The ability to partake in academic discourses is an important competence for participating in scientific communities. CLIL can foster this skill through promoting (1) scientifically adequate vocabulary, (2) the understanding and use of Cognitive Discourse Functions (CDF) and (3) their embedding within subject-specific genres. As one particular type of CLIL bilingual outreach labs, i.e. extracurricular learning sites located at universities, especially focus on providing pupils with the opportunity to explore the scientific discourse in a foreign language. This qualitative study examines a bilingual outreach lab in the field of microbiology in which 51 secondary school pupils were videotaped during their visit in the lab. The data was analysed according to the pupils' use of scientifically adequate vocabulary and CDF. The study shows that pupils were able to compensate for their vocabulary gaps with the help of affordances, i.e. the possibility of an action presented by an object or environment. However, the use of CDF was scarce and especially in peer-interaction CDF-realization was often brief and simplistic, probably due to a lack of linguistic structuring and guidance in the examined outreach lab.
Aufsätze
Durch Internationalisierung, Globalisierung von Wirtschaft, Politik und Kultur sowie durch aktuelle Entwicklungen im Bereich der Integration von Geflüchteten sind territorialer sowie individueller Multilingualismus Normalität geworden. Die internationale Tertiärsprachenforschung hat verschiedene individuelle sowie institutionelle Erfolgs- und Risikofaktoren identifiziert, die sich auf die Mehrsprachigkeit des Individuums auswirken und den Erwerb weiterer Fremdsprachen beeinflussen. Der Fokus wurde dabei allerdings bisher zu wenig auf eine subjektorientierte Akteursperspektive gelegt. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt Ergebnisse eines Forschungsprojekts vor, in dem 26 mehrsprachige Lernende (14-18 Jahre) sowie acht Englischlehrkräfte einer Gesamtschule interviewt wurden. Diskutiert werden Ergebnisse zu den Überzeugungen und Einstellungen der Lernenden bezüglich der Einflüsse ihrer Erst- und Zweitsprachen auf das Erlernen der Fremdsprache Englisch, Aussagen zur Nutzung sprachlicher Ressourcen und Strategien sowie insgesamt bzgl. der wahrgenommenen Potenziale ihrer Mehrsprachigkeit für das Erlernen von Fremdsprachen. Im letzten Teil des Beitrags werden Ergebnisse der Interviews mit Lehrkräften vorgestellt und Empfehlungen für das Unterrichten in mehrsprachigen Klassenzimmern formuliert.
Although developing positive attitudes towards language diversity has become a major educational goal in Europe, few studies actually look at learners' attitudes when other languages than English are concerned. This article provides an overview of existing studies which suggest that the rise of English as the lingua franca in Europe and its increasing use by young Europeans can be a positive stimulus for students' attitudes towards English. However, students may assign little value to other (foreign or migratory) languages. Stimulating positive attitudes towards language diversity both on the institutional as well as the classroom level becomes particularly important as macro-contextual factors exert considerable influence on language attitudes, further reinforcing a perceived hierarchical relationship betweenEnglish and other languages. A plurilingual turn in FL teaching may support educational efforts by paying increased attention to fostering an ideal plurilingual Bildungs-Selbst.
The article analyses the development of the communicative approach to language teaching during the 1970ies and 1980ies. It uses Fleck's concept of thought style to capture some of the basic assumptions underlying this approach. Thought styles are commonly shared and unchallenged assumptions among a research community. They set the parameters within which research questions are formulated and answered. About one hundred articles from British, American, German, and international journals as well as a number of key monographs were analysed with a view to uncovering the characteristics of a communicative thought style. The article looks at academic disciplines (e.g. social science and pragmatics) contributing to a communicative thought style and at the debates surrounding its central tenet, the primacy of language use over language form.
This paper aims at identifying elements of the notion of reflection, offering a theoretical view on the concept. In the analysis, relevant theoretical propositions, such as theories of cognition, levels of reflection and the roles of social interaction, physicality, and emotion, are discussed. These aspects are integrated into a theoretical Model of Reflection which focuses on the goals and objects of reflection in current language teacher education and research. Practical approaches to promoting learning and reflection in a secure environment are then presented. Finally, a selection of methods employed in investigations into teachers' reflection processes are discussed so that conceptual and methodological desiderata can be put into perspective.