There is an unavoidable dilemma in any attempt to put together an overview of the research results for one subject within a discipline. A subject area is either so small that the overview is straightforward but perhaps of interest to only a few, or the subject area is much wider – in which case there is the inevitable danger that the overview will be relatively subjective. This means that some activities may be disregarded while others are given more emphasis than another observer of the subject might have considered appropriate. For example, I have not included the teaching of literature, a complex subject with its own rich research tradition. Being fully aware of both the risks and the advantages of subjectivity, I present this very personal view of foreign language learning and teaching in Germany.
Résumé
L'article ci-dessous rend compte d'une expérience au cours de laquelle des étudiants allemands d'études françaises devaient traduire un texte allemand en français tout en pensant à voix haute. L'expérience avait pour objectif d'obtenir des informations sur le processus de la traduction tel qu'il a lieu. A l'aide d'une série de paramètres, élaborés antérieurement, les données obtenues sont analysées. Les résultats se comprennent comme une contribution à une traductologie axée sur le processus même de la traduction, à une discipline, donc, dont l'objectif n'est pas la traduction telle qu'elle doit se dérouler, mais telle qu'elle se déroule effectivement.
This paper reviews a purposive sample of 23 doctoral dissertations in second language (L2) education, completed between 2009 and 2013 and published in Germany. From amongst all (approx. 70) relevant dissertations from this period, the following three broad thematic strands can be identified, for which a selection of exemplary dissertations was chosen to review: (1) Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL); (2) learning and teaching about culture in the language classroom; and (3) language teacher education. Categorization of themes was guided by a bottom-up approach, clustering thematically (rather than methodologically) similar works. We identify relevant topics and link these with trends in research methodology (qualitative/quantitative/mixed-methods). We also discuss the depth and breadth of these dissertations and situate their scholarly contributions within German and international research on language education.
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