Must all Beginnings Be Difficult? Methodology of the MagyarOK Learning Package for Hungarian
Szilvia Szita and Katalin Pelcz, Hungary
Szilvia Szita is currently working in The Hague/The Netherlands. She mainly teaches Hungarian and German. She has co-written course books, teachers' handbooks and grammar books for both languages. She is co-author of the MagyarOK course book series. She is interested in methodological approaches that help eliminate the border between learning in and outside the classroom. E-mail: szita.szilvia72@gmail.com.
Katalin Pelcz has been working as a teacher and a supervisor of the Hungarian Language Programme at the International Studies Center of the University of Pécs.
She has co-authored the MagyarOK course book series and has been part of other projects to develop tools and materials for language learners. She is currently exploring new ways to accommodate different learning types in the classroom. E-mail: pelcz.kata@pte.hu
Menu
Introduction
Structure and contents
Presenting language: A Communicative-Lexical Approach
Methodology for the classroom: A Multimodal-Cooperative Approach
Inside the classroom: intercultural awareness
Outside the classroom: language learning and integration
Conclusions
References
Considered both extremely hard to learn, and undeserving of significant investment due to its limited applicability outside of Hungary, the learners’ motivation in approaching Hungarian is lowered from the outset. As Zsolt Liebhardt's recent survey has shown, very few learners wish to achieve a high level of Hungarian, with most of them studying the language out of politeness towards members of the local community, out of curiosity and to make their daily lives in Hungary easier. In order to communicate with Hungarian speakers, they prefer to use English or, in some cases, German (Liebhardt 2013).
Unless learners are given proper guidance to overcome their initial apprehension in learning Hungarian, they soon give up on both, learning the language and believing that they can integrate into the local community successfully. Under these circumstances, the role of language classes is central since they provide an environment where preconceptions about the language can be discussed, attenuated and alleviated. There, the role of language teachers as entry points to local language and culture is key; they can propose activities to raise learners' interest, motivation and self-confidence; they can also create an environment in which intercultural discourse naturally occurs. Teachers can outline tasks that invite learners to initiate contacts with native speakers in Hungarian facilitating the first steps of their integration into the local community or, if the course takes place in another country, they can design activities to bring language and culture closer to learners through the proxy of new technologies. Recognizing the importance of the classroom, the MagyarOK 1 learning package was developed with the main objective that, by completing the curriculum, students should have acquired not only a sound linguistic basis in contemporary Hungarian but also all pragmatic competences necessary for successful integration. In 2013, MagyarOK received the European Language Label, awarded to the most innovative language learning projects.
After a short overview of content and structure of the learning package, we will discuss the underlying didactic principles and their implementation in the books and online-based materials. First we will turn our attention to two basic questions: what to teach and how to teach it at the beginner's level. Our focus on maintaining and increasing the learners' motivation is a cornerstone in our choice of an integrated communicative-lexical approach to presenting language. We will then discuss the suggested classroom methodology organized around two main elements, the multi-modal approach and cooperative learning as effective tools to enhance language acquisition. Activities offered in the learning package to raise intercultural awareness and their relevance for successful communication are also presented. Finally, we will briefly outline a project realized at the University of Pécs based on the learning package to promote integration into the local community.
Most examples presented here are taken from Chapter 4 of MagyarOK 1, as this chapter is available on the website in its entirety. The Teacher's Manual and all worksheets are also freely accessible on the website:
Textbook: http://magyar-ok.hu/docs/mok1_tk-4fejezet.pdf
Workbook: http://magyar-ok.hu/docs/mok1_mf-4fejezet.pdf
Worksheets and Teacher's Manual: http://magyar-ok.hu/hu/A1A2_1_teachers.html
The second volume of the MagyarOK learning package will be published in November 2014.
MagyarOK 1 is the first learning material for Hungarian that is based on the standardized guidelines of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The first volume takes the learners halfway through the A2 (Waystage) level, volumes 1 and 2 together take the learners slightly beyond the A2 level to bridge the gap between the requirements of the A2 and the B1 (Threshold/Intermediate) levels.
The printed materials of the total learning package consist of a textbook and a workbook. The eight chapters of the textbook present the core program and cover vocabulary related to common everyday situations –encounters, shopping, vacation, study and work, daily routine etc.– with each chapter divided into smaller thematic units to facilitate orientation. The exercises are organized around texts so that learners can observe lexical and grammatical structures in context before analyzing them in detail. Narrative texts (short newspaper articles, statistics, e-mails) and dialogues (everyday conversations and interviews of various length) alternate to familiarize learners with a variety of text types. The sequence of tasks linked to a particular text trains all four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) in various ways engaging the intercultural and pragmatic competences equally. Pronunciation exercises and a List of useful sentences close the chapters in the textbook.
An essential part of the learning package are the internet-based materials available on the www.magyar-ok.hu website, where didactic support, lesson plans, printable worksheets and tests are offered. Students can consult the study materials section where they find, among others, the translation of the instructions, the audio recordings to the book, glossaries and answer keys. The website is freely accessible for everyone and new material is regularly added; some parts can also be used independently from the printed books.
Before we look at our basic principles and some examples in detail, let us review our general objectives. As stated earlier, the learning package aims at helping learners to acquire a sound knowledge of the Hungarian language together with the necessary intercultural and pragmatic competences so that they can effectively function in everyday situations, maintain or even increase their motivation and achieve successful integration in the local community. This program calls for an integrative approach in which grammatical structures, lexis, skills and competences are presented not as isolated items but in their interrelations, as complementary elements of a system. To demonstrate how this works in practice let us first examine Chapter 1 of the MagyarOK textbook.
Chapter 1 serves as an introduction to some important features of the Hungarian language such as general rules for pronunciation, the alphabet and the rules for vowel harmony. As mentioned earlier, Hungarian's reputation as being a difficult language is often a source of apprehension for learners, and unless this preconception is addressed right from the beginning, it is likely to prevail throughout the entire language course, with negative consequences for the learning experience. With this in mind, Chapter 1 of MagyarOK 1 begins with an exercise in which pictures of objects are presented with names that share a common root in various languages: saláta ['salad'], ház ['house'], busz ['bus'] etc. Learners first hear, see and repeat Hungarian words, then they write them under the corresponding picture. Since the pictures are organized alphabetically, learners familiarize themselves with the pronunciation of single sounds and the way of writing the letters. Through a few additional steps involving all skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) and various social forms (individual work, work in small groups and classroom work, s. Teacher's Manual p. 10-11) learners memorize the words and the alphabet and observe the consistent nature of Hungarian pronunciation. The concept of vowel harmony is illustrated and practiced with the help of the same words.
This sequence of tasks in which words are learnt and analyzed, illustrates an important guiding principle of the learning package, namely that learners should be actively involved in every stage of their learning. The presentation of new linguistic items reflects another general guiding principle applied throughout the entire learning package: most tasks and activities link familiar phenomena (here: international words) to unfamiliar ones (here: their Hungarian spelling and pronunciation). In the last part of the chapter, students learn useful sentences for everyday life (I don't understand. What does "szék" mean? How do you say "chair" in Hungarian? etc.). As a result, they leave their first lesson with approximately 50 new words and 10 useful sentences, the rules of Hungarian pronunciation and the concept of vowel harmony. Such a dynamic first encounter with a large amount of language can be highly motivating. According to Liebhardt, once a German student asked him at the end of his first lesson: Why does everybody say that Hungarian is a difficult language? It seems so easy. (Liebhardt's personal communication).
The choice of themes for Chapters 2 to 7 have been determined by the topic lists of accredited language examinations comprising everyday situations such as introducing oneself, shopping, eating out, travelling to name just a few. These lists offer a general overview of relevant themes, the decision on the concrete material to cover being left to language book authors. In the following paragraphs, we will consider the underlying principles for the selection and presentation of linguistic items in MagyarOK 1.
It is very tempting for language book authors to over-simplify their presentation of the language guided by the apprehension that if learners encounter "too complicated" a language, they may lose their motivation. Teachers take unnecessary precautions many times to protect learners from what they believe to be "difficult language". As a consequence, learners may acquire ''factual'' language (names for objects, simple adjectives to describe things and persons etc.) but fail to learn how to communicate non-factual messages, such as politeness, emotions, beliefs and opinions in a natural manner. In our view, it is not necessary to protect learners from "difficult'' language, provided it is useful language. In fact, quite the opposite seems to be true: the more connections learners find between vocabulary learnt in the classroom and experienced in real-life situations, the more their motivation increases. Thus, if we want to provide effective tools for language acquisition, the appropriate question to ask should be not How difficult is a particular construction? but rather How useful is it?
To present learners with natural language –language that native speakers use in their interactions– we have opted for the Communicative Approach as a starting point for task design, the benefits of which are obvious: learners are given ample opportunity to contribute to classroom learning by sharing their personal experiences, hence to practice the language through meaningful interactions, as Rosamond Mitchell observes (Mitchell 1994). The classic Communicative Approach, however, has one major weakness in our view: it overemphasizes the creative use of the language over memorization of ready-to-use linguistic blocks or ''panels'', valuing originality over naturalness. Corpus-based linguistic research has shown that native speakers are far from original in their use of language, but, on the contrary, they tend to use large amounts of chunks or prefabricated linguistic units. Paul Davis and Hanna Kryszewska in their book on teaching lexical chunks give an explanation for this phenomenon, stating that these "likely utterances" serve to ensure successful conversation, "reliev[ing] cognitive effort and increas[ing] naturalness" (Davis-Kryszewska 2012, 12). Michael Lewis points out that learners "need input rich in prefabricated chunks, which they notice as items deserving special attention" (Lewis 1997, 21). Thus, any material that claims to provide effective tools for language learning needs to make learners aware of the importance of prefabricated linguistic units, as this will increase the accuracy and the naturalness of their language use.
Ritualized elements of everyday communication –greetings, starting and ending a conversation, ways of sharing opinions or asking for advice– include large quantities of prefabricated language units that native speakers learn at an early age. In the interest of successful communication with native speakers, such elements are systematically introduced as early as in the first chapters. Institutionalized expressions to negotiate meaning such as Szerintem ['in my opinion'], Te mit gondolsz? ['What do you think?'] to share opinions or frequently used linguistic panels to express thoughts and emotions such as Tényleg? ['Really?'] Nahát! ['Wow!'] Hát... ['Well…'] Tessék? ['I beg your pardon'] are presented and practiced, all panels which do not strictly contribute to content but nevertheless have a central role in maintaining the natural flow of communication. Ways of linguistic politeness are also presented and practiced even if they imply the student to use of more complex sentences; Nem jó ez a könyv ['This book is not good'] looks certainly less complex than Szerintem nem olyan jó ez a könyv ['I find this book not so good'] nevertheless, it is obvious that complexity has an essential pragmatic function here in attenuating a negative opinion, a commonly used strategy in communication. As these examples illustrate, learners need to familiarize themselves with prefabricated language in order to be able to function in their daily interactions so that they can build up (positive) experience towards the target culture.
Corpus-based research by Michael Hoey (2005) among others has shown that not only rituals but also other utterances produced by native speakers contain a large amount of prefabricated language. The use of such "ready-to-use" expressions appears essential if we intend to promote natural language use. Obvious examples are the multi-variational model dialogues that present several possible reactions to a question or statement, a recurring feature in the textbook. A typical dialogue box with variations looks like this: Variation 1: A: Do you like skiing? B: To tell you the truth, I have never liked sports. What about you? A: O yes, I do. I love snow. Variation 2: A: Do you like skiing? B: Yes, I love it. What about you? A: Me too. I love snow. The dialogues show the typical features of oral utterances, which consist of a rapid alternation of short questions and answers. Through continuous practice, learners acquire a routine for the use of these language panels and can retrieve them spontaneously as needed.
With more than 1700 words, MagyarOK 1 counts among the books for Hungarian that presents the most extensive vocabulary at beginner level, and such a large amount of vocabulary items imposes regular review. Commonly used words are therefore constantly "recycled", their domains of use being progressively extended, appearing in various situations carrying new functions and further layers to their meanings. Let us see a few examples with jár ['go somewhere regularly'], a verb known to have an extensive field of meaning: Busszal járok a városban. ['I take the bus to get around in the city.'] Biciklivel járok az egyetemre. ['I go to the university by bike.'] Angolórára járok. ['I take English classes.'] Szeretek koncertre járni. ['I like going to concerts.'] A fiam még óvodába jár. ['My son goes to kindergarten.'] A statisztika szerint a nők főzni járnak a konyhába, a férfiak pedig újságot olvasni. ['According to statistics, women go into the kitchen to cook while men go to the kitchen to read the newspaper.']
With the help of the guidelines and principles presented above the curriculum was conceived to follow James Coady's suggestion that "extensive and multiple exposure" to the majority of linguistic items in a way similar to how children learn their native language is a key element of successful language acquisition (Coady 2003, 3).
Research has shown that humans are more likely to retain information when it is communicated via more than one channel (see e.g. Shoichi Matsumura 2001). To maximize the effectiveness of learning and to accommodate different learning styles, activities for the classroom are based on a multimodal approach involving a maximum number of sensory organs. For the same reason, we have opted for a cooperative approach rather than for more competitive forms of interaction in the classroom. Kagan points out that
"Over 500 research studies back the conclusion that cooperative learning produces gains across all content areas, (…) among all types of learners (…) learners gain in ability to take the role of the other, (…) they learn to understand and work with others who differ from themselves. Furthermore (…) cooperative learning is associated with enhanced internal sense of control, increased learner's participation, lower stress level in the classroom and an increased number of meaningful interactions, all in all with pleasant learning experience that enhances motivation" (Kagan 1994).
Cooperative tasks are traditionally applied for problem-solving or project work in small groups, each participant contributing to solving the task. In the context of language learning, cooperation is a powerful tool for learners to help each other memorize and review words and structures in a stress-free manner. We selected exercises 31 to 34 in Chapter 4 of the textbook as an illustration of the theory put into practice. The sequence is organized around the topic Finding your way in a city and shows presentation, observation and consolidation of chunks through a series of tasks using a multimodal approach and cooperative learning techniques (s. Teacher's Manual p. 63-65).
In the opening exercise of the sequence, learners first read and hear chunks that indicate directions (turn left, go straight on, go straight until you see a roundabout etc.) and study pictures that illustrate their meaning. Then, they are invited to memorize them, gradually moving away from the visual input: (1) first they see, hear and read the chunks, then (2) they cover the text, hear and repeat it by looking at the pictures only, (3) then they do the same thing with closed books: the teacher says the word learners draw the meaning of the chunk in the air (4) finally, learners practice the chunks in small groups helping each other with their memorization. During the four steps, learners train all skills: they receive visual input (text and picture), audio input (audio recording, the teacher's voice, other learners' voices) and they provide input for their fellow students. Various social forms are involved: learners work on their own, as a choir and in small groups, which also allows them to expand their toolkit as autonomous learners.
According to the guidelines of "chunking", as proposed by Davis and Kryszewska, learners "need to know what goes around the word to be able to produce it" (Davis–Kryszewska 2012, 16 emphasis in the original); therefore, the next exercise situates the chunks in a short dialogue in which someone gives directions. The dialogue is first dictated to the class and checked with the textbook, then students work in small groups and help one another memorize the text. Once they master one way of asking the way and giving directions, they broaden their knowledge by working with similar dialogues. The next exercise is a listening comprehension where learners first notice the places the speakers are looking for (thus they focus on global content) then they assign a list of sentences to the right dialogue (they listen for details). The sentences review and expand the chunks presented in the opening exercise so that learners can familiarize themselves with variations and increase their tolerance towards unexpected language e.g. instead of explaining how to get to the church (which would be the expected answer), one speaker says: Sorry, I am not from here. Learners discuss and check their answers in small groups, comparing their assumptions and putting together what they could understand from the dialogues before reading their transcription. Now, that students have familiarized themselves with several ways to answer the question How do I get to …?, they are invited to make up their own dialogues with the help of multi-variational dialogue models. Means of transport and places in the city, introduced in the chapter earlier, are also reviewed in a novel context.
In the sequence above, long-term vocabulary retention is facilitated in several ways: new linguistic items are presented both separately and in context; various presentation modes and tasks are realized, mainly in cooperative settings; linguistic items appear in various contexts and linguistic input is provided through different sensory organs. As the example shows, language, even at its simplest form in dialogues on giving direction, cannot be separated from culture. Whether we take names for streets, maps, pictures of urban or natural landscapes, they all tell something about the target culture that is worth observing and it is self-evident that the same applies for the culture of the learners. Hence, we have used the methodology presented here to design tasks in which students have the opportunity to present their own culture and reflect on similarities and differences between cultures.
Recent theories of intercultural communication models claim, rightly in our view, that the intercultural competence – the capacity to understand and analyze ways of thinking, feeling and acting characteristic of the target culture – is crucial for successful social integration and should therefore be developed simultaneously with any other competence or skill. Martina Rost-Roth argues that language training should always be completed with components that help raise intercultural awareness; learners should always be sensitized to the target culture whether it be through analysis of language and country, or comparisons between the target culture and their own (Rost-Roth 1996). Hans-Jürgen Krumm points out that "learning a language implicitly means seeking access to that particular culture" (Krumm 1994,158).
Cultural integration is, however, bidirectional by nature; learners desire not only entry points to the target culture but also that their culture is acknowledged and accepted by members of the target community. Once learners have been given the opportunity to tell about their own country and culture in the classroom and they have noticed curiosity and positive attitude on behalf of their teachers, their willingness to interact with native speakers increases. A colleague who works with Syrian refugees reported that the attitude of one of the schoolboys she has been working with has visibly changed towards Hungary and Hungarians after he was invited to present his country to his classmates and his teacher in the Hungarian lesson (personal communication from Boglárka Vermeki).
It is therefore essential that learners can present their own culture in the classroom and, by sharing emotionally relevant content, relate with at least one member of the local community (their teacher) and this experience encourages them to take further steps on the way to integration. Furthermore, as Kagan points out, activities that engage learners in an emotional way are more effective than pure cognitive exercises especially when multi-sensorial input is provided simultaneously (Kagan 1994). To illustrate how various elements aimed at raising intercultural awareness are integrated in a sequence of exercises, we will look at the thematic unit on Város és falu (City and village) in Chapter 4 (p. 75-80) as an example. The main topics include the presentation of natural and urban landscapes, cities in Hungary and in the learners' countries, life and living standards in various cities around the world. Learners familiarize themselves with linguistic panels to make assumptions, tell their opinion, give compliments and formulate their preferences. The use of the new technologies in the framework of a guided research and as a source of visual input around cities and countries is also involved. Finally, the new grammar topic of the unit is the use and formation of the plural ending.
The unit begins with an exercise that contrasts Canadian and Hungarian urban and natural landscapes to highlight similarities and differences between far-away countries. A Hungarian student tells about what strikes her in Canada, what she can and cannot find in this country compared to her native Hungary; she says for example that there are high mountains but no Gothic churches. In the first step, learners fill in missing words while they listen to the text again, practicing useful items in audio and writing. They check their answers with the audio recording so that simultaneous visual and auditory input is provided, after which they are invited to discuss their own experience. As Canada is a country that learners are likely to know, they can relate to the perception of the Hungarian girl: high mountains also are quite extraordinary for a Dutch or English person but much less so for an Iranian or US-American and the lack of Gothic churches in Canada would not be likely to strike a Chinese or Egyptian student. During the discussion learners use the words and expressions covered in the exercise in a personal context.
In the next exercise, learners share their assumptions about Hungary with the help of a multi-variational dialogue: Do you think there are high mountains in Hungary? / I am not sure. / I do not think so. / Maybe. / I don't know. etc. The language panels provided here are known in every language so that their utility is recognized by the learners immediately. The second part of the exercise presents visual information about Hungary in the form of photographs so that learners can check their assumptions against the book. All sentences use the plural so that the learners' attention is drawn to this linguistic feature naturally before the next exercise formalizes the rules of its forming, referring to the workbook for further practice. The plural is thus introduced in a context where its function is clear and essential. Learners apply this new grammar feature in the next exercises before they read and hear two short texts about the Hungarian towns Sopron and Orfű. After practicing topic-related new vocabulary in various ways (Teacher's Manual p. 69), the teacher presents his/her hometown. This step has several benefits: learners find out more about their teacher –who is also a representative of the target culture– and his/her personal narrative offers rich linguistic input to which learners listen carefully because it involves them emotionally. Learners are then invited to search for more information about any Hungarian city of their choice by looking up its website on the Internet. In other words, they receive authentic visual, textual and/or audio information with the help of the new technologies; they watch photographs, gather information about opening times of museums, cultural and sporting activities etc. and by doing so, they learn new words and review words familiar to them in context. Through this type of guided search learners experience that they can understand, at least partly, information presented in Hungarian. Each activity that encourages learners to explore authentic material becomes a building block in a bridge between the classroom and the community of native speakers.
Vocabulary from previous parts of the chapter (places in a city and related adjectives) is reviewed in a new communicative situation in exercise 42. In the first part, learners are invited to talk about their own city and say why they like or don't like it. The question is Is … (student's hometown) a nice place to live in? Learners select appropriate answers from a longer list, e.g. I like it because it is nice/clean/safe. I don't like it so much because it is noisy/dirty/dangerous. Although it is beautiful, it is not so safe etc. and they discuss them with their conversational partner. Then they present the city of their partner to the group emphasizing its positive qualities. This exercise creates a communicative situation in which learners share and present information that involves them emotionally, which, to quote Kagan once again, contributes to successful learning.
The last exercise of the sequence on cities and their qualities presents the list of the best cities in the world to live in based on criteria such as public safety, wealth, free-time activities and health care system. It provides an opportunity for intercultural analysis, the vocabulary presented offers the linguistic tools necessary for learners to share their views and experiences. They are also invited to make suggestions as to why no Hungarian city features on the list. As always, the concluding exercise is an extensive review of the material covered in the chapter where first the teacher models the exercise. She or he tells about a Hungarian city they particularly like by utilizing a maximum number of words and expressions from the chapter. Learners then prepare a personal narrative text about their hometown or another city with the help of their own photographs or photographs from the Internet. At the end of the activity, learners give short feedback on what they find interesting about the cities presented. As suggested in the Teacher's Manual (page 68), learners can also discuss this topic with native speakers and ask them to present their hometowns in order to benefit from further practice in a meaningful communicative situation.
The sequence above begins with a simple narrative text and takes learners through several steps increasing in their level of difficulty and presenting various facets of the topic to arrive to the concluding written and oral presentation based on the material covered in the chapter. In harmony with the didactic approach described earlier, all sensory organs are involved in the learning process and most of the tasks are executed in cooperative settings. Furthermore, classroom work is used to raise intercultural awareness; learners realize similarities and differences between their respective cultures and the culture of the target country through discussions and presentations. Intercultural reflection prepares for a project outside the classroom conceived to help students over the initial difficulties of interaction with native speakers in the interest of a better integration.
Learners receive a large amount of stimuli when they find themselves in a native-speaking environment. They receive various kinds of visual and audio input and, most importantly, they can observe native speakers dealing with everyday tasks in the target language. Although the advantages of such a learning environment speak for themselves, our experience shows that learners appreciate some guidance as to how they can benefit from everyday interactions to enhance their learning. At the International Studies Center of University of Pécs, the MagyarOK Expedition program has been established to bridge the gap between language acquisition in and outside the classroom. In the framework of this program learners come into contact with native speakers, interview them or execute tasks with their help. They can decide whether they wish to interact with native speakers individually or in small groups. The encounters are prepared in class: a questionnaire is composed with questions of particular interest to the learners, based on the material covered in the chapter. For example after Chapter 4 has been covered, a questionnaire could include questions about the conversational partner's favorite places in town and in Hungary. During this preparatory lesson, learners write down not only their questions but also several possible answers and reactions to these answers so that they are able to participate in a longer interaction. They are encouraged to listen not only for content but also for linguistic elements during the interaction and, if possible, record the conversation for linguistic analysis in the next lesson.
Encounters of this type, although they may seem somewhat artificial at first sight, result in multiple benefits; learners are helped over the difficulties of the first contacts with Hungarians in Hungarian and they make the experience of being able to interact, to some extent, with native speakers. Furthermore, learners have an opportunity to observe, use and expand what they have learnt in the classroom, in other words they experience language and community "in function".
The MagyarOK learning package aims at helping learners to acquire a sound knowledge of the Hungarian language together with the necessary intercultural and pragmatic competences essential to successful communication.
The tasks and activities provided by the learning material are based on an integrated communicative-lexical approach, which recognizes the importance of prefabricated linguistic units (chunks) and advocates their use in meaningful communicative situations. According to this integrated approach, grammatical structures, lexis, and competences are presented not as isolated items but in their interrelations as complementary elements of a coherent system.
The methodology for the classroom was designed along the guidelines of a multi-modal approach proposing activities that involve a maximum number of sensory organs and various social forms to enhance long-term vocabulary retention and to accommodate different learning types. The tasks encourage cooperation between learners rather than competition.
Intercultural competence, a crucial element of successful integration, is trained by a number of exercises, through which students present their culture and gather information about other cultures.
Finally, guided project work bridges the gap between language use inside and outside the classroom. While learners meet native speakers and interview them or execute tasks with their help, they not only practice the new language in a communicative situation but also participate in an authentic cross-cultural dialogue and take a step towards successful integration.
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