Traditions and Transitions: Curricula for German Studies

by John L. Plews (Editor), Barbara Schmenk (Editor)

Overview

Traditions and Transitions: Curricula for German Studies is a collection of essays by Canadian and international scholars on the topic of why and how the curriculum for post-secondary German studies should evolve. Its twenty chapters, written by international experts in the field of German as a foreign or second language, explore new perspectives on and orientations in the curriculum.

In light of shifts in the linguistic and intercultural needs of today’s global citizens, these scholars in German studies question the foundations and motivations of common curriculum goals, traditional program content, standard syllabus design, and long-standing classroom practice. Several chapters draw on a range of contemporary theories—from critical applied linguistics, second-language acquisition, curriculum theory, and cultural studies—to propose and encourage new curriculum thinking and reflective practice related to the translingual and cross-cultural subjectivities of speakers, learners, and teachers of German. Other chapters describe and analyze specific examples of emerging trends in curriculum practice for learners as users of German.

This volume will be invaluable to university and college faculty working in the discipline of German studies as well as in other modern languages and second-language education in general. Its combination of theoretical and descriptive explorations will help readers develop a critical awareness and understanding of curriculum for teaching German and to implement new approaches in the interests of their students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554584673
Publisher:	Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date:	11/21/2013
Series:	WCGS German Studies , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	414
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

John L. Plews is an associate professor of German at Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia. He researches second-language curriculum and international education for language learners and teachers, focusing on lived experience, identity, and voice. He is the co-editor of Interkulturelle Kompetenzen im Fremdsprachenunterricht, German Matters in Popular Culture, and Queering the Canon.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents for
Traditions and Transitions: Curricula for German Studies, edited by John L. Plews and Barbara Schmenk

Traditions and Transitions: On Broadening the Visibility and Scope of Curriculum Inquiry for German Studies | John L. Plews and Barbara Schmenk

The Translingual / Transcultural Imagination | Claire Kramsch

Language on Loan: Meditations on the Emotional World of Language Learning and Teaching | Alice J. Pitt

Postsecondary Germanistik, or German as a Foreign Language in Canada from a Postcolonial Perspective | John L. Plews

Revamping the Language Program in Euro Terms: The Textbook as Key Factor | Barbara Schmenk

Zu Risiken und Nebenwirkungen fragen Sie lieber nicht Ihren Theoretiker: Kommunikative Orientierung der Fremdsprachendidaktik und Deutsch als Fremdsprache auerhalb des deutschsprachigen Raums | Dietmar Rösler

Pronunciation Training Without the Native Speaker? Reframing Teaching and Learning Objectives in German as a Foreign Language Curricula | Mareike Müller

Multilinguals in the Language Classroom and Curricular Consequences | Grit Liebscher

Bilingual Texts as Bridges to Reading Comprehension and Language and Cultural Awareness | Suzanne Even and David Dollenmayer

Reflective Curriculum Construction in the Postmethod Era: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations and Their Contributions to Language Education | Allison Cattell

Literatur Liberated from Wissenschaft: Writerly Approaches to Literature Across the Undergraduate German Curriculum | Morgan Koerner

Pedagogies of Affect and Lived Place: Reading Der Vorleser on a Short-Term Intensive Immersion | Kim Fordham Misfeldt

Gerade Dir hat er eine Botschaft gesendet: Contact Pragmatics and the Teaching of Foreign Language Texts | Chantelle Warner and David Gramling

Connecting Languaging and Knowing Through Genres: Exemplifying the Link in a Curricular Progression | Marianna Ryshina-Pankova

Developing and Assessing a Curriculum for a Midsize German Cultural Studies Program in Canada | Cheryl Dueck and Stephan Jaeger

Computers and Language Learning in German Studies | Mathias Schulze

Digital Participatory Culture and German Language Pedagogy | Glenn S. Levine

Introducing Blended Learning into Tertiary-Level German: An Activity Theoretical Analysis | Gillian Martin, Helen O'Sullivan, and Breffni O'Rourke

The Triumph of the Transferable: Fostering Transferable Skills in the Foreign Language Classroom | Deirdre Byrnes

Student Ambassadors for Languages in the UK Context: From the Extracurricular to the Curricular | Elizabeth A. Andersen and Ruth O'Rourke Magee

Notes on Contributors

Index

Editorial Reviews

‘‘The nineteen chapters of hte volume cover a wide array of approaches to and suggestions for curricular changes of German programs outside of the German-speaking countries.... Professors seeking to reform their programs will find interesting ideas from the theoretical framework to the concrete course syllabi. I wholeheartedly recommend this book.''

Marcel P. Rotter

‘‘Those teaching and those coordinating postsecondary German programs can learn from the experiences outlined in these studies. Here the argument is put forth that teachers alike profit from methodologically grounded self-reflection in the praxis of engaging other cultures, especially through the medium of a foreign language. Curricular reform efforts such as moves from ‘language’ to ‘cultural studies’ pose useful fields of study. This collection is intended to inspire institutions in Europe and North America to interact fruitfully in the future. Summing Up: Recommended''

J.M. Jeep