Mobile language learning in the museum: With the Actionbound through the 'Neue Galerie'.

German as a foreign language and second language teaching (DaFZ) is hardly imaginable without the use of pictures. Pictures have numerous functions, but mostly the function of getting learners in the mood for a new topic, illustrating texts, or explaining new vocabulary with the help of pictures. The actual potential of pictures is seldom exploited, e.g., when the picture is only used as an impulse for practicing the language. Yet the exchange, for example in front of art pictures, is an authentic situation: the ambiguity of a work requires language as a key to approach the picture.

As part of the course 'Learning with Pictures' by lecturer Tanja Fohr, the students had the opportunity to develop, try out and discuss various action-oriented methods for opening up pictures in these situations on site at the museum 'Neue Galerie' in Kassel. In the context of the seminar, it was not only a matter of discussing the potential of images in relation to the development of linguistic competencies, but also in relation to the students' own seeing, perceiving and comprehending of the works of art.

Through the intensive confrontation with pictures in the museum, first and foremost the picture competencies are promoted, and speaking about the picture objects and the formal design of the pictures are thereby the way to approach the picture and discover its peculiarities. In the context of the seminar, the question was explored as to which methods and media support are suitable for helping students to explore art (works of art) in the museum. The interactive smartphone edu-game 'Actionbound' was tested.  Since the app offers numerous possibilities for experiential and action-oriented learning outside the classroom, the question arose in the context of the seminar as to whether it could also be used to initiate processes in front of 19th, 20th, and 21st century works of art in the museum in such a way that the DaFZ learners are supported in their individual exploration of the image and the exchange of different perspectives on the image. To this end, numerous methods for handling images with and without the app offer as well as demo bounds created in advance by the instructor (see figures in the appendix) for selected works of art were first tested and discussed on site.

In a next step, the DaFZ students then selected two artworks in teamwork and created an interactive edu-game for them. When designing the app elements, the overriding criterion was that the learners should be encouraged to see and grasp the artworks independently and not be directed in their reception of the images. In doing so, the students made sure to use simple language and to select the work assignments in such a way that they also enable a conversation about the various impressions of the images. After testing and discussion, the app offers were modified by the students. For the practical transfer in the context of the seminar 'Learning with Pictures', the revised individual bounds will be combined and tested with one or two DaFZ learning groups at the level B2 in the Museum Neue Galerie in Kassel.

The presentation and testing of the learning offer with digital devices will take place on October 11, 2018 at 2:00 pm at the Museum 'Neue Galerie' in Kassel. Interested testers are very welcome. Prerequisites are a desire to explore the museum, a smartphone with internet connection and the app, which is available free of charge (see figure). Registration is requested: Tanja Fohr (tfohr[at]uni-kassel[dot]de).

Images of demo bounds as well as QR codes leading to the app can be found in the PDF.

Smartphone Edu-Game, 'Actionbound'.

The edu-game is based on principles of the City Bound method, which was developed as an experiential educational tool for urban space in the 1980s. Included are different features or elements, e.g. quizz, information, survey, task, questions and many more. For foreign language teaching, work assignments can be creatively implemented using media in such a way that students can work on them on their smartphones. The results, such as role plays or poems recorded as audio or video files, can be sent to the teacher at the end of the task and used for joint reflection at a later time.