Workshops

Rupprecht S. Baur

Relaxed learning?Suggestopedia for designing holistic and creative learning processes

Many foreign language teachers who come into contact with suggestopedia wish to learn more about the methods and principles of suggestopedia. This desire is based on the fact

- that suggestopedia has a reputation for combining particularly effective teaching and learning methods and promises "learning without stress",

- that teaching and learning methods that have become known through suggestopedia (such as the use of movement, music and relaxation) are increasingly being combined with other methods of foreign language teaching,

- that suggestopedia has remained open to new developments and insights, so that it can be seen as a reservoir of creative ideas for designing teaching and learning processes.

In the first part of the workshop, the workshop participants learn about suggestopedia in the form of a self-experience with a foreign language that is unfamiliar to them. The various presentation phases, in which non-verbal and paraverbal forms of expression, music and relaxation and learner-activating exercises are used, give the participants a clear idea of the method and its procedures.

In a second part, creative exercises are carried out (in German) which offer suggestions on how the suggestopedic methods can also be used in lessons with advanced learners.

Experience in foreign language teacher training has shown that suggestopedia encourages students to engage with foreign language learning processes and motivates them to expand their own repertoire of activities. This is also the aim of this workshop.

Literature:

Baur, Rupprecht S. (1996): Suggestopedia. In: Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen 25, 106-137.

Michael Koenig

Creative exercise design - from the planning level to the teaching level

On the one hand, my article deals with current aspects of exercise design from the specialist discussion, such as focus on form or automation and fluency through to playful approaches and how these can be found in teaching materials (planning level) and implemented in everyday practical lessons (teaching level).

In this context, it is of course important to consider the relevant criteria for "good" exercises in foreign language teaching and to analyze existing exercises in textbooks accordingly.

However, the central question for the entire workshop will be how teachers can design conventional exercises (or activities in general) in a more target group-oriented and creative way or replace them with their own ideas and which basic principles or "philosophy" of exercise design are helpful for this. A small (probably revealing) excursus on the current creative potential of the participants will also serve this purpose.

We will therefore play through and reflect on the topic of exercise design, perhaps even (hopefully) develop some new ideas and 'ponder' and 'do' intensively in the process.

Stefanie Morgret

Musical possibilities for promoting pronunciation in GFL lessons

The use of music can not only boost learners' motivation, but also their pronunciation. In recent years, various studies have established links between phonetic and musical skills in the acquisition of foreign languages by adult learners. Positive effects of singing on speech and memorization have been observed and common and overlapping neural resources in language and music processing have been demonstrated.

This raises the question of the extent to which music can also be used in foreign language lessons with adult learners to promote their phonetic skills.

Although songs and raps are occasionally used in existing GFL textbooks, they often lack methodological and didactic information with detailed learning steps for pronunciation or are geared towards the target group of children. Authentic music is rarely used.

The workshop will focus on the methodological and didactic possibilities of music in teaching practice. Specific examples will be used to show how phonetic skills can be promoted through the active use of music, particularly in the form of musical chunks (rhythmic-melodic units) for adult learners at primary level.

On the basis of theoretical principles, specific teaching materials and our own empirical studies, various ways of using music with adult learners are presented, tested and discussed. The focus is on speech rhythms, raps and authentic songs. The promotion of pronunciation is also linked to other skills (grammar etc.) within the framework of integrative phonetics.

Karin Rottmann

Museum Graffiti & Co -

Methods in the context of language teaching in museums

Museums are places of inspiration and communication. Language teaching can also benefit from the extraordinary potential of these learning spaces.

In the workshop, various methods and exercises will be presented, tested and discussed in the context of language didactics and different learning levels. In working groups, we will lay museum graffiti with strings on the museum floor and explore museum spaces, exhibits and their relationships via individual words. "Language games with art" give us the opportunity to add a fun factor to vocabulary work and grammar in the museum. A repertoire of writing recipes enables even inexperienced pupils to write poetic texts about works of art.

In the workshop, the poems are recited as a "poetry walk" in the museum. In this context, we discuss the importance of presenting the results of the work.

Maik Walter (Textbewegung Berlin)

The spoken stage set: theater techniques as teaching techniques

When talking about theater in foreign language teaching, the focus is usually on the learner. The workshop now focuses on the teachers with their performative competence and takes up the idea of teaching as a production. Theater can provide important impulses for this. The idea of dramaturgically structured lessons is obvious, but concrete theater techniques such as the hot seat technique can also contribute to staged lessons.

The workshop presents this idea using the technique of the spoken stage set. A room will be constructed in the fictitious Als Ob in which further teaching sequences can take place. After a brief introduction, the technique will be demonstrated and tried out by the workshop participants. In the subsequent reflection, the possibilities and limitations of the technique in the teaching context will be discussed on the basis of self-experience.