Developing Communication and Transcultural Skills: Steps to Enhance First-Year Language Learning and Graduate Teacher Training

Grant recipient: Emma Betz, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies
Project team: Emma Betz and Sara Ghaffarian*, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies
*Graduate Student Research Assistant

(Completed. Project Timeline: September 2013 - August 2014)

Project Description

Photo of Emma Betz and Sara Ghaffarian

Adult language learners generally struggle with adjusting their second language use to different social contexts. However, acquisition of a speech community’s discourse patterns (pragmatics) can be facilitated through explicit instruction. A recent methodological shift suggests that learners can simultaneously acquire authentic pragmatic patterns and transcultural skills – critical skills in understanding and mediating between their own and other cultures. UW graduate students have used this approach to develop new teaching units for first-year German.

As part of this project, these materials were (a) workshopped and tested, then (b) integrated in the existing first-year courses and departmental teacher training, and (c) shared with the wider community of German teachers in North America through conference workshops and peer-reviewed publication in a series on “teaching interaction” (Fall 2014-Spring 2016 in Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German)

Questions Investigated

This project took as its point of departure a graduate course on teaching pragmatics in W2013. Students developed ideas for teaching discourse patterns to beginning learners. From these and after receiving further training by a guest speaker through a lecture and workshop, they developed materials in F2013 that were tested in first-year language classes at UW in F2013 and W2014 to determine whether they increased students' and teachers' transcultural awareness and skills. One practical goal was the development and dissemination of (1) guidelines for creating new teaching units for lower-level language classes and (2) specific example units that were ready for use in the classroom at other universities.

Findings/Insights

The teaching units developed integrate authentic conversation, scaffold the discovery and practice of pragmatic patterns, and guide reflection about the connection between language and culture (Barraja-Rohan 1997; Huth 2006). Undergraduate student feedback suggests that they gained a deeper understanding of German interaction patterns and of their own language(s), language attitudes and social/cultural identity (cf. Huth 2006, 2007, 2010; Huth & Taleghani-Nikazm, 2006). The graduate students and assistants involved in the project gained insight into course development, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and academic publishing.

Dissemination and Impact

  • At the individual level: At the beginning of the project (9/2013), a guest speaker presented current research and best practices for integrating foundational research on interaction patterns into the classroom in a 2-day workshop for graduate students and faculty.  This workshop and the following work increased awareness for interactional patterns in language (and the need to teach them) on the part of language teachers in the department; for graduate students, it offered training in materials development and professionalization (publication experience). MA and PhD student publications (published and under review): Kampen Robinson (2014), Burkert & Roitsch (2014), Ghaffarian (submitted 12/2014), Bendig (in preparation), and Linneweber (in preparation). New teaching units were integrated into our first and second-year language classes. Student feedback to them was very positive.
  • At the Department/School and/or Faculty/Unit levels: New teaching units were integrated in existing courses at UW (GER 101, 102, 202) and in teacher training workshops. The published materials (specifically the introduction to the teaching series in progress) include guidelines and a template for developing new units that teach interaction patterns in lower-level language classes and ready-to-use classroom materials for the larger community of German teachers at UW, in Canada, and in the US. 

  • At the institutional (uWaterloo) level: A two-day lecture/workshop (with guest speaker Thorsten Huth) was hosted in September 2013. Participants included graduate students, faculty, and instructors from UW's GSS and French Studies, and teachers from Rockway Mennonite Collegiate, Concordia German Language School, and Renison.

  • At the national and/or international levels: Insights and materials were disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and in workshops, including:

References

References (pdf)

Additional Information
Category: Faculty: