This paper provides concrete suggestions for teaching two Holocaust testimonies, Irene Hauser's diary and Ruth Klüger's memoir "Still Alive." Hauser's and Klüger's texts effectively illustrate the differences between diaries and memoirs while recounting similar experiences. Such a comparative analysis, I argue, achieves two goals: First,…

Learning a new language after forced migration has hardly ever been studied from the perspective of children. Their viewpoint, however, gets even more important, if we want to understand the lifelong consequences of their early experiences. With this aim, we use autobiographical accounts of persons who were rescued from Nazi Germany and brought to…

The fact that Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) also includes historical consciousness is known, but this dimension of ICC has so far been largely unexplored. This article aims to show that virtual cooperation between universities from two different countries can promote not only ICC but also critical historical thinking. Using…

The Netherlands are quite unique in that the Dutch have always learned various foreign languages. Until 1940, French was the most important foreign language. Between roughly 1870 and 1970, Dutch learners in grammar schools and higher secondary schools were even obliged to learn three foreign languages: French, German and English. Since 1970,…

The paper gives an overview of FLT in the German-speaking regions of Europe from medieval times to the present day, within a framework of language politics, communicative needs and educational ideologies. The languages addressed are French, Italian, Spanish, English, Russian and Turkish. Basic social and professional data of the various groups of…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 'open-door' policy towards the recent wave of migrants and refugees to Europe shows promise for expanding the workforce and increasing diversity, yet opens up some significant cultural and religious differences. Although the government has created programs to aid in their transition, little attention has been paid…

This study is based on the assumption that because the Holocaust is a significant part of Germany's history, culture, and national memory, it should be taught openly and honestly within German curricula. To ignore it would be to ignore an essential part of the country's identity, which in turn would lead teacher-scholars of German to impart a less…

This paper uses two autobiographical accounts of language learning within the context of highly significant personal relationships to argue that the functional emphasis of communicative language teaching has narrowed our understanding of the potential personal and educational meaning of what it is to learn a language. The author's learning of…

Comments on the prevalence of the expression in France, "a foreign french language," used to designate a variety of activities and institutions devoted to the teaching and learning of French outside of France. The article emphasizes that to affirm the existence of a French language that is foreign to France highlights historical…

The origin and development of two African saints are discussed: Saint Maurice, patron saint of the eastern empire of Otto I; and Caspar, the youngest of the three Magi. Their representation in German art is described and illustrated. (Author/LB)

Study of children's books, Eric Kastner's "Emil und die Detektive" (1928) and Wilfrid Bade's "Trommlerbub' untern Hakenkreuz" (1934), with American students in an introductory German-literature course offered insights into pedagogical function of children's literature in Weimar Republic and Third Reich. Although books reveal…

Discusses the English Reform Movement of the 1880s and 1890s that attempted to revolutionize methods of modern language instruction by teaching them as living languages. Presents precedents of the Reform Movement, its principles and proponents, reactions to Reform methods, and the impact of the Reform Movement on schools. (DSK)

Wolfgang Borchert's "Lesebuchgeschichten" present a summary view of German society before and after World War II and could easily serve as the focal point for a presentation of the Third Reich in a course on German culture and history. The works are described here. (CHK)

Stresses the idea that, to be understood, literature must be considered in its historical and social context, and outlines an interdisciplinary approach for teaching French literature. (CLK)

This publication is the result of a conference on foreign language teaching and European studies convened by the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research in February 1973. In the first chapter, which serves as an introduction to the volume, G. E. Perren summarizes current views about the relationship between foreign languages and…