Environmental issues have received significant attention in German Studies for a number of years, leading to innovations in both research and pedagogy. More recently, attention has focused on applied pedagogical practices such as service-learning projects and bilateral exchanges related to environmental sustainability. While these initiatives…

Film courses are now standard offerings in collegiate world language programs, but instructors have only begun to consider the unique benefits of teaching a television series to engage language learners in meaningful communication. As series have become the entertainment of choice for today's students, educators should consider the opportunities…

As language pedagogy evolves and the pressure to articulate the value of the humanities in undergraduate education mounts, new curricular models are needed more than ever. The course "Sustainability in Germany: Recreation, Education, Innovation" is a response to that need. Originally designed to include a short-term study abroad…

The creation of pedagogical activities in line with genre-based approaches has substantially shaped world language curriculum design and instruction, as seen in Martin (2002a), Crane (2006), and Maxim (2004); however, an insignificant number of principled guidelines suggests exactly how to achieve these pedagogical goals (Kubota, 2016;…

The basic form of the superlative suffix in German is -"st (kleinst"-), with some adjectives requiring a longer form, -"est (lautest"-). While the superlative has long been a topic in teaching materials, the accuracy of textbook treatments continues to be less than satisfactory. The difficulty arises in characterizing the…

A short review of first- and second-year German instructional material in the U.S. shows that, by design, cultural competence is either frequently conveyed in isolation from other language skills, or culture topics are approached merely in a utilitarian way to test comprehension or practice grammar. The contribution at hand presents a multi-modal,…

This article addresses how to include instruction about the Holocaust (Shoah) in intermediate German world language classes in the United States. Scholarly inquiry into teaching of the Shoah has produced pedagogical frameworks, and Lindquist's (2008) guidelines are recommended along with additional instructional resources and suggestions. The…

This paper offers an instructional unit on the response token "achja" in everyday German conversation. The paper first provides a description of "achja" and its distinctive prosodic features based on empirical research in conversation analysis. The goal of the paper is to provide instructors of German with information and…

The essay forwards suggestions for developing a blended learning environment to insert genre-based language for specific purposes (LSP) subject matter into the undergraduate second language development curriculum. Specifically, the essay will highlight: (1) the development of an overarching narrative for structuring the LSP subject matter; (2) the…

The Kinder lernen Deutsch Committee (KLD) is a standing committee of the AATG that has existed since 1987 and that was originally charged to support the advocacy of German in grades K-8. With generous funding by the Standige Arbeitsgruppe Deutsch als Fremdsprache (StADaF) from the German government and the Goethe-Institut, the Kinder lernen…

Podcasts provide a straightforward opportunity to stay connected with language, culture, and recent events of German-speaking countries. Podcasts offer clearly articulated, authentic material that can be automatically and regularly delivered to your computer and classrooms; continuously exposing students and teachers to German. This article…

In the context of teaching culture, this article presents teaching materials that provide learners of German with opportunities to reflect about, analyze, and practice, how Germans commonly react to compliments. Based on findings from conversation analysis, the materials provide students with rich contextual information and a variety of…

This article discusses the rich cultural resources embedded with German hip-hop music and its potential impact on the foreign language classroom. In particular, this article suggests methods and materials for integrating German hip-hop music in the discussion of recent controversial cultural events and attitudes in German after the "Wende."

Describes how the topic of minorities and minority literature can be integrated into an upper-division German course. Presents materials and approaches used in a recent fourth-year model minicourse. (28 references) (Author/CK)

Proposes a context for use of authentic German-American texts and materials such as letters, photographs, and other archival immigrant materials at various levels in the college German-language classroom. Suggests that such an approach may be useful in boosting enrollment in language and literature courses. (Author/MSE)