Second language acquisition (SLA) research emphasizes the role of imagination in language learning, with learners often envisioning themselves engaging with native speakers. However, learners' language preferences may differ from those of native-speaker communities. For example, while regional language is used in native-speaker communities to…

There is a need for a continued focus on language learning in advanced language classes beyond the foundations that are formed in the beginning and intermediate levels. Despite this need, little work exists on how to implement language-focused instruction in upper-level courses. As one possible solution, this paper outlines a functional,…

Although considerable attempts have been made to decolonize German Studies curricula in UK universities through an inclusion of German-language cultural artifacts of authors and artists from ethno-racially marginalized backgrounds, this kind of expansionist method--the endeavor to merely expand the canon of German Studies--does not suffice. While…

Because of their presumably familiar plot lines and character tropes, the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales are often included as one of the earliest literary selections in German language and culture curricula. However, for learners to engage more critically and interpretively with fairy-tale genres, it is exactly their assumed familiarity with the…

This paper takes a closer look at diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in the context of German Studies and the language classroom in the United States. The first part of the article examines the terminology, provides a general history of DEI/DEIA in higher education in the United States, and traces the development of DEI…

In this paper the author outlines a sample lesson that has been developed for second- or third-year German students using the short satirical vignette "Hurra, ich lebe in Deutschland" from the Turkish-German author Sinasi Dikmen's book of the same name. The lesson draws heavily from literary pragmatics, an area of applied linguistics which studies…

The correct use of German "bringen" and "nehmen" can pose problems for native speakers of English learning German. Students often use "nehmen" to express meanings rendered by English "take," which can result in sentences that are ungrammatical. This paper investigates the basic verbs of conveyance in German and English--"bringen," "nehmen,"…

Describes how German proverbs and idioms can be purposefully and efficiently incorporated into the German foreign-language classroom. Presents a holistic model with exercises on lexical approximations, semantic understanding, and pragmatic usage. Eighteen "vehicles" (chain reactions, association games) are introduced. (Author/VWL)

This paper makes a usage-based contribution to the learning and teaching of German via the tools of contrastive learner corpus analysis (Granger, 1998; Granger, Hung, and Petch-Tyson, 2002; Nesselhauf, 2004). On the basis of an integrated learner and native speaker corpus of "telecollaborative" discourse (Belz, 2005), an empirically rich…

"What to teach" is a question faced in first-year German courses, and depending on the desired goals, instructors cover a variety of areas, often omitting portions of first-year textbooks, either for lack of time or for pedagogical reasons, resulting in the omission of several features, including passive. Since students can benefit from passive in…