CONSTANZE NIEDERHAUS
Paderborn University, Germany
Constanze Niederhaus is currently a Professor of German as a Second Language and Multilingualism at the Institute of German Language and Comparative Literature at the University of Paderborn, Germany. She previously held positions as a Visiting Professor of Multilingualism in Education at the School of Education at the University of Wuppertal, Germany, and as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, where she taught and conducted research in the field of German as a Second Language. Constanze Niederhaus completed her PhD in Educational Science, specializing in Business Education, at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, where she worked as a Research Assistant on several language education projects. She has also taught and conducted research in China and the UK, and holds degrees in German Studies, Linguistics, and Sociology.
Ponencias
The Relevance of Language in Physical Education in Germany

Inglés Presencial Presentación Congreso Internacional de Lenguas

Although migration to Germany has been an important topic for many years, the number of recently migrated children and teenagers has significantly increased in the last decade. This has led to the task of integrating children with little or no German language proficiency into the educational system across all school subjects, including Physical Education (PE) classes. PE classes, in particular, are seen as helpful for integrating non-native German speaking students into existing class contexts. Consequently, an interdisciplinary team has been formed between the chairs of German as a Second Language and Didactics of Physical Education at the University of Paderborn. Since PE classes not only focus on developing physical skills but also promote a reflective approach to sports, workouts, and health issues, the importance of German as a language of instruction becomes even more relevant for teaching and learning in this field. As the integration of language learning in PE classes is a relatively new area of research, the current findings represent a needs assessment. To achieve the long-term goal of developing practical guidelines to support (subject-specific) language acquisition in PE classes, the curricula for PE classes across all school forms in North Rhine-Westphalia were analyzed to determine in how far language is required to achieve official learning goals. The results presented at this congress demonstrate the importance of language in obtaining and demonstrating competences acquired throughout PE lessons and will be discussed with regard to its potential for PE in Germany as well as for international schools worldwide.

Ponentes: ALEXANDRA TREDER CONSTANZE NIEDERHAUS ELKE GRIMMINGER-SEIDENSTICKER

Professionalization Materials for Teachers at Vocational Schools: A content-language integrated online course for the subject of Nutrition and Home Economics

Inglés Virtual Presentación Congreso Internacional de Lenguas

This presentation reports on a self-study course concept created for and used by (prospective) vocational school teachers of Nutrition and Home Economics at Paderborn University, Germany. The course aims at integrating content on (subject-specific) teacher professionalization and a focus on German as a language of instruction. The importance of such course materials for teacher professionalization results from the specifics of the German school system in conjecture with ongoing social developments in the context of (forced) migration to Germany. These developments necessitate future educators at vocational schools to be able to foster their students’ German language competence in order for them to successfully complete the program. Among other things, this renders the development of future educators’ proficiency in connecting and fostering language and subject-specific learning in the classroom highly significant. In addition to providing insights into the online course structure, its objectives, and teaching and learning methodology used as well as results from its qualitative evaluation, the presentation addresses the question whether and how the materials can be transferred and used in the wider context of content-language integrated learning (CLIL). Preliminary results suggest that participants in the course appreciate the close connection between a focus on language and concrete situations relevant to the respective job context. They report that this helps them recognize the relevance of language awareness and language focused teaching in subject-specific contexts as well as develop a sense of responsibility when it comes to the integrated cultivation of language and content literacies.

Ponentes: FREYA DEHN ANJA MEYER CONSTANZE NIEDERHAUS

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