Tværsproglig bevidsthed. En komparativ caseanalyse af curriculum, undervisning og læremidler i tyskfaget på universiteter i Danmark og Norge
Original version
Nielsen, M. S. (2024) Tværsproglig bevidsthed. En komparativ caseanalyse af curriculum, undervisning og læremidler i tyskfaget på universiteter i Danmark og Norge [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Agder.Abstract
Guided by the overall research question, ‘To what extent and in what way is crosslinguistic awareness integrated in language courses in upper secondary teacher training in German in Denmark and Norway?’, this PhD thesis conducts a comprehensive analysis of crosslinguistic awareness within the framework of upper secondary German language teacher education in these two higher educational contexts. The study emphasizes the relevance of crosslinguistic awareness in multilingual education and explores the tension between societal demands, political guidelines and practical implications for the educational sector.
To inform the research question, the thesis includes an introductory theoretical section focusing on defining and explaining the concepts multilingualism, multilingual approaches to language teaching, and crosslinguistic awareness. It also clarifies the author’s perspectives on language, learning, and language learning, and what is understood by language teacher education. Based on a primarily sociocultural and sociolinguistic viewpoint, the subsequent sections include a presentation of three chapters consisting of methodological and ethical considerations and resulting sub-studies, each represented by an article that examines the research question from a macro, meso, and micro perspective.
The first article focuses on the macro level, analysing if and how the concepts of multilingualism, metacognition and crosslinguistic awareness are present in a set of 27 national curriculum documents, ranging from the school curricula for the subject German, the national guidelines for upper secondary teacher education and local university teacher study programme statements, each of which has a guiding influence on the design of the Danish and Norwegian teacher education. While the qualitative document analysis shows a general presence of the concepts, their manifestation varies between the countries studied and across the different levels. In Denmark, multilingualism appears mainly at the level of university study programmes and seems surprisingly absent from the upper secondary school curriculum for German. In Norway, on the other hand, multilingualism is strongly represented in the school curriculum for foreign languages, but not so strongly in the guidelines for upper secondary teacher training or in the analysed study programmes. In general, the Danish documents seem to be more detailed and prescriptive than the Norwegian ones. This restricts the teachers and teacher educators to a greater extent and suggests a top-down approach, where the political agenda of multilingual approaches is first established at the teacher educator level and then passed on to practising teachers. In Norway, the governmental focus on multilingualism seems to be intended to spread bottom-up from the school level.
The second article moves from the macro perspective to the meso perspective of teaching practice and examines how the curricula are applied in practical university teaching. Through a series of observations, six university lecturers – three in Denmark and three in Norway – are audio-recorded in German language classes. In combination with follow-up interviews with five of these lecturers, the study aims to investigate to what extent and how the lecturers incorporate a multilingual approach to language learning in their teaching. Using a triangulated design consisting of the observer’s external perspective, the observee’s own assessment of their practice, and a more general assessment of the lecturers’ views and beliefs about multilingual teaching approaches, the study finds minor discrepancies between the lecturers’ self-perceptions and the observer’s assessments. Furthermore, the analysis finds no direct correlation between the informants’ beliefs and their practice. While some educators oppose a multilingual approach to language teaching approach that promotes crosslinguistic awareness because they believe that their students have too little linguistic metaknowledge, the same educators do not necessarily teach completely monolingually. The general opinion on multilingual teaching methods tends to be positive, but educators seem to lack the necessary knowledge and skills on how to integrate multilingual teaching into their lessons. This finding is in line with previous studies conducted in school settings.
The third article focuses on the micro level by analysing the teaching materials currently used in German upper secondary teacher training programmes in the form of grammar books. Using ‘voice’ as a linguistic case, the study aims to examine the linguistic and pedagogical suitability of grammatical descriptions from a crosslinguistic viewpoint. The analysis shows a wide variation of terminology across the six books studied. Furthermore, the study finds few examples for direct crosslinguistic applicability. Thus, the study suggests that adjustments to the current teaching materials are needed to provide a basis for a crosslinguistic approach. In addition, the study suggests possible areas in which the currently used grammar books can contribute to promoting general language awareness, which is seen as one of the initial factors for crosslinguistic awareness.
The discussion chapter synthesizes the findings from the three articles, evaluating the methodological approaches and their implications. The final chapter critically reviews the findings and acknowledges methodological shortcomings, emphasizing the need for further research.
In conclusion, the thesis supports previous national and international research findings and implications, advocating for continued efforts to better understand and improve multilingual teaching approaches. It highlights the importance of collaboration between researchers and practitioners, including teachers and teacher educators. The findings underscore the necessity of addressing societal demands and political guidelines in conjunction with the educational sector to effectively integrate these elements into teacher training.
Has parts
Paper I: Nielsen, M. S. (2021). Are future L3-German teachers prepared to increase students' metacognition and crosslinguistic awareness in the multilingual classroom? An analysis of teacher education programs at Danish and Norwegian universities. Globe: A Journal of Language, Culture and Communication. Globe: A Journal of Language, Culture and Communication, 12, 48-66. https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/globe/article/view/6498 Published version. Full-text is available in AURA as a separate file: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2728598Paper II: Nielsen, M. S. (2022). Sprachenübergreifendes Bewusstsein in der universitären Lehre – Eine empirische Untersuchung von Lehrpersonen im DaF-Studium in Dänemark und Norwegen. Zeitschrift für Interkulturellen Fremdsprachenunterricht, 27 (1), 285-317. https://zif.tujournals.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/article/id/3375/ Published version. Full-text is available in AURA as a separate file: https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3086610
Paper III: Nielsen, M. S. (Manuscript). Tværsproglige perspektiver i tyskstudiets sprogfag – en beskrivelse af danske, norske og tyske grammatikker.