April 20, 2021: Cultural learning: Virtual GENiUS2 Event
Linked to the digital lecture series "Cultural Learning in Foreign Language Classes" (Prof. Dr. Birgit Schädlich & Prof. Dr. Carola Surkamp) in the summer semester 2021, another GENiUS2 event took place on April 20, 2021. Around 20 students and trainee teachers as well as six trainers from the various phases of teacher training took part in the virtual session. In groups, the participants analyzed selected tasks from current English textbooks from grades 6, 8 and 11 each based on the following key questions:
1) Which (partial) goals of cultural learning should be achieved with the task?
2) What content / topic / subject is addressed in the task? Which understanding of culture does this express?
3) How is cultural learning methodically implemented here? What other methods could be useful?
4) What is the learner's conception of the task? How is their role seen here in the context of cultural learning?
5) What is the role of the teacher in carrying out this task? How could it be thought (differently)?
The results were then reflected in the group as a whole with the help of the methods presented in the first lecture session by Prof. Lotta König on the theoretical concepts of cultural learning. The main question was whether the participants would use the analyzed tasks for their lessons and what they would change if necessary. In a final feedback round the practical value of this form of joint reflection for one's own lesson planning was highlighted. In the course of the upcoming lecture sessions, the various questions linked to the complex of topics of cultural learning will be deepened.