| Abstrakt: |
For many years research in foreign language education focused primarily on learning goals and processes, on learner individuality and competences. This volume redresses the balance by concentrating on teachers and teaching. After all, teachers are responsible for creating learning situations, for setting tasks and establishing an atmosphere conducive to language learning motivation and language acquisition. Teachers are remembered in one way or another. The nineteen contributions to the volume are grouped in three sections. In her initial essay Friederike Klippel reflects on the pivotal role of language teachers as innovators for the development of both the school subject and the academic discipline starting with the eighteenth century. Section 1 looks at language teachers today covering the following aspects: recent research on language teachers (Daniela Caspari, Frank G. Königs), language teacher cognition and knowledge (Joachim Appel), teacher authenticity (Leo Will). The second section deals with a range of issues in language teacher education and professional development, in particular the pertinent question regarding the desirable relation between theory and practice in pre-service teacher education (Johann Aßbeck), the need for engaging students in inquiry-based courses (Michael K. Legutke) and reflective practice (Manuela Wipperfürth), and, finally, the particular challenges of fostering language awareness in teachers (Theresa Birnbaum, Juana Kupke, Karen Schramm) and creating tasks which work in different local settings of teacher development courses for German as a foreign language (Dietmar Rösler). The largest section covers methods and contents of teaching. Again, the focus lies on those aspects which have largely been ignored in recent research, although they have substantial impact on practical teaching and should therefore receive much more attention. The first of these "forgotten" issues is lesson planning (Elisabeth Kolb), the second is homework (Christiane Lütge). Even something as essential as the teaching of grammar (Engelbert Thaler) or the choice of literary texts to be read with advanced learners and the possible existence of a "hidden" canon (Petra Kirchhoff) have not received much attention. Further topics include the benefits of using portable electronic dictionaries in class (Bärber Diehr), using museums as language learning contexts (Jutta Rymarczyk) and providing citizenship education through intercultural service learning (Petra Rauschert). In her historical vignette Marlis Schleich shows that foreign language recitations by professional actors were organised to complement school teaching in modern languages as early as 110 years ago. The development of intercultural awareness in the Australian tertiary context (Sue Lubbers) points at teacher responsibilities in a changing world. The contributions do not only reflect a wide range of topics but also of research approaches: historical, conceptual and empirical studies are represented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
