HOW TO TEACH EFFECTIVELY THE GERMAN LANGUAGE IN AN ADVANCED LEVEL

Student : Euridiki DamoulianouProffesor : DR. Tina StathopoulouCourse : Educational Psychology

The German language photos

The Definition of Teaching

Teaching = a complex procedureit requiresa) adequate knowledge of the materialb) varied teaching methodsc) communication between professors and

studentsd) implementation of the principles

established in the educational researche) the active participation of the learners

(Gurvey,2007).

Description of the Students

The students are adolescents ( 17 years old).

Attend the 3th grade .

Their school exists in a small village in Argos called “Sterna”.

They have been learning German since Elementary school.

My objectives

Students to learn to implement German in real life situations ( in a German College).

To understand long- complicated texts in German.

To analyze in German different concepts, issues and facts with critical analysis.

To learn about the German Culture, History and society.

In General…

I would focus mainly on the active participation of the learners.

According to Piaget theories students should be encouraged to learn German through spontaneous interaction with the environment , WHICH MEANS….

Teachers should provide them a rich variety of activities that permit them to act directly on the physical world .

Because ……through the active learning, students gather evidence through observing, analyzing and evaluating learning and teaching.

(Piaget, 1972).

Firstly….

I would make sure that the class- room has the proper temperature and lighting.

According to studies high quality lighting improves student’s moods, behavior and concentration.

(Texas, 2002).

Secondly…

I would base my teaching methods on the developmental stage that my learners are.

According to Piaget, adolescents are in the formal operational level WHICH means …

1) They are able to use their logic in order to solve complicated tasks.

2) They are able to make critical analysis to various issues.

3)They are able to form and answer to hypothetical situations.

( Psychology Lexicon, 2007).

Thus…

i would create hypothetical scenarios in order to enhance my student’s imagination and creativity.

For example …. , i would divide the students into two groups (one group German students ,the other Group Greek students).

We would go outside to school and the two groups would develop various discussions only in German.

This technique can help students to increase their imagination, to improve their verbal skills and hypothetical deductive reasoning and to learn how to interact with others in German, in various places and situations.

Thirdly….

i would present in the class once a week documenters about German history and society .

We would have a discussion about them and I would ask from the students to write a report about these particular documenters.

Documenters about German history and society photos

Furthermore …

I would provide the students German with magazines, newspapers, literature books and comics.

i would divide them into groups and assign them to read two texts and talk about them in class.

Student’s collaboration in verbal and other tasks, according to vygotsky is essential because kids can help each other to improve and practice their language skills and solve any deficiencies’ and problems they might have .

German magazines newspapers and comics photos

Also…

The group projects help students …

1 to learn a subject more completely. 2)to engage in more discussion.

3) to learn how to interact harmoniously with others.

(Wertsch, 1985).

Group projects photos

In addition…

I will assign them to choose a text from the German literature books ,formulate a question based on the text and answer it .

This extra reading and writing material would help them to …

1) familiarize with long –complicated texts in German

and with German literature .

2) to increase their vocabulary and critical thinking and to improve their writing skills.

Furthermore…

My learners would have to present via power point - presentation, their assignment based on the literature book.

This procedure will help them to..

practice both on their verbal and public skills.

Besides these extra activities…

We would use 4 main course books …

1) One book with grammar rules and exercises.

2) One with German texts and questions based on these particular texts .

3) One only with exercises (multi-choices ,essays questions and etc).

4) One for hearing exercises .

In addition to these course books…

I would show to my students through power-point presentations, photos with various topics in different situations and…

i would ask from them to describe the images and to guess which grammatical phenomenon should be applied to each situation

For example, i would show them a photo with a diagram which depicts the prices of various products during different decades, and they would have to decide which grammatical phenomenon should be used (for example passive or active voice) in order to tell that the price of bread, for example, has been increased during the recent years.

OR…

I would ask from them to read aloud a text that is in their text-book and to figure out which grammatical phenomenon is being applied in this particular text.

Finally, i would present directly to them the grammatical rules and we would do some exercises together.

This technique….

Would help them to learn how to apply the grammatical rules they already know into context and real-life situations .

Which means….. that they would understand deeply these rules and not only memorize or apply them into their text-books or in tests.

Moreover…

We would hear German songs in class.

Afterwards…… i would ask them to comment briefly the phrases they liked more in these songs.

This procedure… would help them to

1) practice their hearing- skills in a more playful way

2 )and to learn some new words.

In addition…

Together with their course book which includes German texts and vocabulary….

i would ask them to search for one or two new words and to write them down in a note book.

Until the end of the school year, they would have written down to their note books a list of new interesting words.

This procedure would help them to acquire new words with an indirect and pleasant way.

Also…

i would ask from my students to present orally in class or to give their essays to their classmates so to evaluate them and make suggestions on how the essays would become more interesting.

This technique enhances the critical thinking of the students ….

and encourages them to corporate with others.

Finally…

i would often assign them to do the exercises from the book that contains only practical exercises (multi-choices) and i would grade them.

With this way…. each time in addition to the tests , they could compare their actual performance with their previous one and they would know where they stand and how much progress they have achieved.

Grades cannot fully indicate a student’s performance BUT …

in some way according to Skinner’s theories, they can motivate them to study because a good grade can present for a student a kind of reward and therefore reinforcement to study .

(Tayo, 2001)

According to Skinner…

All humans behavior can be explained by the principle of reinforcement, which means that behaviors that are followed by rewards are likely to be repeated .

Skinner also believed that… individuals adapt their behaviors according to the environmental consequences that will follow.

(Tayo, 2001)

To sum up…

An efficient teaching should combine….

1) different techniques and materials

2) encourage student’s corporation and critical thinking

3) let children to be active learners and to learn mainly through social interaction, observing, analyzing and guessing.

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Resources..

Piaget, J. (1972). To Understand Is To Invent. New York: The Viking Press, Inc.

Psychology Lexicon, 2007 http://www.psychology-lexicon.com/lexikon/formal_operational_stage_11-15_years_piaget_.htm.

Wertsch, J.V. (1985). Cultural, Communication, and Cognition: Vygotskian Perspectives. Cambridge University Press.

Tayo (2001). B.F.Skinner’s Theory and Education: a Christian Critique. Education Department of Seventh-day Adventists.

Texas (2002). Classroom lighting: Know How. Northeast Energy Efficiency partnerships.

Gurney (2007).Five factors for Effective Teaching .New Zealand Journal of Teacher’s Work, 4(2), 89-98.