ETE - English Teacher Education

Find here our research foci, current projects, upcoming events, and recent publications. 

The ETE department is involved in cutting-edge research, which is important because our research not only improves the subject of foreign language pedagogy, but also informs our teaching here at the university.  Below you can find an overview of the research projects that influence the courses and topics we teach. The broad range of topics and methodologies ensures that students not only receive an extensive insight into developments in the field, but also can choose amongst course topics that are most interesting and relevant to them. The current research projects focus on:

• how our diversified idea of culture affects the way we think and teach cultural categories, e.g. gender, class, race, religion etc. (Lotta König),
• how English as a Global Language affects views on teaching English at school (Carolin Zehne, Peter Schildhauer),
• what happens in the classroom when cooperative learning is put into practice (Peter Schildhauer),
• how big data and algorithms can and should be addressed and used in ELT (Peter Schildhauer),
• how a portfolio can be developed and integrated to chart children’s language-learning progress, to foster self-assessment skills and to help children transition from a bilingual primary to a secondary school (Manon Greenyer-Schüler, Patricia Skorge and Carolin Zehne),
• what obstacles stand in the way of more learner-centred English teaching and how we can overcome those in schools and teacher education (Christine Gardemann),
• how teachers understand the definition and implementation of critical literacies in their language classrooms (Eleni Louloudi),
• how to combine analog (e.g. picturebooks) and digital (e.g. social media) materials to work towards (student-centered) social justice practices with prospective English teachers (Eleni Louloudi),
• how young adult dystopian TV series and films can facilitate bilingual teaching in pedagogics (Sandra Winkelmann)

Collectively, our team focuses on researching and teaching linguistic aspects related to language acquisition, as well as content specific to the institutionalized EFL context, such as literature and culture. We make use of a variety of research methods (e.g., statistical analysis, content analysis, Grounded Theory, discourse analysis, focused and critical ethnography, ethno-videographic interaction analysis and Documentary Method) and instruments (e.g., questionnaires, interviews, participant observations, video studies, teaching material and pupils’ products).

We hope this provides you with an introduction to EFL education and research in our department. More information and resources will soon be available on our related web pages.