Bildende Kunst und fremdsprachliches Lernen: (Selbst-)Portraits und ihr besonderes Potenzial für die Entwicklung von Empathiefähigkeit

This article takes an important step towards improving the theory and practice of foreign language teaching with (self-)portraits. It discusses their teaching potential and impact on students’ empathy towards cultural identities. The first part presents the current state of the art of working with pictures in the foreign language classroom. Then, this article approaches paintings from the perspective of arts education and explores avenues through which art can teach students foreign language competences including their ability to empathize with other cultures. Empirical studies which evaluate to what extent art works may contribute to language learning and developing empathy will be considered. This paper highlights current trends in the teaching of visual literacy and introduces the idea of working with (self-)portraits in foreign language education. In addition, it examines how practical learning opportunities can be created by analyzing visual input (here: a self-portrait of the painter Frida Kahlo) and how the students’ creation of their own portraits can be a meaningful tool in the language classroom. By doing so, the interplay of students’ personality traits and foreign language learning while working with fine arts will be discussed.