Scholars in our profession have long called attention to the gap between language classes and upper-level content courses. Some current trends, such as decolonizing the curriculum and using the lens of social justice, are highlighting an additional gap, which they perceive in students' preparedness to deal justly with an unjust world. This article…

Given that meaningful interaction is, in many respects, the backbone of L2 acquisition, language programs have often promoted language exchanges, which connect L2 learners outside the classroom. The present paper discusses two such programs, the "Sprachmentoren" Program (SMP) and "Tandemprojekt" (TP), which were introduced to…

German is a pluricentric language with many standard and nonstandard varieties. Students of German are usually unaware of its rich regional variation, and studies attribute this to limited resources and instructional time (van Kerckvoorde, 2012). The "DACH" model of teaching German, which includes linguistic and cultural elements from…

In offering an account of teaching and performing Nurkan Erpulat and Jens Hillje's "Verrücktes Blut" (2010) with advanced German students, this article reflects on the theme of cultural identity, particularly with regard to current issues related to migrant populations. As a play that showcases theater as a transitional space where…

This article reports on an initiative to enrich the German curriculum at all levels via "Climate Stories," a student-centered learning project that capitalizes on the encouraging strides being made in German-speaking countries to combat global climate change. Students identify a real-life "climate story" in the news in German…

The creation of pedagogical activities in line with genre-based approaches has substantially shaped world language curriculum design and instruction, as seen in Martin (2002a), Crane (2006), and Maxim (2004); however, an insignificant number of principled guidelines suggests exactly how to achieve these pedagogical goals (Kubota, 2016;…

This article argues that vital resources for teaching the relationship of German and the global to advanced undergraduate language students can be found in a critical approach to the rich tradition of cosmopolitanism in canonical German-language texts. One especially rich vein of this tradition is the historical depiction of relationships between…

Literary reading skills in a second language (L2) are essential for student success at the advanced levels of collegiate language instruction. This article introduces an instructional approach that fosters the development of L2 literary reading skills through creative writing activities. First, the article identifies those skills that language…

The focus in many language curricula is shifting from "four skills" to "literacy." In a literacy-oriented curriculum, texts stand at the center of every course at every level. Teachers introduce content through texts early in the language learning process, assist even advanced students with the challenges of reading and writing in German, and help…

Auxiliary selection in L1 German is sensitive to the degree of transitivity of a clause. This study focuses on the most basic parameter of transitivity, number of participants, and shows that as students become more proficient in German, they are more accurate in auxiliary selection. First year students do not reflect in their writing that they…

Continues on and expands the discussion of the use of television in language instruction. Particular focus is on the use of television in the area of language economics for advanced learners. Personal experiences with the medium are described and analyzed, using as an example the economics television news magazine from Deutsche Welle. (Author/DMK)

There has been a significant paradigm shift in foreign language pedagogy from measuring language achievement to measuring proficiency. The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (1986) sought to reach consensus about describing and measuring language abilities. With the widespread recognition of these Guidelines have come far-reaching changes in our…