Prior research indicates that first language (L1) orthography can adversely affect second language (L2) phonological acquisition, yet studies on orthographic interference and pedagogical strategies to mitigate these effects remain sparse. Addressing these research gaps, this study investigates the impact of orthographic interference on L2 German…

So-called survey courses have been a persistent but contested genre in world languages, especially in regard to "the canon," an unstable concept that has historically determined the textual choices of such surveys. This article presents a case study for redesigning the survey course genre in line with theory to diversify, decolonize, and…

The current focus on diversity and inclusion amid calls to decolonize the German curriculum prompts us once again to examine what we understand to be "German" about German Studies. This article pursues this agenda by addressing a lacuna in our understanding and representation of migrants to Germany, specifically the presence, history,…

This praxis-oriented article reports on the design, implementation, and evaluation of an upper-level online German course aimed at advancing the second language (L2) proficiency of US university students. Drawing on the noticing hypothesis and empirical L2 acquisition research, the study underscores the necessity of combining attention to…

This article describes an advanced German course focusing on the German fairy-tale tradition. Course components are summarized and the themes and selected fairy tales for each unit are outlined. Additionally, 12 creative assignments are explained that were designed to foster students' engagement with the language and content of the fairy tales.…

The article proposes using the flipped learning approach to gain more classroom time for activities that help learners interact with cultural content so that they may achieve critical cultural awareness, one of the components of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). It first distinguishes between the terms "flipped classroom" and…

This article explores the potential of Brecht's theater praxis for teaching millennial students to question dramatic narratives and rethink their own spectatorial positions, especially in regards to mainstream cinema that emphasizes character identification and plot. The article reflects on a five-day teaching unit on Brecht's theater in a senior…

Adopting a genre lens informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (cf. Halliday & Matthiessen, [Halliday, M. A. K., 2004]; Martin & Rose, [Martin, J. R., 2008]), this paper explores the text-structural and lexico-grammatical choices that second language (L2) writers of German make in personal letter writing. Close analysis of two student…

This article describes a newly designed upper division German language course, "Contemporary Germany: Food, Energy Politics," and two sampling methods of assessment for measuring parallel gains in German skills and sustainable development (SD) thinking. Second Language Acquisition (SLA) informed course design, key assignments, and…

Most educators are aware that some students utilize web-based machine translators for foreign language assignments, however, little research has been done to determine how and why students utilize these programs, or what the implications are for language learning and teaching. In this mixed-methods study we utilized surveys, a translation task,…

This article proposes a theatrically oriented, thematically structured course model for the upper level undergraduate German curriculum. The traditional focus on staging a single play in the German foreign language theater practicum neglects theater's potential to explore other literary genres and cultural texts and runs the danger of…

This article examines the phenomenon of graphic novels generally, and in particular, their utility in second-language contexts via the example of the graphic adaptation of Klaus Kordoris "Der erste Fruhling." This text lends itself especially to bridging thematic gaps in 20th-century German literature courses, as well as the "language/literature…

There are many websites today that offer free machine translations and although beginning students of German are not always proficient enough to judge the quality of these translations or to fully understand certain translation results, they use these services nonetheless for their assignments. The problem for the educator is to distinguish…