MehrSprachen (ManyLanguages)

This follow-up project focused on the transfer of findings from the previous project (‘Language skills and metalinguistic awareness’) to educational practice. The central objective was to investigate how the integration of language reflections and the usage of the heritage languages of bilingual pupils for language comparison affects the metalinguistic awareness of 3rd/4th grade pupils in German (i.e. the language of schooling). The main question was whether the pupils benefit from German lessons that are oriented towards language reflection and comparison in terms of improving their metalinguistic awareness.

The study followed an experimental and control group design (N = 408 pupils). To begin, a survey was conducted to assess the level of knowledge and the needs of teachers regarding the usage of multilingualism for language reflections in German lessons. On the basis of the findings, a multilingual- and reflection-oriented concept for German-language teaching was developed, geared towards developing learners’ metalinguistic and language comparison abilities. To test the effectiveness of the teaching concept, a treatment teacher group (n = 18) received further training in the use of multilingualism in German lessons. The control group (n = 17) did not receive any training and conducted classes as usual without integrating students’ heritage languages.

A total of 408 children were involved in the study, divided into treatment (n = 210) and control (n = 198) groups. Data was collected at three measurement points: at the first measurement point, cognitive ability, German-language proficiency and student motivation were recorded; metalinguistic awareness and the metalinguistic knowledge of pupils were then recorded at the second and third measurement points.

The integration of multilingualism, language reflection and comparison in primary school German lessons has a positive effect on the development of learners’ metalinguistic awareness. Pupils in the treatment group showed significantly higher metalinguistic awareness (operationalised as the total amount of metalinguistic expressions made by each child) than those in the control group, as measured directly after the six-month intervention. Furthermore, differences in the amount and degree of metalinguistic reflection were found between the two groups. Participants in the treatment group made significantly more higher-level metalinguistic expressions (i.e. explanations and analyses) than those in the control group. This suggests that German lessons that include multilingualism for language comparison have a positive effect on the development of language analytical skills.

The values for both monolingual German and multilingual pupils in the treatment group show higher metalinguistic awareness than in the control group. For monolingual German students the difference in values for metalinguistic awareness in the treatment and control group is larger than for multilingual students. It can therefore be assumed that monolingual German pupils benefit in particular from language-comparative German lessons. In contrast to multilingual learners, who are more likely to have the opportunity to compare languages by living with two (or more) language systems, it is deduced that this possibility for monolingual German children can only be created by formal teaching approaches.

The metalinguistic awareness of both monolingual and multilingual students can be promoted and developed by using multilingualism as a resource for language reflection in teaching. Such teaching supports learner’ ability to reflect on language, which is a key competence in primary school. The consideration and use of multilingualism in German language lessons leads to a higher metalinguistic awareness for both pupils and in particular monolingual German pupils.  

Wildemann, A., Andronie, M., Bien-Miller, L., & Krzyzek (2020). Sprachliche Übergänge im Deutschunterricht (schaffen) - eine Interventionsstudie mit Grundschullehrerinnen und -lehrern. In A. Budde & F. Prüsmann (Hrsg.) Vom Sprachkurs Deutsch als Zweitsprache zum Regelunterricht: Übergänge bewältigen - ermöglichen - gestalten. Münster: Waxmann. 

Bien-Miller, L. & Wildemann, A. (2020). Mehrsprachigkeit als Ressource für Sprachbetrachtung nutzen. (K)ein Konsens zwischen Theorie und Praxis möglich? In Der Deutschunterricht, 2/20, S. 62-70.

Andronie, M., Krzyzek, S., Bien-Miller, L. and Wildemann, A. (2019). Theory and practice: from Delphi-study to pedagogical training. In Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-03-2019-0031

Bien-Miller, L., Wildemann, A., Andronie, M., & Krzyzek, S. (2019). Handlungsrelevante Überzeugungen zu Mehrsprachigkeit und deren Bedeutung für die Professionalisierung von Lehrkräften. In A. Schmölzer-Ebinger & M. Akbulut (Hrsg.) Mit Sprache Grenzen überwinden: Sprachenlehren/lernen im Kontext von Flucht und Migration. Waxmann, S. 143-161. 

Wildemann, A., Akbulut, M., & Bien-Miller, L. (2018). Mehrsprachige Sprachbewusstheit und deren Potenzial für den Grundschulunterricht. In G. Mehlhorn & B. Brehmer (Hrsg.) Potenziale von Herkunftssprachen: Sprachliche und außersprachliche Einflussfaktoren. Tübingen: Stauffenburg. S. 117-140.