This paper presents a study of factors affecting judgments of native and non-native accent in German. The data suggest that listener status (native or non-native speakers) and degree of experience with German play a role in the aspects of speech which raters cite as salient. Interestingly, the same descriptive terms used by raters were shown to…

This study explores the ways first-, second-, and third-year college students ("n" = 352) perceived their likely attainment of 19 morpho-syntactic, phonological, pragmatic, and lexical features of German. Analyses further differentiated perceptions by the learner variables of year of enrollment, gender, achievement, motivation for…

Reports findings of a questionnaire administered to high school German teachers that sought their views on the current state of cooperation and collaboration between secondary and postsecondary German programs. Also elicited ideas on how to facilitate communication and collaboration among these programs. Recommendations are provided for post…

Investigates the effectiveness of an interactive, computer-mediated instructional segment designed to educate students about ethnicity in German-speaking countries. Fifty-two intermediate German students worked with computer-mediated segments and rated the segments' effectiveness on a Likert-scale questionnaire. (AS)

Used responses to a questionnaire to examine preferred textbooks used by German faculty in first- and second-year German college courses to identify the perceived strengths and weaknesses. Responses also confirm the divide between advocates of current language learning theory and traditionalists in the professions. (Author/VWL)

Investigates the linkage between German studies and engineering and how it affects the learning environment and quality for students. Linking two different modes of scholarly investigation and teaching--engineering and humanities--has attracted and retained a significant number of women. In addition to the positive effects on students, this…

Reports on a study of end-of-semester course evaluations conducted at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. A questionnaire, consisting of open-ended and closed portions, explored students baseline profiles of good teaching assistants and good second-year German courses; the intent of the students completing the evaluations; external factors;…

In this article, "Fragebogen" (1992) by Max Frisch is shown to contain appropriately challenging linguistic constructions for use in courses as a supplement to traditional anthologies in conversation/composition courses. Frisch's eleven questionnaires on topics ranging from "Heimat," marriage and private property to humor, money and death serve as…

Reports research in cross-cultural differences between Americans from the United States and Germans, regarding the connotations of vocabulary items, specifically two sample words: "Cliquen" and "Kneipen." Over a period of five years, more than 50 native speakers from both cultures, who had experience with the other culture, were interviewed on…

Reports on student perceptions of classroom discourse, which includes speech between teacher and students as well as among peers. Students indicate both observations of frequency and value judgments. Responses are analyzed by their final course grade. Results are intended to guide future formal and informal observational studies on how relative…

Examines how the demographic values of foreign travel, previous foreign-language learning, major field of study, and other factors affect students' beliefs about the study of German. The article focuses on student-perceived improvement in the four skills and cultural knowledge, student motivation, and the expected contributions of teachers and…