Inquiry-Based Learning Opportunities in the Field of German as a Sec-ond Language during Students’ Practical Teaching Experience.

Theoretical Mod-elling and Empirical Analysis Based on Narrative Interviews

Abstract

In the context of teacher training programs at universities throughout Germany the concept of inquiry-based learning (Forschendes Lernen) is inten-sively discussed. A bridging function is ascribed to this concept, which requires students to form a reflexive habit in the context of teaching. This reflexive habit should be based on theoretical knowledge in order to develop a communicative habit (Forschender Habitus) that is productive for a professional teaching prac-tice in the future. The present article belongs to the field of German as a Second Language and discusses the subject-specific conditions in regard to the necessary linkage between German as a Second Language and the pedagogic contents of other subjects in the pre-service teacher training programs at universities. The ar-ticle analyzes the development of professional skills of pre-service teachers in the study field of German as a Second Language. For this purpose the authors pro-pose a theory of inquiry-based learning based on John Dewey’s theory of inquiry. According to Dewey inquiry-based learning is to be located on a continuum be-tween common sense and scientific inquiry (Dewey, 1991/1938). Looking at the development of professional skills of pre-service teachers in the field of German as a Second Language, the authors discuss the relation between Dewey’s concept of communicative habits and the theory of inquiry-based learning. Using exem-plary case analyses from a corpus of narrative interviews on students’ practical teaching experience, the spectrum of the use of opportunities for inquiry-based learning is finally shown. While one student merely describes a selective use of content from her university course on German as a Second Language and entirely focuses on constraints on lesson planning imposed by didactics of the different subjects, the second student reconstructs her experience with subject matter from the field of German as a Second Language as a cognitive process that has led to a change in her perception and teaching actions. The paper concludes with a dis-cussion of the scope of the results.