School Collaborations

University course met real-world impact-In the summer semester of 2025, students enrolled in the Hauptseminar "Second Language Acquisition" (Prof. Dr. Tanja Angelovska) at the University of Kassel participated in an exciting collaboration with pupils from the Ursulinenschule, Fritzlar. This innovative partnership exemplified the university's commitment to applied research and community engagement in foreign language learning and teaching.


What was the project about?

As part of their coursework, students explored key theories and concepts of second language acquisition-such as interlanguage development, processability theory, and structured input-and applied their knowledge in a real-world educational setting. They designed, implemented, and evaluated individualized learning tasks tailored to the needs of pupils learning English as a foreign language at the Ursulinenschule, Fritzlar.


A win for pupils

Twelve highly motivated selected pupils from the Ursulinenschule, Fritzlar, received personalized support focusing on their individual English language development. Each pupil was paired with two university students who analyzed their written work and oral performance. Based on these insights, the students created tasks targeting specific grammar challenges, including verb conjugation, conditionals, and passive constructions. The pupils also received detailed feedback.


A win for students

University students gained valuable hands-on experience in assessing learner language, diagnosing "errors" and developmental stages, and designing effective teaching materials. Through planning, task implementation, and reflection, they deepened their understanding of second language acquisition and strengthened their practical teaching skills. The project concluded with mini-presentations and written reflections based on the practice component with the school-age learners.

Mutual impact and long-term value

This collaboration demonstrated how universities and schools can work together to enhance language learning and teaching. Pupils benefited from targeted language teaching support, while students developed practical teaching competences rooted in research. Both groups engaged in a meaningful learning experience that bridged theory and practice.

We are proud of this successful partnership with the Ursulinenschule, Fritzlar and thank everyone involved for their commitment and collaboration.

We are pleased to announce the successful completion of another inspiring school-university collaboration between our HS on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (blocked in WiSe 25-6) at the University of Kassel and the Ursulinenschule. This school project once again demonstrated how university teaching and school learning can complement one another to the benefit of both pupils and future teachers.

What was done?

The collaboration unfolded in several carefully structured phases.

Designing speaking tasks: Our university students first created interactive speaking activities to engage Ursulinenschule pupils in meaningful oral communication.

Virtual exchange: The students then met the pupils via Zoom, where they piloted their speaking tasks, observed learners' responses, and gathered valuable insights into their communicative abilities, learner errors and developmental stages.

Task creation phase: Based on these observations, students designed digital and autonomous learning tasks tailored to each pupil's needs and proficiency level.

The final product was a bank of individualized, learner-autonomous tasks developed with digital tools. The tasks covered a variety of learning objectives-vocabulary building, grammar and pronunciation practice-and included self-rating, trial-and-feedback, and multimodal components.

Why and how?

The project aimed to link SLA research and classroom practice. It allowed students to apply theoretical knowledge on language development, feedback, and task-based learning in an authentic educational setting. Pupils, in turn, benefited from personalized and engaging learning opportunities that supported their progress in English.

What were the benefits?

For Ursulinenschule pupils: Exposure to innovative, individualized digital tasks increased motivation, autonomy, and self-awareness in language learning. The variety of feedback and multimodal input helped them practice English in meaningful, playful ways.

For university students: The experience offered a hands-on opportunity to apply SLA theory, practice digital task design, and critically reflect on learner differentiation, feedback strategies, and ethical aspects such as data protection.

This collaboration not only strengthened pupils' EFL skills but also enhanced our students' ability to bridge theory and practice in inclusive, technology-enhanced English language teaching.

We thank all participating pupils, teachers, and students for their enthusiasm and creativity-showing once again that successful learning happens where research meets practice.