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A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience of conceiving, creating, and publishing a book prototype on the theme of Gelassenheit (serenity) for fostering motivation in the pursuit of world improvement.

The communicative approach moved linguistic interaction into the focus of foreign language teaching. In this context, oral communication was and remains the main conceptual focus. However, the usefulness of this emphasis is questionable for the development of written language. Following a theoretical discussion, I carry out an exemplary, critical analysis of writing tasks in new German as a foreign language (DaF) textbooks and argue for a reconsideration of goals for writing instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of digitization, the social role and value of writing is changing. This article discusses how literacy practices are differentiated along the two modes of text-oriented writing and interaction-oriented writing (Storrer 2018) and why and how this process can be observed in particular in the everyday life of adolescents. Finally, in order to argue that adolescents make use of different registers of writing, which are grounded in metacommunicative awareness, depending on the communicative context the paper provides insight into the results of a recently published study on adolescents' digital texting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a disruptive technology is not only changing our everyday life and the business world, but also the way we learn and generate new knowledge. Such breakthrough disruptions by new technologies are also taking place in the fields of foreign language learning. The focus of this paper is on AI-based applications that have an impact on the writing skill. This paper is structured to guide from general concepts to concrete ones. In the first section, a short overview of the possible applications of artificial intelligence in foreign language teaching is given. The second section focuses on writing with the help of AI-based applications for text generation. In the third section didactical-methodical considerations are formulated for the use of AI-based applications for text generation in GFL teaching. The paper finishes with a reflection which outlines conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, 7.5 Million individuals between 18 and 64 years are considered to be functionally illiterate (Grotlüschen & Riekmann, 2012). Functional illiterates have only rudimentary literacy skills despite attending school for several years. Although they can use written language to a very limited extent, only few functional illiterates attend literacy courses for adults. In addition, most adult literacy courses primarily aim at promoting basic reading and writing skills. Offers specific to workplace literacy are scarce. This review gives an overview of the definition of functional illiteracy. Afterwards, a specific literacy program (AlphaPlus) and its effectiveness will be presented. The reviewed studies indicate that learning to read in adulthood is associated with structural and functional brain changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In diesem Beitrag wird ein Schreibprojekt für angehende DaF-Lehrkräfte in Deutschland und Studierende der Auslandsgermanistik in Polen vorgestellt. Nach einer Darstellung der Rolle des Schreibens im Fremdsprachenunterricht und in der Fremdsprachenlehrerausbildung wird auf ausgewählte Online-Projekte eingegangen. Im nächsten Schritt werden die Ziele und der Ablauf des bereits erwähnten Projekts beschrieben. Im Anschluss daran wird das Projekt aus der Sicht der Lehrenden und Studierenden ausgewertet. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es vor allem, zur Durchführung ähnlicher Projekte mit angehenden DaF-Lehrenden in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und internationalen DaF-Lernenden/-Studierenden – z. B. in der Auslandsgermanistik und in Studiengängen der Übersetzung – zu ermuntern. This article presents a writing project between students of German Studies in Poland and future teachers of German as a Foreign Language. Firstly, we discuss the role of writing in the language classroom and in teacher training. We subsequently describe the aims and the process of our project and, eventually, evaluate the project from the perspective of the learners and the teachers. With our article we would like to encourage the organization of similar projects with students of German as a Foreign Language in German speaking countries and international students of German Studies, Translation etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In diesem Beitrag wird ein Schreibprojekt für angehende DaF-Lehrkräfte in Deutschland und Studierende der Auslandsgermanistik in Polen vorgestellt. Nach einer Darstellung der Rolle des Schreibens im Fremdsprachenunterricht und in der Fremdsprachenlehrerausbildung wird auf ausgewählte Online-Projekte eingegangen. Im nächsten Schritt werden die Ziele und der Ablauf des bereits erwähnten Projekts beschrieben. Im Anschluss daran wird das Projekt aus der Sicht der Lehrenden und Studierenden ausgewertet. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es vor allem, zur Durchführung ähnlicher Projekte mit angehenden DaF-Lehrenden in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und internationalen DaF-Lernenden/-Studierenden – z. B. in der Auslandsgermanistik und in Studiengängen der Übersetzung – zu ermuntern. This article presents a writing project between students of German Studies in Poland and future teachers of German as a Foreign Language. Firstly, we discuss the role of writing in the language classroom and in teacher training. We subsequently describe the aims and the process of our project and, eventually, evaluate the project from the perspective of the learners and the teachers. With our article we would like to encourage the organization of similar projects with students of German as a Foreign Language in German speaking countries and international students of German Studies, Translation etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This systematic review aims to investigate the question if an occupation based handwriting program or handwriting training is an effective approach to improve the handwriting of children with handwriting problems in regard to legibility/ quality and speed. Methods: A systematic literature search took place in the databases of MEDLINE, MEDPILOT and OTseeker. The papers found were critically evaluated and the results summarized. Results: Five relevant studies were identified. The research question cannot be answered with certainty, the results give slight indications that an occupation based handwriting training/handwriting program could be an effective approach to improve the quality/legibility of handwriting. In regard to increasing the speed of writing the studies reached inconsistent conclusions. Conclusion: The analyzed studies were moderate concerning their methodological quality and their comparability. Further research, particularly well designed RCTs with a higher number of participants is needed to further investigate the effectiveness of occupation based handwriting training as part of occupational therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]