Is Segregated Language Support Fit for Purpose? Insights From German Language Support Classes in Austria

<p style="text-align: justify;">In Austria, segregated German language support classes (GLSC) were introduced in the school year 2018/19 to intensively support students who had previously little or no contact with German, the official language of instruction. These classes have been widely criticised; however, a formal evaluation of their effects has yet to be published. In absence of this evaluation, this article describes the language support model as it currently exists in Austria and reviews existing evidence about its efficacy. The literature review synthesises findings from educational research undertaken in other contexts that offer insight into features of ‘good practice’ in language support models. The article then explores the extent to which GLSC comply with these features. As such, this review allows insights into ways of ensuring students’ language and socio-emotional development – all central aspects of academic success – in language support models. It therefore allows research-informed understanding of the effects of the newly implemented model of German support classes in Austria and makes recommendations for further development.</p>

BOOSTING STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION IN THE PROCESS OF STUDYING PRACTICAL COURSE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE DURING DISTANCE LEARNING

The article considers the question of boosting motivation of language specialty students during distance learning. The problem of increasing students’ motivation during distance learning is complex, completely unresolved and relevant. It is closely related to the questions of lesson organization and conducting, ways of intensifying students’ cognitive activities in the study group, the ability to provide constructive support and exchange views on different topics. The purpose of the given article is to check on the basis of the obtained practical results what means and methods can increase students’ motivation in the process of studying practical course of the German language. It is established that the crucial prerequisite for successful online learning is a conscious consideration of the motivational factor and the ability to manage it throughout the learning process. The effective factors of online lessons are indicated in the paper: well-selected and prepared material, teaching methods tested by experience and based on technical tools on various educational platforms, selected, structured and appropriately used content, forms and teaching aids. The means and methods of boosting students’ motivation in the process of studying Practical course of the German language are analyzed, considering the specific nature of this subject. It is established that the implementation of the conceptual ideas of education is carried out with the help of information technology, which is based on the fundamental didactic principles – activation, autonomy, constructiveness and a special role is paid to the whole study group. The functions and tasks of the tutor, his role in the formation of a sense of group unity in order to intensify students’ activities during distance learning are revealed. Recommendations for boosting students’ motivation in the process of online studying Practical course of the German language are developed.

The Optimism–Pessimism Short Scale–2 (SOP2): a comprehensive validation of the English-language adaptation

The Optimism–Pessimism Short Scale–2 (SOP2) described in this article measures the psychological disposition of optimism with two items. SOP2 is the English-language adaptation of an originally for the German language developed scale. Because an empirical validation of this English-language SOP2 was hitherto lacking, the aim of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties (objectivity, reliability, validity) of the English-language adaptation and to investigate measurement invariance across both language versions using heterogeneous quota samples from the UK and Germany. Our results show that the English-language adaptation has satisfactory reliability coefficients and is correlated with 10 external variables in the study (e.g., self-esteem, Emotional Stability, life satisfaction). Moreover, scalar measurement invariance of the scale holds when comparing the UK and Germany, implying the comparability of latent (co)variances and latent means across the two nations. As an ultra-short scale with a completion time of < 20 s, SOP2 lends itself particularly to the assessment of dispositional optimism in survey contexts in which assessment time or questionnaire space are limited. It can be applied in a variety of research disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, or economics.

Welfare Mediators as Game Changers? Deconstructing Power Asymmetries Between EU Migrants and Welfare Administrators

Under EU law, EU citizens constitute a particular group of immigrants, as they can, mostly without restrictions, move to, and reside in, another EU country, enjoying equal treatment with nationals in terms of accessing employment and social rights. However, as this article demonstrates, the settlement of EU citizens in another member state does not happen without hurdles. Through a careful in‐depth study of access to transnational welfare rights in practice, we analyse knowledge and resulting power asymmetries impacting interactions between certain EU migrant claimants and street‐level bureaucrats in Austrian and German social administrations. Following an inductive approach, based on an extensive data set of 144 qualitative interviews, this article first unpacks the different types of knowledge asymmetries relating to administrative procedures, formal social entitlements and the German language. We then analyse how such knowledge asymmetries may open space for welfare mediation in order to compensate for a lack of German language skills and to clarify misunderstandings about legal entitlements and obligations embedded in the claims system. Finally, our contribution offers a typology of welfare mediators and their characteristics, as not all types can be regarded as equally effective in reshaping power asymmetries. Overall, this article allows for insights into how welfare mediators, as more or less institutionalised opportunity structures, can shift policy outcomes in unexpected ways, enabling access to social benefits and services for otherwise excluded EU migrant citizens working, or seeking to work, in another EU member state.

Aesthetic perception of the Russian sound speech by Germans (a case study of German internet forums)

The article is devoted to the aesthtic assessment of the sound of Russian speech as reflected in German Internet forums. Segmental and suprasegmental features of Russian pronunciation which evoke in native speakers of German empathy and / or antipathy towards Russian sounding speech, are described. The ordinary Germans' naive assessment of Russian souding speech differs from that by professional linguists. Germans who are not familiar with the theoretical basis of the phonetic structure of the Russian language pay attention, first of all, to those pronunciation features that are not characteristic of the phonetic basis of the German language. Among them on segmental level are the following: trembling sonant [r̥], vowel [ᵻ] and back-lingual slit [ɣ] after vowels [e], [i] and consonants [lʲ], [nʲ], [j], the pronunciation of which in German in this position is pronounced as ich-Laut [ç]. The Germans also seem to dislike clusters of consonants that are absent in the German language, for example, -рск-, -здр- etc. The presence of these sounds in the Russian language allows ordinary Germans to characterize Russian sounding speech as rude, despite the remarks of the Germans that there are many “soft” sounds i.e. palatalized consonants in the Russian language. The main difference at the suprasegmental level, which in the scientific literature is designated as the opposition of the German “staccato” and Russian “legato”, finds its confirmation in the statements of German members of the forum. The rhythmic organization of Russian speech is assessed by common Germans as discordant and indistinct, since, unlike German speech, Russian speech is characterized by relaxed articulation, non-forced vocalization, an extended melodic range and an irregular rhythmic patterns. In addition, the use of different pitch movements in friendly and aggressive communication encourages Germans to qualify the speech of Russian speakers in obvious situations of friendly communication as confrontational.

Implementation of qualia structures provided by relative adjectives and composites in German

The present paper deals with the semantic representation of attributive elements in the nominative group − relative adjectives and composites. The aim of the present study is to analyze the semantic representation of a predominantly noun in an attributive group with reference to Qualia structures, as applied in J. Pustejovsky’s theory of generative lexicon, and their realization through relative adjectives and composites, which are direct explicators of the semantic structure of predominant words (nouns). The study is based on the 150 most frequent relative adjectives identified on the basis of the electronic corpus of the German language. Relative adjectives qualify as Qualia structures and can denote objective constitutive (material and origin), formal (physical parameters, colour, time, place), telic (purpose and function of an object) and agentive (information about the creator, artifact, natural genus and causal chain) properties. The system of relative adjectives demonstrates a wide range of semantic meanings that are expressed in German by other linguistic means, e.g. composites. When describing the possibility of implementing Qualia structures in the noun group, other correlative linguistic units, such as composites, are analyzed. The variation in the use of nouns in composites and relative adjectives formed from them helps to actualize the presence of a feature in a particular situation, to give the nominal groups a terminological character and to make the transition from one qualification group to another.

Semantic relations in text and translation Die semantischen Relationen im Text und Übersetzung

Based on the German language department’s theoretical and practical aspects as well as educational programs, the present study discusses the semantic relations in text sentences and their role in the science of translation. Through clarifying the semantic relationship between the text sentence and the methods used to express a news item, a situation or an occurrence and through the statement of the multiple theoretical semantic structures of the text’s construction and interrelation, a translator can easily translate a text into the target language. It is known that language learners face multiple difficulties in writing and creating an integrated, coherent and intelligible text, and the reason for this is their lack of knowledge of semantic relations. Deutsch In dieser Forschungsarbeit gehen die folgenden theoretischen Ausführungen im Zusammenhang mit bestimmten didaktischen Bemerkungen, die im Laufe des Lehrprozesses aufgetreten sind, der Frage der semantischen Relationen in Satzperspektiven nach. Berücksichtigt wurde dabei überdies das Lehrprogramm in der irakischen Germanistikabteilung. Daher besteht das Hauptpostulat dieser wissenschaftlichen Abhandlung in dem Versuch, dieses sprachliche Phänomen im Übersetzen und dessen vielseitige Varianten darzulegen sowie dessen Anwendbarkeit in den Verhandlungen, im praktischen Leben und im Umgang mit den ausländischen Firmen etc. zu klären.