Intersubjectivity in the German Foreign Language Classroom.

摘要

This dissertation study reflects on the interactive nature of FL classroom and focuses on the genesis of student beliefs about self and others, as viewed through the lens of socio-cultural theories. In interaction, students need to establish intersubjectivity or mutual understanding that is a necessary base for any meaningful communication and subsequent learning to happen. Among important building blocks of this process are, in the context of my study, the distinct personal attributes of each involved individual. How these attributes are perceived by such individuals in themselves and others lies at the heart of this study. The existing research in the field shows that what students believe of themselves and other students in the class influences how they interact and learn (Fushino, 2010). Such insights, however, typically are mentioned only on the periphery of reported results and are designated an important but as-of-yet unexplored component of learning (Philp, Walter, and Basturkmen, 2010).;Participants in a one-semester-long study included four intact classes of second-semester German language students at a large Midwestern research university. Data on student beliefs and perceptions about attributes describing themselves and their peers came from questionnaires, classroom observations, and interviews with student participants. Analyses showed that learner attributes can be grouped into three overarching categories, each a constituent component of a student's perceived ideal personality: an accommodator, an expert, and an entertainer. Further, data indicated that to students, the three parts of a learner personality carried different level of importance, both with respect to themselves and their ideal peer.