Berufsrelevante L2-Schreibkompetenz fördern durch Fordern

This article outlines approaches on how to support writing skills and text competence when teaching German as a foreign language. The main question is whether and how dealing in detail with one’s own mistakes and actively analysing one’s own writing process can contribute to improving writing skills in teaching German as a foreign language. Reflections which were written down during the 2013/14 winter and 2016 summer semester at the University of Graz by students studying German as a foreign language, level C1, serve as basis for this article. These reflections refer to texts gathered within one semester respectively. They address subjects relevant to the daily life of a translator in training, such as economics, law, culture, medicine and technology. During this period of reflection, students addressed the question of whether their approach to writing texts has changed in the course of one semester. In addition, they were asked to focus on which mistakes were made repeatedly and to which error category they belonged. Furthermore, they examined the areas in which they feel that they have personally improved and see their strengths. This article aims to demonstrate to what extent this teaching approach succeeded.

Specifications of standards in systems and synthetic biology: status and developments in 2021

This special issue of the Journal of Integrative Bioinformatics contains updated specifications of COMBINE standards in systems and synthetic biology. The 2021 special issue presents four updates of standards: Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual Version 2.3, Synthetic Biology Open Language Visual Version 3.0, Simulation Experiment Description Markup Language Level 1 Version 4, and OMEX Metadata specification Version 1.2. This document can also be consulted to identify the latest specifications of all COMBINE standards.

Grunt Vocalizations in Children With Disabilities: Relationships With Assessed Cognition and Language

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the grunt vocalizations to cognitive and expressive language status in children with disabilities. Children with typical development produce communicative grunts at the onset of referential word production and comprehension at 14–16 months of age and continue to use this vocalization for communication as they develop language. Method All grunt vocalizations produced by 26 children with disabilities (mental age: 3–56 months; communicative age: 47–69 months) were identified from video-recorded seminaturalistic play sessions. Grunts were identified as accompanying effort or attention or as communicative bids. Participants were grouped as prelinguistic, emergent, language delay, and language competent based on standardized assessments of cognitive and language level. The Mann–Whitney U test (1947) compared groups to determine the relationships between grunt production and cognitive and language status. Results As hypothesized, participants in the language delay group produced significantly more communicative grunts than those in the language competent group ( W = 39, p = .028 < .05). The children with a cognitive and language level lower than 9 months (prelinguistic group) failed to produce communicative grunts. Conclusions The results document grunt production in children with disabilities in the same contexts as typical children and support the hypothesized relationship between assessed cognition and language and communicative grunt production. These results require replication. This vocalization, if recognized in treatment, may unlock verbal communication in many nonverbal children with disabilities. Future longitudinal research should include controlled intervention to determine the potential effectiveness of building broader communicative skills on this simple vocalization.

The role of culture and language in the teaching of intercultural communication

The teaching of intercultural communication covers two broad areas of culture and language teaching. The ability to use different expressions is important in the teaching of intercultural communication, as discussions are conducted at a high language level. The teaching of intercultural communication in universities should facilitate intercultural cooperation and understanding among students. It is necessary to learn languages and cultures in the teaching of foreign languages in order to achieve intercultural communication and eliminate the misunderstandings that may arise as a result. Key words: intercultural communication, forms of behavior, language skills, culture and language, interactions

The role of an audiovisual course in teaching Russian as a foreign language to students of exchange and applied programs

В данной статье рассматривается применение аудиовизуального метода как одного из важнейших форм обучения РКИ в современном образовательном процессе. В ходе исследования выявлен ряд преимуществ аудиовизуального курса, раскрыты способы и возможности его использования в целях развития аудиовизуальной компетенции, в том числе повышение уровня коммуникативной компетенции в конкретных условиях обучения в иностранной аудитории в рамках реализации коммуникативного, личностно-ориентированного и компетентностного подходов. Кроме того, определен дидактический потенциал аудиовизуального метода обу-чения, названы его особенности, указаны способы его реализации на практических занятиях по РКИ на начальном этапе обучения. Разработаны и апробированы дополнительные занятия, в основе которых лежат аутентичные видеоматериалы, рассчитанные на учащихся, владеющих русским языком в объеме уровней А1–А2. This article is about an audiovisual method as one of the most important methods in teaching Russian as a foreign language in modern educational processes. Within the given research a lot of advantages of an audiovisual course were revealed including disclosed ways and opportunities of using it with target development audiovisual competence, raising communicative competence level under particular conditions of teaching foreign students, implementing communicative, and personality-oriented competence techniques. Besides, we have specified a didactic potential audiovisual method of teaching, have defined means of its realization at practical lessons of Russian as a foreign language at the beginning stage of teaching. We also have established and approbated additional lessons with authentic video material for students language level А1–А2.

EVENTS OF BILINGUISM AND INTERFERENCE

The article gives an idea of the phenomenon of interference and its specificity, the different assessments of this phenomenon by linguists. Feedback and conclusions on the study of the phenomenon of interference in the context of multilingualism at the language level and the formation of new areas are presented.

Methods for selecting authentic texts in accordance with the language level of students while teaching German

Today our main goal is to use authentic texts, including the study of the peculiarities of intercultural communication in the environment of communicative teaching of foreign languages. Authentic text reflects the use of natural language. It should be noted that the teaching of authentic texts in teaching a foreign language should be determined by the language level of the students. The selection criteria for authentic texts in German differ depending on the language level of the students. Key words: authentic texts, intercultural communication, communicative learning

Age Related Techniques in Teaching and Speaking a Foreign Language

The purpose of this article is to show the importance of age related techniques used in classes that help students enjoy, learn and speak a foreign language. There are different techniques used at different ages. However, it is also important to build a good relationship and in order to do so, teacher must know his/her students’ goals, age, foreign language level, interests and background and furthermore real practice of lesson topics. Most importantly, what we teach should relate to students. Creating a good atmosphere is important. There are some difficulties to improve all skills of speech activity at the same time. Teachers should find the right tools and strategies adopted to every age. Role playing, debating, reading, asking the right questions are some important tools.

Perceptions of Students and Teachers in an English Course: Reconstructing a Syllabus

This initial research report aimed to explore the impact on students’ and teachers’ learning and teaching expectations of an English Course containing English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Saber Pro samples, and the use of graded audiobooks by interpreting students and teachers’ perceptions. Data was gathered through a survey and a focus group interview. The initial findings revealed that the current syllabus was designed efficiently in terms of layout, but certain aspects concerning content, language level, methodology, and evaluation needed to be adjusted. The interpretation of this academic community’s perceptions resulted in the reconstruction of the course syllabus.