FörLeSch

Young adults between the ages of 16 and 18 who have come to Germany as unaccompanied minor refugees attend so-called InteA classes (Integration and Completion) in the state of Hesse, which are located at vocational schools. They learn in the same building as their German classmates, but have little contact with them due to this segregative school model. Even in the facilities where they live, there is rarely the opportunity to communicate in German.

This is why some students on the Master's degree course in German as a Foreign and Second Language at the University of Kassel, with the support of Junior Professor Dr. Christine Czinglar, have launched an initiative aimed at bringing young refugees together with students from the department. The FörLeSch project, short for Förderung: Lesen und Schreiben, was initially carried out at the Institute of Languages in the summer semester of 2016.

Since the 2016/2017 winter semester, there has been a cooperation with the neighboring Max-Eyth-Schule. Around ten pupils from an InteA class are supported here once a week. In addition to homework supervision, the DaFZ students support the young people in the area of oral and literary skills (literacy). During the 90-minute meetings, they play learning games together, carry out vocabulary and speaking exercises to motivate the pupils to speak and read shorter texts and prepare their content. Pupils also have the opportunity to write their own texts, for example about themselves or their aspired training occupations. The logbook from the Federal Agency for Civic Education, readings for DaZ learners and learning materials designed by the students are used as support. Initial preparatory task formats are also practiced with a view to the upcoming examinations for the Hauptschulabschluss. The teaching of learning strategies also serves to promote learner autonomy.

On February 7, 2017, FörLeSch was presented to Thuringian DaZ teachers at the "Supporting measures for refugees at the University of Kassel" symposium and at an information event on February 21, 2017.

The project was also presented as part of the poster session at the "Multilingualism as an opportunity" conference, which took place at the VHS Kassel from July 3 to 5, 2017.

Text and photo: Carina Reez and Anne-Christin Schumacher