Project completion "Effects and moderators of stereotype threat in vocabulary acquisition of students with a Turkish migration background on primary and secondary schools"

The DFG-funded project "Effects and Moderators of Stereotype Threat in Vocabulary Acquisition of Students with a Turkish Migration Background on Primary and Secondary Schools" has been successfully completed after four years. In primary and secondary schools, the focus was on whether stereotype threat affects vocabulary learning. In secondary schools, we additionally investigated whether stereotype threat affects the stress response (salivary amylase, salivary cortisol). Furthermore, moderating as well as mediating factors were examined. While no statistically significant effects on vocabulary learning emerged, effects on the stress response did: explicit activation of the stereotype, i.e., a direct reference to differences in vocabulary learning between specific groups, resulted in an increase in alpha-amylase levels from baseline to postmeasurement. Because stress can affect learning, the results emphasize the importance of not activating stereotypes in the school context. The research findings for elementary school are already available in open access.