Most educators are aware that some students utilize web-based machine translators for foreign language assignments, however, little research has been done to determine how and why students utilize these programs, or what the implications are for language learning and teaching. In this mixed-methods study we utilized surveys, a translation task,…

This study describes the design and implementation of a usage-based and corpus-based advanced German grammar course. Teaching materials for the course included DWDS, or "Digitales Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache": a large, representative, free and publicly available corpus of contemporary German texts. The article outlines specific…

This article describes an undergraduate, German-language course that aimed to improve students' language skills, critical thinking, and declarative knowledge of German history and culture by studying multiple manifestations of the legend of Siegfried the Dragonslayer. The course used web-based e-learning tools to address two major learning…

Document cameras can have great utility in second language classrooms. However, entry-level consumer document cameras start at around $350. This article describes how the author built three document cameras and offers suggestions for how teachers can successfully build their own quality document camera using a webcam for around $100.

In this article, I review the options that teachers and students have to obtain German TV in the U.S.: through satellite and cable networks and by streaming, downloading, or recording TV programs through the internet. I also address how one can access TV programs over the air in the German-speaking countries by using a notebook PC and TV card.

Fifteen years after the "peaceful revolutions" brought about the collapse of communism and the reunification of East and West Germany, a heated debate rages over the legacy of communism and the continuing impact of 1989. This paper describes a new course that explores the contentious issues in this debate through the innovative use of…

In this article, I review the options that teachers and students have to obtain German TV in the U.S.: through satellite and cable networks and by streaming, downloading, or recording TV programs through the internet. I also address how one can access TV programs over the air in the German-speaking countries by using a notebook PC and TV card.

Curriculum surveys are used periodically to validate the use of Advanced Place Program[R] (AP[R]) Exams as assessments of skills required for advanced college-level study. In the case of AP German Language, the target level is third-year college language study. This article presents results from a 2003 curriculum survey completed by third-year…

Provides background information on German rap artists and bands and discusses how to implement the music in various classroom situations at all levels. Highlights some of the available material on German rap music and provides information on how to locate rap texts, information, and other material via the Internet and other sources. (Author/VWL)

Highlights the use of novice-level books produced from or for the Internet in the beginning level German as a foreign language classroom. Such books can be used for pleasure reading, for learning content, and for the development of vocabulary. Techniques for such use are provided. (Author/VWL)

Outlines how a Web site for a three-term German literature course at Oregon State University was created and used. Assesses the teaching of the Web-dependent version of the course, evaluates how the Internet enhances the course, and concludes by reporting on the response to the Web site. (Author/VWL)

Discusses a theoretical framework for Internet-enhanced German language instruction based on sociocultural aspects of second language acquisition theory and Vygotsky's educational concept of zone of proximal development. These principles are illustrated in an Internet-based work unit on the topic of journalism. (Author/VWL)

Using task-based exercises that required web searches and online activities, this course introduced non-traditional students to the sights and sounds of the German culture and language and simultaneously to computer technology. Through partner work that required negotiation of the net as well as of the language, these adult beginning German…