published_or_final_version / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>The purpose of this study was twofold. Firstly, this study sought to capture second semester language students’ auditory perception of German vowels. Secondly, this study sought to investigate the effectiveness of direct pronunciation instruction in enhancing learners’ perception and consequent production of German vowels. Vowels were selected to be analyzed in this study, as they are the nucleus of words (Derwing, Thomson, Foote, & Munro, 2012). Front rounded vowels in German were given particular attention, as they do not exist in English, and they frequently pose as a challenge for native English-speakers to learn (O’Brien & Fagan, 2016, Hall, 2003). </p> <p>This study was conducted at a large midwestern U.S. university. The project consisted of 47 participants which were divided into experimental and control groups. Throughout the duration of the study, students were administered a biographical survey, and a pre- and post-test which consisted of a listening identification exercise and speaking assessment. Participants in the test group were also offered a lesson on the German phonemic system as it relates to German vowels. Upon the completion of the study, the data analyzed did not yield any significant results. Students’ scores on the perception and production exercises taken from both the pre- and post-tests remained largely stagnant. This was true for the test scores taken from the experimental and control groups. Though the study outcomes did not produce the hypothesized results, they do underscore the need for long-term explicit pronunciation instruction in the language classroom. </p> <br> <p> </p>

Thesis. 1978. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND HUMANITIES. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 207-209. / Ph.D.

Abstract not available

Univ., Diss.--Hamburg, 2004.

Habilitationsschrift--Münster, 1970. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-236).

This dissertation investigates how four half hour viewings of an authentic German television serial over the course of one fourth semester intermediate course in German affect foreign language (FL) students' perceptions about German culture. In recent years, filmic media have become popular learning instruments. However, how they affect the attitudes of the FL learner about the lifestyles, behaviors, and characteristics of that FL culture has remained largely unexplored. This study triangulates questionnaires, classroom protocols, and assessment of student essays to see in what ways students' discuss and write about cultural differences and similarities at the onset of viewing and after the final viewing of a German video serial. Additionally, it investigates whether English or German language class discussions following student viewing of the program are more effective in fostering critical thinking about a foreign culture. Participants in this study were 69 students (24 female and 45 male) enrolled in four fourth-semester classes of the lower-division curriculum of the Germanic Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin. After reading biographies and related information about characters, all four classes watched four episodes of the popular German television program, Lindenstrabe, without subtitles. While all classes viewed and wrote about the television serial in German, two classes conducted post-viewing discussion activities in German and the other two classes in English. The investigator visited and took notes on all classes and provided instructors with guidelines to enable consistent approaches to relevant materials and assignments. The resulting data were analyzed using statistical (pre- and post-questionnaires) and qualitative analyses (student response papers and classroom protocols). Two central findings were identified: 1) Fourth-semester German students increased their ability to identify and critically discuss cultural issues and their related social implications when exposed to repeated viewings of the television serial Lindenstrabe and when reacting to the program and its content orally and in writing during in- and out-of-class assignments; 2) Students' gender and the language of the classroom discussions influenced the content and analytical style of students' on their essay analyses of the video. These and other findings are assessed in light of classroom variables, in conjunction with suggestions for future research, and implications of these findings for media use in FL classrooms. / text

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No abstract available

Zugl.: Sheffield, Univ., Diss. / Literaturverz. S. 91 - 102