E-mail communication between Year 9 students in an English and a German school

Alix Blyth: Chesterton Community College

Summary

This case study examined whether e-mail communication between English and German pupils could enhance the teaching and learning of German at secondary school level. The approach employed was based upon the idea that the use of e-mail for authentic tasks could help to raise attainment in KS3 and to increase confidence in using German and ICT. In particular, the study examined use of this approach in work on tenses (perfect and future) carried out with a group of pupils taking part in the school's German Exchange over a period of 6 months. Evidence concerning levels of achievement and confidence was gathered through pupil questionnaires and interviews. E-mail proved to offer an efficient way to maintain contact (and spontaneous contact was intitiated out of school), and to write short pieces in the target language. Pupils considered the quality of their written German to have improved, although further vocabulary and grammatical structures proved to be needed.

Download report (1.20MB)