Content
In the current area of increasing migration, foreign language learning is gaining momentum, as acquir-ing the target language is widely understood as one means to enable newly arrived migrants integra-tion and participation. In the seminar, we will examine recent research and practical projects to en-hance our understanding of the role language proficiency can play in the process of integration. We will also explore “best practice” examples to understand the conditions under which languages in im-migration contexts can successfully be taught and acquired.
Within the realm of language teaching and learning, language tests are coming under scrutiny, as they are used and abused as gate keeping devices and as policy instruments to regulate entry and access. We will critically discuss ethical implications of different kinds of language test use. By reviewing recent research projects and studies, we will deepen our understanding of the purposes language tests could and should serve in integration and migration contexts in order to ensure fairness, justice and ethical values.
You will have the opportunity to become familiar with current research and teaching projects in my working group and at the languages centre. You will also have the chance to explore a relevant aspect of your choice in more depths and present your findings in the seminar.

Dates
We meet on the following seven Mondays, in room GW2, A3220, from 10:15am to 13:45pm.
This way we have enough space to engage in group work and discussions.
First session: 27.4.2020 18.5.2020 25.5.2020
22.6.2020 29.6.2020 6.7.2020 13.7.2020

Initial reading
McNamara, T. & Shoamy, E. 2008. Language tests and human rights. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 18, 89-95.
Pulinx, R., Van Avermaet, P., & Extramiana, C.: Linguistic integration of adult migrants: policy and prac-tice. Final report on the 3rd Council of Europe survey. Council of Europe, 2014. Available online: https://rm.coe.int/16802fc1ce
UN (2018): Global Compact for Migration, available online https://www.un.org/pga/72/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2018/07/migration.pdf
 
Prerequisites for a successful completion of the seminar
For 3 ECTS points (GS and MA ESC “unbenotete Studienleistung”, FD3 “benotete Prüfungsleistung”)
1. Regular and active participation in preparatory tasks, seminar groups, discussions, and team-work.
2. Preparatory reading of the assigned texts and preparation of the tasks that will be published in advance on StudIP.
3. Presentation of a project/issue/document on a relevant aspect of the seminar.
For 6 ECTS points (GS and MA ESC, “benotete Prfungsleistung”)
4. In addition, a 9-10 page written academic documentation of the project, incl. literature review, rationale and implications.
Further reading
Beacco, J., Krumm, H., Little, D. & Thalgott, P. (eds). 2017. The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants / L’intégration linguistique des migrants adultes. Some lessons from research / Les enseignements de la recherche. DE GRUYTER MOUTON. Available online: https://www.degruyter.com/viewbooktoc/product/472830
Council of Europe, Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants: www.coe.int/de/web/lang-migrants
Council of Europe, Language Support for Adult Refugees: https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-support-for-adult-refugees
Harding, L., Brunfaut, T. & Unger, J. 2019. Language Testing in the ‘Hostile Environment’: The Discur-sive Construction of ‘Secure English Language Testing’ in the UK. Applied Linguistics, Online first doi:10.1093/applin/amz017, https://academic.oup.com/applij/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/applin/amz017/28601704/amz017.pdf
Heckmann, F. (2008). Education and the integration of migrants: challenges for European education sys-tems arisingfrom immigration and strategies for the successful integration of migrant children in Europe-an schools and societies. (NESSE Analytical Report, 1). Bamberg: europäisches forum für migrationsstu-dien (efms) Institut an der UniversitätBamberg. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-192500
Hogan-Brun, G., Mar-Molinero, C. & Stevenson, P. (eds) 2009. Discourses on Language and Integration: Critical Perspectives on Language Testing Regimes in Europe. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
McNamara, T. F., Khan, K. & Frost, K. 2015. Language tests for residency and citizenship and the con-ferring of individuality. In: Bernard Spolsky, Ofra Inbar-Lourie, Michal Tannenbaum (eds) Challenges for language education and policy: Making space for people, 11-22.
Pulinx, R., Van Avermaet, P. & Extramiana, C.: Linguistic integration of adult migrants: policy and prac-tice. Final report on the 3rd Council of Europe survey. Council of Europe, 2014. Available online: https://rm.coe.int/16802fc1ce
Roever, C. & McNamara, T. 2006. Language Testing: The Social Dimension. Blackwell Publishers.
Shohamy, E. 2001. The power of tests: A critical perspective of the uses of language tests. Harlow: Longman.
Shohamy, E. 2006. Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. Routledge: London.
Shohamy, E. 2011. Assessing multilingual competencies: Adopting construct valid assessment policies. The Modern Language Journal 95(3), 418-429.
Shohamy, E. 2013. The discourse of language testing as a tool for shaping national, global, and trans-national identities. Language and intercultural communication (13)2, 1-12.
Shohamy, E. & McNamara, T. 2009. Language tests for citizenship, immigration, and asylum. Language Assessment Quarterly 6, 1–5.
Spolsky, B., Inbar-Lourie, O. & Tannenbaum, M. 2015. (eds.): Challenges for Language Education and Policy: Making Space for People. New York: Routledge.
UN: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1028041
UN Global compact on refugees: https://www.unhcr.org/towards-a-global-compact-on-refugees.html
Van Avermaet, P. 2009. Fortress Europe? Language policy regimes for immigration and citizenship. In: Hogan-Brun, Mar-Molinero & Stevenson (eds). s. above.

This course provides you with an introduction to issues in intercultural communication. You will leave this course with an understanding of the ways in which our linguistic and cultural backgrounds may influence how we realize social functions using language, or – in other words – how speakers and listeners make meaning, and how they “do things with words.” You are introduced to the theoretical foundations of an applied approach to pragmatics as well as to implications for language teaching.
We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:

• Why does "It’s cold in here" sometimes mean "Please close the window" and other times "I don’t like this room"?
• Why are compliments sometimes interpreted the wrong way?
• Why is it sometimes polite to use formal language and other times offensive?
• What do we do to “read between the lines”?
• Why did the defense attorney object when the prosecutor asked the defendant when he had stopped abusing his wife?

Assessment: Portfolio

Literature: Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. (2012). (3rd Edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to Shakespeare's only domestic tragedy. Set in Venice as well as Cyprus, Othello has become a key text in the debate about racism in early modern Europe. Since the play dramatises the social anxieties aroused by a black outsider taking centre stage, our analysis will include a discussion of the extent to which Shakespeare drew upon, contributed to, or modified notions of otherness dominating in his own day.

requirements:

• active participation
• in-depth knowledge of the drama and the reading material
• graded assessment: research in progress (handout or PowerPoint presentation) and final paper, the latter is graded and has to be submitted by 1 August 2024.

Please note that prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory. Given the capacity of the seminar room, the number of participants is limited to 15 students.

text:
Shakespeare, William. Othello. The Arden Shakespeare. London. Thomson Learning, 2004.

Fachdidaktische Begleitveranstaltung zum Praxissemester. Bitte melden Sie sich direkt über das ZfLB für das Praxissemester an; im Anschluss an die Schulzuweisung findet eine Zuteilung auf die Begleitseminare statt.
Das Begleitseminar findet nach einer Auftaktveranstaltung im Februar zweiwöchentlich dienstags von 16:00 bis 18:00 statt (2 SWS). Ergänzt wird diese durch Hospitationen an Schulen an noch abzustimmenden Terminen (1 SWS).

Fachdidaktische Begleitveranstaltung zum Praxissemester, die immer zweiwöchentlich stattfindet.

Dieses Seminar ist verpflichtend für alle Studierenden, die ihre Masterarbeit (M. Ed.) im Fach Englisch abfassen. Beachten Sie bitte, dass dieser verpflichtende zweite Teil des Seminars nur im SoSe 2015 angeboten wird (als Forsetzung des ersten Teils aus dem vorangehenden WS).
Dieses Seminar befasst sich mit der Analyse und Evaluation aktueller Forschungsliteratur im Bereich der Fremdsprachenforschung; in diesem akademischen Jahr liegt dabei ein Schwerpunkt auf der Methodologie des Design-Based Research. Das Seminar ist als Grundlage zur Begleitung der eigenen empirischen Studie im Rahmen der Masterarbeit konzipiert. Durch eine intensive Betrachtung der gängigen Forschungsmethoden und ihrer Umsetzung in bereits veröffentlichten Studien werden eine Reflexion über Sprachlernprozesse sowie die Förderung logischen und kritischen Denkens angeregt und das Eintauchen in die Hintergründe der Fremdsprachenforschung ermöglicht. Im Seminar sollen Studierende lernen, ihre Erfahrungen mit der Untersuchung neuerer Forschungsarbeiten im Sinne einer Entwicklung zum reflective practitioner als Basis für ihre eigene Lehrkompetenz im Fach Englisch zu begreifen. Deswegen beschäftigen wir uns im Seminar vorrangig mit der Interpretation von Erkenntnissen aus der Fremdsprachenforschung und ihrer Relevanz für die eigene Forschung im Rahmen der Masterarbeit sowie die (spätere) eigene Unterrichtspraxis.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to Shakespeare's only domestic tragedy. Set in Venice as well as Cyprus, Othello has become a key text in the debate about racism in early modern Europe. Since the play dramatises the social anxieties aroused by a black outsider taking centre stage, our analysis will include a discussion of the extent to which Shakespeare drew upon, contributed to, or modified notions of otherness dominating in his own day.

requirements:

• active participation
• in-depth knowledge of the drama and the reading material
• graded assessment: research in progress (handout or PowerPoint presentation) and final paper, the latter is graded and has to be submitted by 1 August 2024.

Please note that prior enrolment via Stud.IP is mandatory. Given the capacity of the seminar room, the number of participants is limited to 15 students.

text:
Shakespeare, William. Othello. The Arden Shakespeare. London. Thomson Learning, 2004.

This class will be conducted within the theme teaching year on SUSTAINABILITY and within the research area Blue Humanities. Blue Humanities studies oceans, rivers, and coastal areas in terms of (colonial) histories, migration and travel, sustainability and ecological issues, circulation of people and ideas, marine and Indigenous knowledges, literature and cultures, new geographies, extractivism, energy and economic issues, among others.

Please note that the course will be conducted in connection with a lecture series in the Blue Humanities, which takes place Wednesdays 18.15-19.45 in GW2, B2890, on campus. You are cordially invited to come and listen to all lectures; however, a few lectures are mandatory for you to attend, which ones will be specified at the start of the course.

We will read and discuss short texts from the collection The Imperiled Ocean: Human Stories from a Changing Sea by Laura Trethewey and the novels A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle and Through the Arc of the Rainforest by Karen Tei Yamashita. Both novels can be purchased at the university bookstore at the beginning of the semester (12 € and 17€). All other texts will be uploaded on StudIP.
Pls note that regular attendance and class participation and preparation are mandatory. You must register on StudIP for this class.

The Anthropocene, a term coined in the 1980s, maps an entanglement between humans and the natural world and the ways our human-centered actions have severely impacted the planet. While addressing the urgent challenges posed by climate change and environmental crisis is undeniably crucial, one notable criticism emerging from critical race theories, decolonial theories, postcolonial theories, Indigenous theories and Black feminist theories have pointed out the lack of intersectionality in environmental discourse. They emphasize the need to acknowledge the roles of imperialism, capitalism, racism vis-à-vis the dominant Western understanding of corporeality in our urgent eco crisis. Their contributions highlight the necessity to center other non-white, non-Western and other marginalized and peripheral perspectives on environmental and social issues.

In this course, we will study prominent decolonial and Black feminist ecocritical theories to examine 1) intersectional environment perspectives 2) posthuman ontologies and cultural memories that are drawn upon in the field of Black, African, gender and queer studies to mediate our planetary crisis 3) engage with the representations of the Anthropocene in Black and African speculative literature
The seminar will focus on three speculative fictional texts from the African continent and Black diaspora as artistic responses to contemporary environmental discourse.

Guiding questions are:
 What transnational power systems build and sustain our experience of/in the Anthropocene?
 What alternative knowledge practices can we draw upon in African and Indigenous systems of thought to mediate our planetary tragedy?
 How does the imaginative world building inherent in speculative fiction broaden our appreciation of the intricate interconnections that exist beyond our dominant Western understanding of corporeality?

Primary Texts:
Bowen, Natasha. Skin of the Sea. Random House, 2021
Emezi, Akwaeke. Bitter. Faber, 2022
Roffey Monique. The Mermaid of Black Conch. Vintage Classics, 2022

Requirements for this class include active class participation, in-depth knowledge of all primary and secondary reading materials, and a portfolio or term paper (depending on the chosen module).

This course provides you with an introduction to issues in intercultural communication. You will leave this course with an understanding of the ways in which our linguistic and cultural backgrounds may influence how we realize social functions using language, or – in other words – how speakers and listeners make meaning, and how they “do things with words.” You are introduced to the theoretical foundations of an applied approach to pragmatics as well as to implications for language teaching.
We will attempt to answer questions such as the following:

• Why does "It’s cold in here" sometimes mean "Please close the window" and other times "I don’t like this room"?
• Why are compliments sometimes interpreted the wrong way?
• Why is it sometimes polite to use formal language and other times offensive?
• What do we do to “read between the lines”?
• Why did the defense attorney object when the prosecutor asked the defendant when he had stopped abusing his wife?

Assessment: Portfolio

Literature: Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. (2012). (3rd Edition). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

In this course environmental issues will become our lens through which we will look at a number of mainstream and independent films. How do these films present relations between human and environment, destruction and resilience? In how far do they depend on spectacular performances of devastation and individualistic heroism? And in how far can they offer narrative and aesthetic alternatives to formulaic storytelling? Moreover, what are the possible repercussions
on reception and spectatorship?
In the first part of the course, we will develop a theoretical framework that can help us to critically analyze and assess ecocinema.
Requirements:
active participation
in-depth knowledge of the films and the reading material

• non-graded assessment: oral presentation (handout and PowerPoint presentation)
• graded assessment: oral presentation and written term paper to be submitted by September 15.