Innovation in Language Learning

In my contribution, I will present the results of a study carried out with participants of a course on linguistic and cultural learning that was developed by the Language Centre in co-operation with a local museum. The target group was adult learners of German as a second language. This nonformal course was based on the content of the exhibition and was held in the Salzburg Museum over a period of one semester. In addition to acquiring knowledge about the history of Salzburg, the participants should develop text and discourse competences [1] as well as transcultural and reflective competences, thus enabling them to actively participate in society. The empirical research was centred on the question of meaningfulness. According to the “Bildungsgangforschung” (research on learner development and educational experience [2]), sense is constructed during the learning process through the interaction of various factors: the interaction of subject-specific content and tasks, the learners’ (educational) biographies and the social environment. To assess to what extent this interaction was successful, we conducted a written survey with open questions and narrative interviews with participants. I will present the results of this study as well as the consequences that the Language Centre has drawn from these and other experiences. As a result, a concept for the integration of non-formal and informal learning opportunities into the Language Centre's programme was established in order to give learners opportunities to create personal learning environments according to their individual needs [3] [4].