Languages in Education (LDES)
This forum unites researchers studying the role of languages in education across all levels, including a focus on second and foreign language programs (Danish, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) and the use of foreign languages for teaching and learning in content areas.
We share an interest in language acquisition, language instruction and methodology, and in the conceptualization of relevant language repertoires in academia.
Drawing on a range of theoretical approaches from disciplines such as linguistics, Second Language Acquisition (SLA), language pedagogy, and language policy, we seek insight into language teaching and learning in education through empirical studies, theory development, and national and international research cooperation.
Projects within the forum focus on language learning and use in different educational contexts, including language planning and evaluation. This includes a focus on modernization of language programs through the transformation of the interface between language, culture, and intercultural competencies, including emerging cross-languages approaches such as plurilingualism, translanguaging, and third language acquisition.
Our research and dissemination supports our position as a stronghold in the development of languages in education, both in Denmark and abroad, through continued cooperation with schools, university colleges, and ministries. The group’s cross-fertilization between research and teaching and between theoretical and applied research was emphasized for its “intrinsic research strength and invaluable contribution to the university as a whole, and Danish society at large” in the ENGEROM research evaluation in 2018.
Within this overall framework, the group conducts research in the following areas:
- The role of languages in teaching and learning in higher education, including CLIL and IMI
- Foreign-language acquisition, learning processes and the use of digital media and digitally mediates communication, including online text corpora in language learning and teaching.
- The interaction between language, culture and society in educational contexts.
- The development of research-based teaching proficiency in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
- Plurilingual education / translanguaging
- Transitions in language education across educational stages (primary, secondary, tertiary)
- Teacher and student cognition
- Language Testing and Assessment
Following the announcement of a new national government strategy for language education in Denmark, the research group contributes to the development and implementation of new forms of foreign language education from primary school through secondary school and into tertiary education, including training of language teachers. This entails cooperating with stakeholders in various (professional) organisations, institutions and ministries and making the research of the members available as a knowledge base for further development.
- Linguistic needs in teaching Danish (Martin Carlsholt Unger)
- CLIL in languages other than English – Successful transitions across educational stages, European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe.
- Models for teaching language as an additional competence (MUST): This project, which runs from March 2020 to October 2022, strives to lend insight into language as an additional competence in higher educational programmes outside of the traditional foreign language and literature programmes.
- Plurilingual Education – Minority and Majority Students' Language Awareness across Educational Levels, Independent Research Fund Denmark (Petra Daryai-Hansen et al.).
- TOEPAS (Test of Oral English Proficiency for Academic Staff) validation and further development. Nominated for the UCPH Innovation Prize in 2017.
- Akademisk literacy i et brobygningsperspektiv, funded by the Danish National Centre for Foreign Languages (NCFF) (2020-2021)
- “More Languages for More Students” 5-year language strategy for students across UCPH (2013-18), development of conceptual frameworks, results from surveys on language attitudes and needs, follow up on organizational changes
- Research/development projects, e.g. Learning Foreign Languages at an Early Age – A New Approach with Emphasis on Plurilingualism and Early Language Start, funded by the A. P. Møller foundation (2016-18)
- Developing Early Foreign Language Learning and Teaching in the Nordic/Baltic Context, funded by Nordplus Horizontal (2016-2018)
- Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures – TaC (2014-2019), funded by the European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe; Brobygning i tyskfaget, funded by Ministry of Education (2017-2018); Kvalitetsudvikling og efteruddannelse i et brobygningsperspektiv. En behovsanalyse i faget tysk, funded by NCFF (2018-2019)
One of the aims of the research group is to collaborate with students in our department, which results in several publications co-authored with students. Furthermore, the research group invites interested MA students and applicants for PhD scholarships to join group meetings and is proactive in supporting potential PhD applicants. Through teaching and coordinating, the Master of Foreign Language Education (Master i fremmedsprogsdidaktik) members of the research group have frequent contact with language teachers in primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Current (grants awarded)
| Name | Project title | |
| Aisara Yessenova | Language Learning Strategies of Bilingual students in Denmark. | |
| Annika Schimpff | Language anxiety experienced by German and French heritage speakers in Denmark | |
| Dea Jespersen (2019 The Danish Council of Education) | deajespersen@hum.ku.dk | Integrating digital information in a FL writing test: Implications for assessment and teaching. |
| Johanne Kirkeby | johanne.kirkeby@hum.ku.dk | ‘Vi skal på floor i aften’: A Digital Ethnography Project on Social Media Use and its Effect on the Linguistic Norms of Danish Gymnasium Students |
| Jonas Munck Olesen | jonasolesen@hum.ku.dk | Sproglig økologi i klasseværelset |
| Katherine Kappa (2016 The Danish Council for Independent Research, as part of the TMC project) | kkappa@hum.ku.dk | |
| Karoline Emilie Søgaard | kes@hum.ku.dk | |
| Marianne Haugaard Skov | haugaard.skov@hum.ku.dk | English as a Relationship Building Resource among Danish Youth |
| Natascha Drachmann |
Flersprogethedsdidaktik: Minoritets- og majoritetselevers sproglige opmærksomhed i og på tværs af sprogfag i folkeskolen.
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Stephanie Löbl (2016) |
Kulturbegreber og interkulturalitet i franskfaget i grundskolen. |
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Yao Zhang |
Exploring Problem Sources of Disfluency in Second Language Production in Consecutive Interpreting |
Previous
| Name | Project title | |
| Joyce Kling's PhD degree 2013 | joyce@hum.ku.dk | Teacher Identity in English-Medium Instruction: Teacher Cognitions from a Danish Tertiary Educational Context. |
| Sanne Larsen's PhD degree 2013 | sannela@hum.ku.dk | Re-contextualising academic writing in English: Case studies of international students in Denmark. |
| Lene Rotne's PhD degree 2018 | Facebook og stile. En undersøgelse af hvordan en gruppe danske og italienske unge skriver på Facebook og i stile og derigennem udtrykker identitet | |
| Anne Sofie Jakobsen's PhD degree 2018 | asj@hum.ku.dk | Dansk akademisk ordforråd - Fire undersøgelser af ordene i dansk akademisk skriftsprog |
| Rawand Jalal's PhD degree 2019 | Plurilingual student's English proficiency. A study of Danish elementary school student's L3 proficiency | |
| Martin Carlsholt Unger’s PhD degree 2022 | fsr104@hum.ku.dk | Sproglige behov I danskundervisningen |
Visitors
PhD student Pernille Berg Johnsson from Uppsala University visits the forum six weeks in autumn 2021. Her project deals with pronunciation challenges in French L2 learners with Danish and Swedish mother tongue.
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daryai-Hansen, Petra | Associate Professor - Promotion Programme | +4535334482 | |
| Dimova, Slobodanka | Professor | +4535328173 | |
| Jensen, Christian | Associate Professor | +4535330019 | |
| Jespersen, Dea | PhD Fellow | +4535326624 | |
| Kirkeby, Johanne | PhD Fellow | +4535323917 | |
| Lindschouw, Jan Juhl | Associate Professor | +4535328432 | |
| Mortensen, Janus | Professor | +4535334020 | |
| Olesen, Jonas Munck | PhD Fellow | +4535321192 | |
| Skov, Marianne Haugaard | PhD Fellow | +4535325469 | |
| Strudsholm, Erling | Associate Professor | +4535328437 | |
| Søgaard, Karoline Emilie | PhD Fellow | ||
| Unger, Martin Carlshollt | Part-time Lecturer | ||
| Yessenova, Aisara | PhD Fellow | +4535325762 | |
| Zhang, Yao | PhD Fellow | +4535322235 |
Co-ordinator
Associate professor Petra Daryai-Hansen
Email: petra.dhansen@hum.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 33 44 82