In this study, we compared the impact of audio-, video-, and text-chat interaction on target language use during online learner-learner interaction and on learner affect amongst adolescent learners of German as a foreign language. Repeated measures and ANOVA analyses revealed a high percentage of target language output in all conditions for all four tasks, especially in text- chat. Audio-chatters produced the most output and used the most meaning negotiation, compensation strategies, self-repair and other-repair strategies. Learners in all conditions gained in enjoyment, willingness to communicate and self-efficacy. Anxiety reduced for text-chatters. Task effects partly determined the quantity of L2 output, while condition effects determined meaning-oriented and form-focused processing.
MULTIFILE
Many studies have suggested that personal practical knowledge is essential for professional development. Recently, there has been growing recognition of the importance of teacher educators’ personal practical knowledge of ‘language’ for student learning development. However, the need for teacher educators to first understand their own language-oriented development in content-based classroom interaction has not received as much emphasis. The current intervention study investigates how eleven experienced teacher educators understand their language-oriented development through the control of task difficulty, small-group instruction and directed response questioning. Data were examined by conducting content and constant comparison analyses. The results showed that the intervention affected the educators’ language-oriented development, which in turn affected their awareness and decisions made to improve their methods of initiation and response during classroom interaction. The results call for more concrete ways to expend teacher educators’ practical knowledge of language to further develop and enhance their language-oriented teaching performance in content-based classroom interaction.
This paper presents a mixed methods study in which 21 first-year student teachers took part that investigated learning outcomes of a modified learning by design task. The study is part of a series of studies that aims to improve student learning, teaching skills and teacher training. Design-based science challenges are reasonably successful project-based approaches for breaking down the boundaries between traditional school subjects. Previous learning outcomes of the extensively studied Learning by Design (LBD) approach demonstrated a strong positive effect on students’ skills. However, compared to traditional classroom settings, LBD provided little or no profit on (scientific) concept learning. For this, according to two preliminary studies, a lack of explicit teaching and scaffolding strategies, both strongly teacher-dependent, bears a share of responsibility. The results of this third study indicate that more emphasis on these strategies indeed strengthens concept learning without reducing positive effects on skill performance.
