Research at our Chair

Our research is mainly focused on multilingualism and the question of how and under what conditions multilingualism can be supported in the best way – both in and outside of educational institutions. The research focus lies mainly upon the following areas: bilingual education in kindergarten/pre-school, primary and secondary school; first and second language acquisition; early foreign language learning; media use in foreign language teaching.

Our staff are included in different national and international research networks and have been involved as partners in two multilateral research projects over the last few years, which were or are supported by the EU-Comenius programme.

The research done at our Chair is also relevant for lecturing courses and further teacher training. The research methods and findings are not only used to acquaint students and teachers with alternative methods of foreign language teaching and learning as well as empiric examination methods, but also to show them how to implement research findings into the foreign language classroom.

Current and recently completed research projects

  • A follow-up study at Bavarian „Gymnasium“ to the project „Bilinguale Grundschule Französisch“
  • DFG-funded Research Training Group Dimensions of Constructional Space (GRK 2839) – Project: Representation and Acquisition of Idiomatic Constructions in L1 and L2
  • Follow-up study at secondary schools in Bavaria: Longitudinal effects of the project “Learning in two languages – Bilingual Primary School English”
  • Leadership of the Erlangen-Nuremberg Project about the development of language skills and subject knowledge in children with and without migrant backgrounds at bilingual primary and secondary schools
  • The acquisition of English as a second language by children in three German-English bilingual pre-schools (funded by grants from the University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, the „Stiftung Ravensburger Verlag“ and the city of Heidenheim)
  • The role of linguistic and subject variables in second language learning
  • Bilingual programmes in pre-schools, primary and secondary schools
  • Studies of cross-language vowel perception and production
  • ELIAS – Early Language and Intercultural Acquisition Studies (EU Comenius project)
  • TODDLER – Towards opportunities for disadvantaged and diverse learners on the early childhood road (EU Comenius project)