Student teachers support teachers of German as a Second Language – and everyone is a winner

Beate Diederichs

In the seminar “The interplay between language acquisition, interculturalism and pedagogical relationships,” teacher training students support teachers in their lessons for German as a Second Language [Deutsch als Zweitsprache (DaZ)]. Then, they evaluate their results scientifically in the university-based portion of the seminar and refine them. It is a win-win situation for teachers, students and language learners, says Julia Welchering, seminar leader and coordinator of the project “Language acquisition in the interplay of intercultural pedagogical relationships,” of which the seminar is a part.

Practical experience is always useful. From interning in a school and teaching one’s own lessons or acting as helper in a classroom, future teachers are happy to have the opportunity to work with their future target group, even before their eventual preparatory period – the “Referendariat.” The workshop seminar “The interplay between language acquisition, interculturalism and pedagogical relationships,” in the supplementary subject area German as a Second Language at the Institute for German Studies, offers just such an opportunity. “We follow the service-learning principle: The participants support the DaZ teachers in their classrooms without taking on entire lessons themselves. They watch how teachers and learners interact and record their results in observation logs,” explains Julia Welchering. Two of her students described a language learning game – a complex pedagogical situation – that they witnessed: They noted details on the role of the teacher, his intentions and the competitive behavior of the students among themselves. “All in all, they took a great deal away with them,” says the instructor, praising the activity.

She and her colleague Frank Beier work with students during the university-based portion of the seminar. Following an introduction to the material, they help the students to organize their observations from practice and create a well-founded reflective log. “The students are active in the schools on a voluntary basis and are rewarded to a certain extent through the experience they gain. Sometimes they even stay in contact with the teachers after the end of the seminar. That can lead to further opportunities for practical experience or exchange,” says Julia Welchering.

The instructor coordinates an umbrella project with a similar title: “Interplay of language acquisition and intercultural pedagogical relationships.” Once the students have passed the seminar, they receive credit points. The course is open to all teacher training students. “Previously, only DaZ students participated,” says Julia Welchering. Up to twelve students can register per semester for the seminar. It will take place for the second time in the winter semester of 2018/19. Julia Viehof, a student training to become a teacher for vocational schools, took part in the workshop seminar as part of her continuing education for German as a Second Language. “The assignments in elementary schools were a wonderful opportunity for me to test myself in practical terms. I had never worked with elementary school students before. Working with this group really expanded my pedagogical horizon. I can only recommend this experience,” she concluded.

The school she described is the elementary school “Johanna,” which the organizers were able to win over as a cooperation partner. There, the DaZ teacher Holm Buchner supervises the students during the lessons. They hope to welcome a secondary school to the mix soon as well. The future, however, is uncertain. At the end of 2019, the project that the seminar is part of will end. That would eliminate the benefits that the seminar has to offer, where the students gain their first teaching experience and the teachers get regular, knowledgeable help in their lessons, and the learners benefit from an improved teacher-student ratio and contact to young people with pedagogical skills.

This article was published on November 27, 2018, in the 19/2018 Dresden Universitätsjournal. You can download the full issue as a PDF for free here. You can also order the UJ in print or as a PDF from doreen.liesch@tu-dresden.de. More information is available at universitaetsjournal.de.