking questions to the teacher. However, when the teacher made clear that they were supposed to speak German, they did. Most of the teachers and pupils would prefer a mix between German and Swedish in their classroom because they saw benefits with both languages in use. For example the fact that Swedish could be used to easily clarify lesson content and German could be used for the pupils to both practice speaking and hearing German.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis aims to make a contribution to the field of literature study in foreign language teaching. It investigates the practical implications of theories such as Michael Dobstadt‟s Didaktik der Literarizität and Claire Kramsch‟s symbolic competence. It specifically looks at how these approaches to literature can be implemented in the elementary levels (A1 and A2) of foreign language teaching. Furthermore, the range of possibilities that mobile phones offer for the foreign language learning environment are explored. Suggestions are proffered as to how the inclusion of mobile phones, as educational tools, can support the successful implementation of Dobstadt and Kramsch‟s theories in the foreign language classroom. On the basis of the theory, two sets of lesson plans are developed for high school beginner level German classes in South Africa; the lesson plans serve as examples of how the theories of Dobstadt and Kramsch can, on beginner level and in conjunction with the use of mobile phones, be implemented in practice. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis poog om ʼn bydrae te maak tot die literatuur van vreemdetaal-onderrig. Die praktiese implikasies van teorieë soos dié van Michael Dobstadt se Didaktik der Literarizität en Claire Kramsch se symbolic competence word ondersoek. Daar word spesifiek gekyk na hoe sulke benaderings tot literatuur op beginnervlak (A1 en A2) van vreemdetaal-onderrig geïmplementeer kan word. Verder word die trefwydte van moontlikhede wat selfone vir vreemdetaal-onderrig bied, ondersoek. Voorstelle word gemaak oor hoe die gebruik va n selfone, as opvoedkundige hulpmiddels, die implementering van Dobstadt en Kramsch se teorieë in die vreemdetaal-klaskamer kan ondersteun. Vanuit „n teoretiese uitgangspunt word twee stelle lesplanne vir Duitse klasse op hoërskool-beginnervlak in Suid-Afrika ontwikkel as voorbeelde van hoe die teorieë van Dobstadt en Kramsch, op beginnervlak en in samewerking met die gebruik van selfone, in die praktyk geïmplementeer kan word.