Name: Erika Berroth

Institution: Lewis & Clark College

Status: Assistant Professor, full time, tenure track

Language: German

Project Type: Curriculum Enhancement

Summer Fellowship
Student Assistant Fellowship

Project Title: German Language and Culture through Contemporary Music

Duration: 2 months in the summer of 1999

Brief Description of Project:

The objective of this project is to enhance the cultural component of first, second, and third year language instruction, and also to provide materials for our conversation courses. The beginning and intermediate level textbooks come with their own pre-packaged supporting materials that quickly become dated. While we have an adequate selection of visual material available, there is a dearth in the audio section. Since Lewis & Clark College is about to phase out the audio lab, his project serves a double purpose. The main goals are to make selections from the contemporary German music scene available for listening exercises in the computer lab, and to offer students interactive exercises based on the lyrics which will enhance both language and cultural proficiency.

During the past two summers I gathered materials for this project: CDs of popular groups with German lyrics, 2 or 3 copies of each selection. Selection criteria included clearly understandable lyrics, (a-cappella versions were available for some groups), lyrics that reflect contemporary social and cultural concerns such as gender issues, post-unification issues, violence against foreigners, and environmental issues.

Some of the steps in developing course material for use in the first year include:

- to group Music selections together according to themes.
- to use Xmedia Templates to create listening comprehension exercises, CD dictations, and other writing exercises.
- to use Templates to create vocabulary glossaries

I will have to use some of the time to explore the new version of Xmedia Engine; yet I project there will be time to complete tasks that would round out the project for more independent projects to be assigned in a third year class or for conversation courses.

- to gather texts and visual material that support the thematic foci of the music selections
- to make this material available for students on the web
- to create links to web sites that deal with the thematic foci.

Statement of Puropse and Desired Outcome

I project using the material initially with my beginning German class in the fall of 1999. This will be the first class to use the Keck- Interactive Learning Center consistently. Together with several programs I selected and tested during the past two years, the components to be developed will do much more than replace the traditional audio materials and help students integrate listening, reading and writing proficiency. My objective is to make the use of computer exercises and web-based projects an integral part of the first-year learning experience.

After this initial trial run, I project integrating the thematic units into my third year curriculum. For this level, the components will serve as the starting points for oral presentations and independent projects where students explore cultural issues. This class typically consists almost entirely of students who are about to join our one-year program in Munich.

I am presently not teaching second year language or conversation, yet the material will be available for those courses at the discretion of the professors.

Brief Time Line:

May and June 1999: Development of materials as outlined above

Fall Semester 1999: First trial run with German 101 students

Spring Semester 2000: Further testing with German 321 students

Amount requested: $ 3000, - Summer Stipend for Faculty

$ 2500, - Stipend for Student Assistant

Based on past experience, the support of a student assistant for the more routine tasks frees up faculty time to take care of aspects pertaining to pedagogy, content, and cultural literacy. With the help of an assistant I project completing more of the tasks necessary for using the material in a third year class.