Review of Handlungsorientierter Fremdsprachenunterricht. |
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Review: |
Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 10:03:31 +0900 From: Guido Oebel Subject: Handlungsorientierter Fremdsprachenunterricht (Action-orinted FLL)
AUTHOR: Linthout, Gisela EDITOR: Herrlitz, Wolfgang; Schmitz-Schwamborn, Gabriele; Veldenz- Dunne, Monika; Vijgen, Mathi TITLE: Handlungsorientierter Fremdsprachenunterricht [Action-orientation in the Foreign Language Classroom] SUBTITLE: Ein Trainingsprogramm zur Kompetenzentwicklung für den Beruf [A Training Program for the Development of Job-related Competences] SERIES: Deutsch: Studien zum Sprachunterricht und zur Interkulturellen Didaktik 6 [German: Studies in Language Teaching and Intercultural Didactics 6] PUBLISHER: Rodopi YEAR: 2003
Guido Oebel, Universities of Saga and Kurume (Japan)
SYNOPSIS Linthout's book can be regarded a compendium summarizing the outcomes of an international project which professional training schools from five European countries (Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland) with funding provided by the European Commission participated in. It claims to offer practical suggestions for the gradual implementation of action-orientation in the FLL- classroom, particularly of German as a Foreign Language (DaF). Throughout her book, the author proves to be a strong advocate of adequate up-to-date approaches such as action-orientation and learner- centredness which both seem much better suited to convincingly overcome communication problems no matter whether in ones mother tongue or in any foreign language. These two utmost constructivist approaches enable language learners through mainly authentic situations and tasks to improve and apply their language skills thus resulting in sustainable retaining learning effects whereas traditional instructivist learning environments exclusively used to focus on isolated grammatical and lexical units with little such desirable effect. The linguistic tasks and suggestions for the DaF-classroom presented in the book are based on situations in which the learners have to cope with problems arising from their non-proficiency in the respective foreign language in order to solve them. To this end, there are manifold authentic situations taken from the daily job routines such as commercial correspondence with business partners abroad, the planning of joint projects, the cognitive and linguistic understanding of forms, regulations, manuals, etc., thus constituting an increasingly demand of foreign language competence among learners by meeting the respective requirements within a virtual learning process. As, according to Linthout, job-routines are inevitably connected to performing activities in foreign languages the major objective of FLL within professional training ought to be creating the job-related ability to act in foreign languages.
As already extensively described in the preceding paragraph, the present training program aims at implementing action-orientation in the foreign language classroom. To this end, it focuses on the second part of the project records for teachers employed with professional training institutions. Following two introducing chapters containing a general as well as a more detailed description of the educational concept in question, the two major parts of the book consist of four modules (1. The Didactic Approach of the Action-oriented Classroom, 2. Action- oriented Approaches, 3. Project Work, 4. Internationalization and Intercultural Learning) and two so-called dossiers (1. Action-oriented Teacher Training, 2. Company Exploration, i.e. explicitly not just a visit to the works!).
Each modular chapter follows a constant pattern: the depiction of a somehow basic theoretical knowledge regarding action-orientation is followed by essential features of respective approaches. From there, action-orientation inherent implications, opportunities as well as restrictions during its implementation in the foreign language classroom are discussed and reflected through successfully attempting to give sound answers to question from practice. Each chapter concludes with an appendix offering supplementary material such as hypotheses and quotations for further discussion.
CRITICAL EVALUATION In my opinion, Linthout's training program on the implementation of action-orientation in the foreign language classroom fills convincingly the obvious gap in the specialist book market by eventually providing an appropriate handbook on action-orientation and foreign language teaching at professional training schools. She addresses mainly teachers of foreign languages encouraging them to turn away from the traditional chalk and talk teaching to constantly integrating their students in creating and thus increasingly participating in classroom design. Despite the book being overdue, the time of appearance of Linthout's book seems still to be somehow ideal as it follows the heated discussions on the disastrous specific German results of the recently published PISA-survey. Thus, at least the willingness recently arising among German decision-makers on education policy to substantially rethink inevitable changes in favour of more action- oriented and learner-centred teaching methods ought to pave the way for implementing such kind of extremely anthropological and humanistic approaches for the benefit of both, teachers and learners of whom at least some few of the last-mentioned will be tomorrow's teachers themselves.
As, at least to my knowledge and experience, no other up-to-date teaching approach promotes in addition to specialized knowledge more adequately the so-called soft skills, implementing action-orientation in the foreign language classroom might be considered a highly valuable contribution to creating a variety of competences necessary for members of any society to tackle imminent social problems worldwide. In order to surmount the politico-educational anachronism of instructivistic teaching, Linthout's book offers a highly welcome and individually adaptable manual on constructional classroom design emphasising the idea of active, experiencing learners in a situation where knowledge is not transmitted to them but constructed through activity and social interaction. The book's chapters are designed so that teachers who so far have not dared to at least partially implement aspects of action-orientation in their own classroom are provided with a soft lead-in to the constructional theory enriched with exemplary classroom suggestions. In addition, the theoretical background as well as the concrete examples are applicable to foreign languages other than German with only slight adaptations.
The book has, as I see it, only one minor drawback: the author only peripherally mentions LdL (Lernen durch Lehren [Learning through Teaching]), which was invented by Jean-Pol Martin, Professor of French Didactics at the Catholic University of Eichstaett (Germany) almost two decades ago. LdL is the most radical version of applied learner-autonomous approaches and has achieved astonishingly convincing results,. However, perhaps Linthout intentionally did not deal more extensively with LdL as this variation radically promoting learner-autonomy addresses mainly teachers who at least should be familiar with the basics of constructivist theories.
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ABOUT THE REVIEWER:
ABOUT THE REVIEWER Guido Oebel, Ph. D. in comparative linguistics, holds university degrees in translation studies, adult education and German as Foreign Language and is currently employed as associate and visiting professor, respectively, at the Universities of Saga and Kurume (Japan). His main interests of research are: FLL, especially L2-L3 acquisition and cross- linguistic transfers, and constructional and intrinsic FLL (games, movies, pop music, role-playing). |
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Versions: |
Format: |
Loose Leaf |
ISBN: |
9042011289 |
ISBN-13: |
N/A
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Pages: |
188 |
Prices: |
U.S. $
52
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