Towards an authentic (German) language classroom
The 3-year project ‘Towards an authentic (German) language classroom’ has been made possible through the DAAD-programme ‘Promoting German Studies in the UK and Ireland’ and is funded by the German Foreign Office. It comes in response to the declining numbers of learners of German in particular and Modern Languages more generally, at secondary as well as tertiary level across the UK. It builds on the PI investigator’s previous DAAD-funded project, ‘Teaching German in a Transcultural World’.
The project is situated in the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music, together with the Institute for German and European Studies.
It is led by:
- Dr Ruth Whittle, Associate Professor in German, University of Birmingham, Principal investigator
- Dr Regina Seiwald, Deputy Director Languages for All, University of Birmingham, Co-Investigator
Our project partners are:
- Dr Ulrike Bavendiek, Director of the Centre for Teaching Excellence in Language Learning , University of Liverpool
- Sandra Reisenleutner, Assistant Professor, Modern Languages, University of Nottingham
- Dr Katharina Hirt, Universität Koblenz (Germany)
- Michelle Bebbon, M.Ed, Skills Academy (IKARUS) Universität Koblenz (Germany)
Project overview
We understand ‘authenticity’ to be key for eliciting interest in language learning and the study of languages and cultures at Secondary and Tertiary level – in a degree part of which is ‘German Studies’.
Through this project, we aim to:
- deepen and increase our understanding of what ‘authentic’ means;
- build a network of HE institutions to research how ‘authenticity’ can be implemented in language teaching practice; run surveys in several partner institutions on what has been identified as best practice and how it was identified;
- develop materials for schools which network partners deliver to schools with whom they work, thus strengthening links between universities and schools in the respective region;
- encourage schools either to build new or strengthen existing networks, also but not solely by working with NCLE Hub schools;
- provide effective teaching resources online to teachers in order to support the production of engaging teaching material.
The project has two technical aspects:
- To promote hybrid teaching (asynchronous online and face to face) as an empowering means of learning German (as well as other languages) rather than as a cost-cutting exercise. Examples of how this promotes the authentic classroom include animated, interactive tools for practicing grammar structures, and facilities to host student blogs and podcasts created by learners individually or collaboratively.
- To design and build a website with resources alongside pedagogical guidance on their use. This will be accessible to all participants and after the project it can be managed by the hub leads, with input from teachers and academics.
Workshop 1: Authenticity in the (German) language classroom and the role of digital tools
- 26 February 2025, 13.30 - 17.00 (GMT)
- on Zoom
- For teachers of all languages in HE, FE and in schools, teachers-to-be and language students
What will Workshop 1 be about?
In this first workshop in a sequence of about 6 over the course of 30 months we want to get to know teachers in HE and Secondary Schools who are using digital tools in (German) language teaching. Have those tools replaced (some) face-to-face teaching?
- If you use those tool, how do you use them?
- Did you or your team develop those tools or did you buy them in?
- What do you see as significant assets / hurdles?
- Do these tools promote ‘authenticity’? If so, how do they do that?
- Are these tools promoting student uptake when it comes to choosing a modern language at GCSE or A-Level? And if so, how?
- Are these tools promoting skills beyond learning a language that other means of teaching achieve less well / as well?
Are you keen to share your experience? If so, we would like to invite you to contribute a 10-minute presentation (not including discussion). Please send an abstract of 150 words and bibliography to r.whittle@bham.ac.uk and r.seiwald@bham.ac.uk by Friday 10 January 2025.
Contributions are welcome in both English and German.
If you just want to just participate for now, that’s also fine, of course.
What you will gain
Get to know our project team, find out how you could benefit from our project for increasing uptake of modern languages where you teach, and work together with other educational providers to develop your understanding of ‘best practice’ as well as make economies of scale through sharing provision.
Interested? Please drop us an email now and let us know so that we are able to send you the registration form and the programme once they are available: r.whittle@bham.ac.uk; r.seiwald@bham.ac.uk.