Language Acquisition and Language Teaching

[Translate to English:] Teacher at work

The Chair for Language Acquisition and Language Teaching is first and foremost responsible for the training of future teachers of English at the primary and early secondary level. It focuses all aspects of teaching and learning the English language as well as teaching and learning about English-speaking cultures and literatures. In the didactic courses the future teachers learn theoretical and empirical basics of teaching English. They also gain first insights into the design of goal-oriented language learning situations and develop their ability to analyse teaching experiences based on scientific categories. In addition to these key skills, thedidactic courses also provide insights into the development of English teaching, its goals and its educational policy context.

 

News

office hours

please request appointments via email

 

News/Events

Erfurt Lectures in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

  • Online presentation November 10, 2020, 2-4pm

          "Specific aspects of English language teachers‘ professional development: transcultural

           awareness and transcultural competences"

           Prof. Dr. Britta Viebrock, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

 

  • Online presentation January 26, 2021, 2-4pm

          "Zum Einsatz mehrsprachiger (Lese-) Texte aus der Perspektive der Fremdsprachendidaktik"

          Prof. Dr. Daniela Elsner, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

October 23rd 2020 LiLLT - Taking Literature Online in Times of Crisis - Online Symposium

TAKING LITERATURE ONLINE IN TIMES OF CRISIS - ONLINE SYMPOSIUM
Friday, October 23rd 2020
14:00 – 17:00 CET

 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

“This is a time when we need art more than ever. We need art to remind us why life is worth living. We need art to reawaken our sense of the wonder of being, to remind us of our freedom and to highlight the things in our cultures that enable us to withstand the dreaded visage of death.”
Ben Okri, Financial Times, 21.3.2020.
This statement, made by the novelist Ben Okri just before lockdown in the UK began, has been echoed in the past few months over and over again by writers, musicians, theatre directors and artists in all media. Where literature is concerned, the role of literary creations in human life was demonstrated over and over again as theatres turned to streaming plays online, Zoom plays were written and performed by actors in remote locations, online book clubs were set up, the phenomenon of the lockdown film led to a lockdown film festival and literary adaptations for the screen became huge broadcasting phenomena.
For us as teachers, scholars and researchers many questions arise. Is the literary canon changing? Will we see different genres emerging from the pandemic? How do we teach literature online? How do learners react to being taught literature online? Our first online symposium will celebrate the vitality of literary response to the pandemic and serve as a platform for researching the phenomena we have witnessed.
We are inviting proposals that will address issues in teaching and researching literature in language learning and teaching in the new environment. Each presentation (either an asynchronous screencast video or a synchronous input talk) will last 10 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of discussion and questions.

Abstracts of 200-250 words should be submitted by email to lillt@ku.de by Monday, 10.09.2020

  • Timeline:
    • Presenters notified: 14.9.2020
    • Presenter registration/confirmation: 1.10.2020
    • Participant registration by: 20.10.2020
    • Symposium: 23.10.2020
  • Convenors:
    • Prof. Petra Kirchhoff, University of Erfurt
    • Prof. Amos Paran, UCL Institute of Education
    • Dr. Sandra Stadler-Heer, Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt

Podcast #werkstattgespräche

The podcast #werkstattgespräche  interviewed Prof. Dr. Petra Kirchhoff about her work in the Task Force "Digital Teaching at Erfurt University" #11 Digitalisierung der Hochschullehre Teil 3

 

+++canceled +++ May 27 2020 Workshop Dramapädagogik im Rahmen der Erfurt Lectures in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Workshop May 27 2020, 12-15 Uhr, Raum: IBZ, Michaelisstraße 38, 99084 Erfurt

 

Dramapädagogik im Fremdsprachenunterricht: kleine Formate mit großer Wirkung

Prof. Dr. Dagmar Abendroth-Timmer, Universität Siegen

Dramapädagogik im Fremdsprachenunterricht bezeichnet relativ unkompliziert einsetzbare Methoden, die Prozesse sozial-emotionaler, leiblicher und sprachlicher Bildung in den Mittelpunkt rücken. Dramapädagogische Verfahren sind ganzheitlich in dem Sinne, als dass sie grundsätzlich den Zusammenhang von Sprache, Emotionen, Interaktionen und Körper/Leib nutzen.

Gerade das Improvisationstheater liefert vielfältige Verfahren, die zugleich für individualisierende Ansätze geeignet sind. Es werden immer alle Lernenden einbezogen und aktiviert. Dabei werden die Selbst- und die Fremdwahrnehmung und die soziale Interaktion in der Gruppe entwickelt.

Vor allem ist Improvisationstheater mit viel Spielfreude und Spaß verbunden. Das wollen wir im Workshop gemeinsam erfahren. Wir wollen lernen, Spielimpulse anzunehmen und mit der Gruppe ins Spiel zu kommen.

Achtung: Improvisationstheater ist Körpertheater! Bitte tragen Sie leichte, bequeme Kleidung und rutschfeste Schuhe mit weicher Sohle.

Die Teilnahme ist, falls nicht anders vermerkt, kostenlos und wird als Lehrerfortbildung anerkannt.

ANMELDUNG per E-Mail an: susanne.grimm@uni-erfurt.de

+++canceled +++ August 9-14 2020 AILA World Congress

S128: ReN: Broadening Perspectives: Theorising, Researching and Practising Literature in Language Teaching

 

Featured speaker: Wolfgang Hallet, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen

This LiLLT ReN symposium focuses on theoretical and empirical issues in using literature in language classrooms. We call for papers and posters focusing on patterns and paradigms in integrating literature in language curricula at all educational levels, employing both established and innovative practical methods, theoretical stances and empirical research methods.

Keywords: language learning, literature, paradigms, research methods

Registration via: https://www.aila2020.nl/registration

Extended symposium description:

This symposium, organised by the Literature in Language Learning and Teaching (LiLLT) ReN convenors Sandra Stadler-Heer, Petra Kirchhoff and Amos Paran, with Wolfgang Hallet as featured speaker, focuses on the use of literature in language classrooms and on researching literature within applied linguistics. The longstanding and strong preoccupation with the practical problems of integrating literature in language curricula in secondary and tertiary education contexts has recently resulted in a revived interest in theorising and researching this area. For this symposium, we invite papers focusing on investigations of (new) patterns and paradigms, both theoretical and empirical. This includes the widening of the scope of literature to include a wide variety of multimodal texts as well as activities such as fanfiction, poetry writing and gaming, as well as widening the focus evolving from a reliance on what has variously been called “practitioner evidence” or “best practice literature” to employing a variety of educational and applied linguistics research methodologies to look at issues such as teacher and learner beliefs, the actual use of literature in classrooms, and curriculum and textbook research among others. The symposium will thus provide the floor for empirically informed discussions of theorising, researching and practicing literature in language teaching.

29-31 August 2019 LiLLT Conference, University of Erfurt

Research in Literature in Language Learning Environments: Patterns and Possibilities

University of Erfurt, 29-31 August 2019

Publications

Schilcher, Anita; Krauss, Stefan; Kirchhoff, Petra; Lindl, Alfred; Hilbert, Sven et al. (2021). FALKE: Experiences from transdisciplinary educational research by fourteen disciplines. Frontiers in Education (5). online available: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.579982/abstract

Legutke, Michael; Klippel, Friederike & Kirchhoff, Petra (in preparation, 2021). Fremdsprachendidaktische Forschung im Kontext. In Daniela Caspari, Michael Legutke, Friederike Klippel & Karen Schramm (Hrsg.), Forschungsmethoden in der Fremdsprachendidaktik. Ein Handbuch (2. überarbeitete). Tübigen: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag.

Sgolik, Julia; Ziegler, Thorsten & Kirchhoff, Petra (in preparation, 2021). Medienpädagogische Kompetenzmodellierungen für das Lehren und Lernen mit und über digitale Medien. In Markus Seifert & Sven Jöckel (Hrsg.), Bildung, Wissen und Kompetenz(-en) in digitalen Medien (Digital Communication Research).

Petra Kirchhoff und Sandra Stadler-Heer (2019). "Lehrerhandreichungen als Wissensquelle für lebenslanges Lernen von Fremdsprachenlehrkräften." Eds. Dorottya Ruisz, Petra Rauschert und Engelbert Thaler. Living Language Teaching - Lehrwerke und Unterrichtsmaterialien im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Tübingen: Narr, 157-172.

Stadler-Heer, Sandra (2019). "Key Concept: Inclusion." English Language Teaching Journal. 73:2, 219-222. Open Access Publication: https://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/73/2/219/5382606

Kirchhoff, Petra und Anita Schilcher (2019). Interkulturelles und literarisches Lernen mit der Musik der Beatles im fachübergreifenden Unterricht. In: Gabriele Puffer, Andreas Becker, Franz Körndle und Kilian Sprau (Hg.): Musik – Pädagogik – Professionalität. Festschrift für Bernhard Hofmann zum 60. Geburtstag. Innsbruck: Helbling, 321-332.

Kirchhoff, Petra (2019). Kanondiskussion und Textauswahl. In: Klaus Stierstorfer und Christiane Lütge (Hg.): Grundthemen der Literaturwissenschaft. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 219-230.

Kirchhoff, Petra; Sonnleitner, Magdalena; Prock, Stefan; Rank, Astrid (Hg.) (2018): Video- und Audiografie von Unterricht in der LehrerInnenbildung. Planung und Durchführung aus methodologischer, technisch-organisatorischer, ethisch-datenschutzrechtlicher und inhaltlicher Perspektive. Stuttgart: UTB.

Stadler, Sandra (2018). “Recent Trends and Themes in South African English Children’s Fiction.” Routledge Companion to International Children’s Literature. Ed. John Stephens. New York: Routledge. 458-465.

Projects and research

Lehrerprofessionforschung im Fach Englisch ("Teacher proficiency research")

The group "Teacher proficiency research" aims at consolidating, deepening and expanding activities in empirical educational research, subject didactics and other school-relevant scientific disciplines at the University of Erfurt which are directed towards teacher education. These are to be more closely coordinated within this research group. The founding members initially focus on the subjects English and History as well as Educational Science.

Forschungscampus digitale Lehrer*innenbildung ("Research Campus for Digital Teacher Education", Head of Project: Prof. Dr. Petra Kirchhoff, 2020-2024)

The project Research Campus for Digital Teacher Education will help shaping the digital change in education, because the key to the success of digitisation in education lies, among other things, in the comprehensive training of teachers (KMK 2016 and 2019.). These are the project's goals:

  • Goal 1: Consolidating and enhancing of existing research on digital education in the subject and on subject-specific, didactics and interdisciplinary education with digital media in schools and universities
  • Goal 2: Conceptualizing, evaluating and consolidating innovative elements of evidence-based digital teacher education
  • Goal 3: Developing best practice examples as well as conceptualizing and communication criteria to identify best practice examples of digital education in educational institutions in Thuringia
  • Goal 4: Establishing a network among Thuringian educational institutions for the design and research of teacher training in the course of digitisation in individual subjects and in teducational sciences

In addition, the Research Campus for Digital Teacher Education sees itself as an umbrella project to strengthen the innovative power of the University of Erfurt in digital teacher education. Furthermore it enables scientists in the fields of educational science, individual disciplines and ther accompanying didactics to successfully participate in calls for third-party funding for researching the challenges of digitisation in education.

Literature in Language Learning and Teaching Research Network (LiLLT ReN)

Literature in Language Learning and Teaching Research Network (LiLLT ReN)

LiLLT ReN

The use of literary texts in language classrooms is firmly established in many foreign and second language secondary and post-secondary school contexts. In countries such as Germany, the Nordic countries and Hong Kong literature is a compulsory part of English as a Foreign Language Curricula. In the UK, literary texts are now included in the new National Curriculum for MFL in England, and in the Netherlands literature is a compulsory part of the learning of foreign languages at secondary level. In tertiary education contexts, there has long been a strong preoccupation with the integration of literature and language curricula.

This resurgence in the interest in literature has been accompanied by a revival in researching this area. However, much of what would be classified as research on literature in language teaching is either conceptual research or what has variously been called “practitioner evidence” or “best practice literature”. Research that is strongly rooted in educational research methodology or in applied linguistics methodology is only now beginning to emerge.

The Literature in Language Learning and Teaching Research Network (LiLLT ReN) aims to work towards establishing this area of research as an important element of applied linguistics and educational research. Our group currently includes 38 participants from more than 15 different countries. They bring expertise in various areas within LiLLT research to the network. The ReN includes scholars at different stages of their career, ranging from PhD students to highly experienced academics, all of whom will strive to advance LiLLT research and applied linguistics through their individual, different disciplinary and cultural experiences and lenses.

If you are actively involved in researching LiLLT and are interested in joining the network, please contact the two LiLLT ReN convenors, Petra Kirchhoff, Sandra Stadler-Heer and Amos Paran.

Our mission:

  • Continuing to raise the profile of research into the use of literature in language classrooms within applied linguistics
  • Encouraging dialogue and cooperation between researchers working on the learning of different languages
  • Encouraging dialogue and cooperation between researchers working in this area from multiple perspectives (e.g. students’ learning processes and teachers’ professional knowledge, beliefs and motivation

AILA

Our Research Network works under the auspices of AILA, the International Association of Applied Linguistics, which organizes an international congress every three years. The next AILA World Congress will take place August 9-14, 2020 at The University of Groningen, in Groningen, The Netherlands. Visit the Congress website <aila2020.nl> for more detailed information about the venue and the conference.

Our network will be present with a ReN symposium in Groningen. The programme will be available in May 2020. Watch this space!

Events (upcoming and previous)

UPCOMING EVENTS

09-14. August 2020, AILA World Congress, Groningen

Symposium 128: ReN: Broadening Perspectives: Theorising, Researching and Practising Literature in Language Teaching

Featured speaker: Wolfgang Hallet, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen

This LiLLT ReN symposium focuses on theoretical and empirical issues in using literature in language classrooms. We call for papers and posters focusing on patterns and paradigms in integrating literature in language curricula at all educational levels, employing both established and innovative practical methods, theoretical stances and empirical research methods.

Symposium organisers:
Sandra Stadler-Heer, Petra Kirchhoff und Amos Paran

18 – 20 June 2020 International Conference
Picturebooks and graphic narratives in education and translation:
Mediation and multimodality

CETAPS – Nova University Lisbon, Colégio Almada Negreiros,
Campus de Campolide, 1099-085 Lisbon

Conference convenors:
Sandie Mourão – Research Fellow CETAPS, FCSH, Nova University Lisbon
Karen Bennett – Assistant Professor, FCSH, Nova University Lisbon

PREVIOUS EVENTS

29-31. August 2019 LiLLT Conference, University of Erfurt, Germany

8-12. April 2018 AILA LiLLT ReN Symposion at the 52nd IATEFL Conference in Brighton, UK

Convenors and Members

Convenors

Petra Kirchhoff, University of Erfurt, Germany
Amos Paran, UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
Sandra Stadler-Heer, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany

 

Members

Australia
Natalie Edwards, University of Adelaide
Christopher Hogarth, University of South Australia

Austria
Susanne Reichl, University of Vienna

Canada
Sunny Man Chu Lau, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke

China
Geoff Hall, University of Nottingham Ningbo

Finland
Emilia Luukka, University of Tampere

Germany
Eva Burwitz-Melzer, University of Giessen
Meike Hethey, University of Bremen
Christian Ludwig, University of Education, Karlsruhe
Annett Kaminski, University of Koblenz-Landau, Campus Landau
Petra Kirchhoff, University of Erfurt
Friederike Klippel, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
Sandra Stadler-Heer, University of Erfurt
Ivo Steininger, University of Paderborn

Hong Kong SAR
Art Tsang, University of Hong Kong and UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

Italy
Licia Masoni, University of Bologna

Japan
Gary Fogal, Sophia University, Tokyo
Atsushi Iida, Gunma University
Kyoko Kutze, Toyo University
Christina Tat, Kwansei Gakuin University

Malta
Daniel Xerri, University of Malta

Norway
Janice Bland, Nord University, Bodø
Lise Kulbrandstad, Inland Norway University of Applied Science and Karlstad University, Sweden

Poland
Camilla Badstübner-Kizik, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan

Portugal
Sandie Mourão, Nova University, Lisbon

Russia
Marina Kulinich, Samara State University

Spain
Jelena Bobkina, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid
Elena Dominguez Romero, Universidad Complutense Madrid
Agustín Reyes Torres, Universitat de València
Svetlana Stefanova Radoulska, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja

Sweden
Eva Fjällström, Luleå University of Technology and Åbo Akademi University, Finland

The Netherlands
Jasmijn Bloemert, University of Groningen
Tatia Gruenbaum, Avans University of Applied Science, Breda and UCL Institute of Education, London, UK
Ewout van der Knaap, Universiteit Utrecht

UK
Ana Bela Almeida, University of Liverpool
Fotini Diamantidaki, UCL Institute of Education, London
Christian Jones, University of Liverpool
Clifford Kast, University of Roehampton and UCL Institute of Education, London
Christina Lima, University of Leicester
Amos Paran, UCL Institute of Education, London
Jane Spiro, Oxford Brookes University

USA
John Benjamin, University of Texas at Austin
David Gramling, University of Arizona
David Ian Hanauer, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Kate Paesani, University of Minnesota
Per Urlaub, Middlebury College
Kimberly Vinall, De Anza College
Chantelle Warner, University of Arizona

Contact

Contact for queries regarding membership: 

Petra Kirchhoff (further information)
Chair of English Language Teaching and Learning Research
Erfurt University
Nordhäuser Str. 63
99089 Erfurt, Germany
E-mail: petra.kirchhoff@uni-erfurt.de

Amos Paran (further information)
Department of Culture, Communication and Media
UCL Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL, UK
E-mail: a.paran@ucl.ac.uk

Contact for queries regarding the website or events:

Sandra Stadler-Heer (further information)
Department of English and American Studies
Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Ostenstraße 26
85072 Eichstätt, Germany
 sandra.stadler-heer@ku.de

DocNet Language Education

Goals of the group:

DocNet Language Education brings together foreign language didacticians from the universities of Munich, Graz, Erfurt, and Klagenfurt to train doctoral students. Research in foreign language didactics today is characterized by a wide range of different approaches and methods, thus an international, cross-lingual and interdisciplinary exchange is of great advantage for young academics. The annual joint conferences of DocNet Language Education are organised by Prof. Friederike Klippel (LMU Munich - emeritus), Prof. Christiane Lütge (LMU Munich - formerly Münster), Prof. Dr. Sarah Mercer (Karl-Franzens-University Graz), Prof. Petra Kirchhoff (University of Erfurt - formerly Regensburg) and Prof. Werner Delanoy (University of Klagenfurt). During the conferences doctoral students get the opportunity to present and discuss scientific questions and aspects of research methodology in a larger circle and thus learn from each other. In addition, presentation and discussion skills will be tested and analysed. The long-term transnational contacts established at these conferences help young academics to carry out their research projects and create valuable networks in the field of foreign language didactics.

Previous conferences:

2019 - 7th International Conference. June 7-9 / Strobl (Austria). Critical Friend: Prof. Dr. Ernesto Macaro, University of Oxford, UK.

2018 - 6th International Conference: Research Methods in Fachdidaktik. May 9-12 / Klagenfurt (Austria). Critical friend: Univ.-Prof. Henry Widdowson, University of Vienna, Austria.

2017 - 5th International Conference: New Perspectives in Foreign Language Teaching Research. May 25-27 / Strobl (Austria). Critical friends: Prof. Amos Paran, University College London, UK and Prof. Elaine Horwitz, University of Texas, USA.

2016 - 4th International Conference: Challenges in foreign language teaching research (Herausforderungen fremdsprachendidaktischer Forschung). May 4-7 / Strobl (Austria). Critical friend: Prof. Dr. David Nunan, Anheim University, USA.

2015 - 3rd International Conference: Critical Thinking in SLA – Research Questions, Theories, Methods (Kritisches Denken in der Sprachlehr- und Sprachlernforschung - Forschungsfragen, Theorien, Methoden). June 4-7 / Strobl (Austria). Critical friend: Prof. Michael Legutke, Saint Mary's University Halifax, Canada.

2014 - 2nd International Conference. Investigating language education: Research questions, decisions and Methods.  May, 1- 4 / Strobl (Austria). Critical friend: Prof. Karen Schramm, University of Vienna

2013 - 1st International Conference. Qualitative approaches to research in language learning and teaching: Exploring complexity, diversity and uniqueness in data. May 9-12 / Strobl (Austria). Critical friend: Prof. Alan Waters, University of Lancaster, UK

Team

Chair

Name
Position
E-Mail
Phone

Lecturers and research assistants

Name
Position
E-Mail
Phone

Delegated teachers

Name
Position
E-Mail
Phone