Stefanie Cajka, BA MA

The Language Learning Environments of German language learners in Vienna

Supervision: Eva Vetter
Period: 2022-
Contact: stefanie.cajka@univie.ac.at
Mitarbeiterin der Sprachlehr- und -lernforschung

This dissertation project takes up the importance of spatial perspectives on language learning, as discussed by Benson (2021). Specifically, it examines how learners of German in Vienna describe their individual language learning environments (Benson 2021) before and after working with the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative (Slavkov & Séror 2019; Cajka 2021), how they imagine their ideal language learning settings before and after working with the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative, and to what extent these differ from the language learning environments they actually describe.

This is investigated with a photo-elicitation study that works with several case studies. The research partners (i.e. the German language learners) produce visual material (photos and drawings), which are discussed and analysed together with the researcher in interviews. The data is analysed using qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz & Rädiker 2022) and social semiotic analysis (van Leeuwen 2005).

The objectives of this dissertation project are to contribute to research on language learning environments and to enable further theoretical and content-related development of the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative. Moreover, it aims to gain a better understanding of language learning in the chosen context, so that pedagogical efforts can be better adapted in the future.