Berufsrelevante L2-Schreibkompetenz fördern durch Fordern

Abstract

This article outlines approaches on how to support writing skills and text competence when teaching German as a foreign language. The main question is whether and how dealing in detail with one’s own mistakes and actively analysing one’s own writing process can contribute to improving writing skills in teaching German as a foreign language. Reflections which were written down during the 2013/14 winter and 2016 summer semester at the University of Graz by students studying German as a foreign language, level C1, serve as basis for this article. These reflections refer to texts gathered within one semester respectively. They address subjects relevant to the daily life of a translator in training, such as economics, law, culture, medicine and technology. During this period of reflection, students addressed the question of whether their approach to writing texts has changed in the course of one semester. In addition, they were asked to focus on which mistakes were made repeatedly and to which error category they belonged. Furthermore, they examined the areas in which they feel that they have personally improved and see their strengths. This article aims to demonstrate to what extent this teaching approach succeeded.