Praxis articles and Forum on recruitment and retention

In the previous issue, we presented the new submission templates (Baumgartner & Schulze, 2023, p. 100) for the three main manuscript types in Die Unterrichtspraxis—Praxis article, Research article, and Forum article (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/17561221/homepage/forauthors.html). These templates contain guidelines for each manuscript type. To showcase our new article category, this issue begins with three Praxis articles. The Forum articles in the second part are in response to our call for papers on “Recruitment and Retention: Challenges, Strategies, and Best Practices.” These are followed by four Research articles. Three Invited Reviews complete the issue.

Praxis—the “practical application of a theory” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)—is, of course, taken from the name of this journal Die Unterrichtspraxis. A Praxis article serves as a valuable resource for German teachers, professors, and students in German Studies or in teacher training, who are seeking to translate theoretical knowledge into practical action. Thus, these articles are meant to bridge theory and practice and offer insight, guidance, and real-world examples. They support colleagues and graduate assistants in implementing theories or concepts in their teaching of the German language and culture. Beginning with a solid foundation in theory, these articles demonstrate how ideas can be practically applied in the classroom. They provide actionable steps, strategies, or recommendations. Praxis articles are often accompanied by case studies, examples, or teacher reflections. They address common challenges or obstacles encountered by German teachers and their students and offer suggestions for overcoming them. Crucially, Praxis articles provide evidence for the likely success of the discussed procedures or approaches and clarify the specific educational or institutional settings. A good Praxis article will show how its insights can be transferred to another context. Typically around 4000 words in length, these articles may extend to 8000 words, including references.

The first of the Praxis articles in this issue is titled “Using music reviews in the intermediate L2 German classroom: An exploratory lesson in genre-based writing.” Sophia Strietholt, Julie Larson-Guenette, and Gemini Fox present an exploratory, genre-based writing lesson, which they conducted in a third-year collegiate German language course. The authors address the lack of pedagogical strategies and materials for intermediate-level German language classes by introducing a lesson on consumer music reviews. Their lesson incorporates genre-based pedagogical principles, the flipped-classroom approach, and the use of the DWDS corpus tool [https://www.dwds.de/] for vocabulary building. The second article in this category, “Texts and contexts: Linguistic landscapes, graffiti, film, and literature in L2 classes” by Susanne Wagner and Gisela Hoecherl-Alden, familiarizes readers with the concept of linguistic landscapes—the visibility and saliency of languages in a specific territory or region—and how it can be used effectively in L2 instruction. The authors showcase how a range of activities aids language learners in understanding their sociolinguistic environment. Sarah Painitz, in her article “A comparative analysis of literary testimony,” offers a way to teach about the Holocaust through a comparison of a diary with a memoir. Her analysis serves a dual purpose: Through an emphasis on Holocaust testimonies, students delve into themes of persecution, injustice, and oppression, heightening their awareness of global issues, interculturalism, and social justice. Furthermore, by juxtaposing two distinct types of autobiographical texts, students attain a richer understanding of the intricacies, contradictions, and tensions inherent in autobiographical writing.

The topic of this issue's Forum in part 2 is recruitment and retention. As the latest Modern Language Association (MLA) report (Lusin et al., 2023) showed, German in the United States lost 32.2% of its student body between 2016 and 2020. This is a stunning and unmatched decline in language learner enrollment that did not just affect German language enrollments. The overall decline of 15.4% for all languages was the steepest decrease since the beginning of the MLA data collection project and a surprise since language enrollment had steadily increased between 1995 and 2009. The language enrollment drop was particularly precipitous at 2-year institutions. We believe that the MLA report (Lusin et al., 2023), authored by Natalia Lusin, Terri Peterson, Christine Sulewski, and Rizwana Zafer, is important for all teachers of German at all levels and in different educational settings. For Die Unterrichtspraxis, we had called for contributions that describe different strategies and practices for student recruitment and retention at elementary, middle, and high schools, community colleges, and universities and colleges and asked authors to offer actionable solutions for all programs.

Alexander Lorenz opens the Forum with his article “Who's responsible? The German language learner perspective.” An assistant professor at a public regional comprehensive university serving minority students and Pell Grant recipients in the South, he argues that German instructors must be cognizant of their students’ motivations for taking German. The curriculum must be continually adapted to the evolving needs of new student populations, in particular first-generation and non-traditional students. Lorenz advocates for administering regular surveys to understand student beliefs so that the curriculum and teaching materials can be adapted. Nina Morais and Kathryn Holihan, teaching at a 4-year, private, coeducational, residential college committed to the liberal arts and sciences, argues similarly in “Back in business! Professional German(s) at Rhodes College.” Recognizing student interests is paramount. Students, she writes, are interested in encounters beyond the classroom. She modified a business German course, which now also brings guest speakers from the community to campus. The course offers its students experiential learning opportunities coupled with language learning and thus caters to students’ professional interests. Gwyneth Cliver, who teaches at a regional public university in the Midwest, suggests making the German classroom more inclusive. Her article “Retaining students through labor-based grading and dual-modality” explains how she developed principles for labor-based grading and taught all of her classes in hyflex mode: in the classroom and synchronously online. Cliver argues that labor-based grading reduces student anxiety, makes language education more accessible to all, and redirects the focus in the classroom back to the joy of learning. Furthermore, allowing students to switch between in-class and online participation reduces absenteeism among students. Sebastian Heiduschke, at a regional public university in the West, similarly argues for multi-modal access to German classes. His article, “Unlocking enrollment growth and visibility: The impact of German microcredentials at Oregon State University,” lays out how his program adapted to the changing situation of teaching German by offering online degrees that align with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) standards. The program now offers micro-credentials that are attracting both degree-seeking and non-degree-seeking students, leading to increased enrollment and higher retention rates. The last two articles in this Forum address the collaboration between K-12 and the college level. In “A collaboration between a high school and college German program: Retention and articulation,” Meagan Tripp, faculty at a residential liberal arts college in the heart of Amish country, showcases a two-part collaboration between a high school and a college German program that fosters communication and language practice beyond the classroom. The collaboration comprised online guest teaching for intermediate-level students and a semester-long, asynchronous virtual exchange among beginners. Katherine Kerschen and Wiliam Layer, serving two different institutions in St. Louis, describe an innovative collaboration between a graduate institution and a local high school. In “Partnerships between K-12 and higher education: New opportunities for students and teachers,” the authors describe how the dearth of German teachers in the United States can be addressed by introducing graduate students early to high school German teaching. Their project provides opportunities for graduate students to shadow a German teacher for a day, during which they observe and participate in classes and meet with the teacher and an administrator to discuss pathways for a career in K-12 education. The goal is to create connections between different institutions and levels of German instruction to strengthen and sustain German programs at all levels. The geographic and institutional diversity of our contributors makes it painfully clear that no institution has survived the drop in enrollment unscathed. At the same time, these articles point to the creativity and ingenuity of German instructors all across the United States, who are taking steps to make German language courses more inclusive and central to their students’ learning experience. As editors, we are committed to exploring these issues further in subsequent issues where we will concentrate on K-12 German programs and 2-year institutions.

The next section includes four research articles. Their topics range from an inquiry into literature selection for advanced courses to student motivation and grammar instruction. Brigitte Rossbacher argues in her article “Reading Wolfgang Herrndorf's Tschick (2010)” that this novel is particularly well suited for advanced German language courses that are focused on cultural and linguistic enrichment. The article introduces the novel, argues its suitability for advanced college courses, and discusses teaching strategies tailored to advanced language learners. In “Going above and beyond: Motivations of L2 German learners (dis)continuing language study,” Megan Wadas, Julia Goetze, and Carrie Jackson similarly address student retention—also the topic of this issue's Forum. Employing Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS), the study investigates whether L2MSS facets differ between students intending to continue (or discontinue) learning German past the language requirement at a university and whether any relationship exists between the different (conceptualization of) selves within the L2MSS, students’ L2 learning experience, and their willingness to communicate. The next study, by Scott Windham and Kristen Lange “I still don't get it: Easy/hard grammar in intermediate German” looks at the suggested progression of grammar topics in textbooks to determine which grammar topic should be taught at which level. The authors of this 3-year study aim to give instructors a solid framework for selecting and sequencing grammar topics. Most provocatively, they suggest not teaching certain grammar points at the intermediate level as these are not retained by students. Daniel Walter suggests teaching complex grammatical features through Kafka's Vor dem Gesetz. “Uncertainty is in the form: A functional, meaning-based approach to teaching ambiguity as author choice in Kafka's Vor dem Gesetz” shows how using a close reading of Vor dem Gesetz, with a linguistic emphasis on Kafka's use of indirect speech versus direct speech, ambiguous vocabulary, and discourse particles can enrich students’ understanding of subjunctive 1. This innovative approach goes beyond analyzing news articles and reports, a method often used for teaching the grammatical features of indirect speech in German. Form, so prominent in Walter's article, will be the focus of the next issue, which is a collaboration between the two journals of the American Association of Teachers of German: German Quarterly and Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German. The topic will be “form” with all its facets and dimensions in language, literature, and teaching.

As always, the last section contains the Invited Reviews of teaching and learning materials. Zoë Burgard reviews “Das Leben: Deutsch als Fremdsprache A1 (Kurs- und Übungsbuch),” a German textbook for beginners from the Cornelsen Verlag GmbH. Léa Jouannais Weiler reviews the second volume of the same textbook series “Das Leben: Deutsch als Fremdsprache,” geared toward the A2 level of proficiency. Karin Maxey reviews “Literacies in Language Education: A Guide for Teachers and Teacher Educators,” a practical volume for educators who aim to switch to a multiliteracies approach.

We hope that you, the readers of Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, will find the three Invited Reviews and the 13 articles of this spring issue interesting to read, helpful to implement in your own teaching praxis, and inspiring for your own creativity and innovation.