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Project duration 01.10.2010 - 31.12.2015

Potential of the First-language in the Support and Development of Language Skills and Competencies

The overall aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of including the (Turkish) family language to promote vocabulary in German. A particular focus is also on correlation analyses between students' own and perceived parental values and reading frequency on reading comprehension.

Funding

Own funds of Professor McElvany and Research School „Education and Capabilities“ (EduCap)

Project description

The project pursues two goals; on the one hand, it investigates whether the vocabulary of children with a Turkish migration background can be expanded through an implicit support measure, also taking into account the first language, and on the other hand, which individual and family determinants influence reading comprehension and reading frequency.

Grün-schwarzer Schriftzug des Projektnamens POTential ErstSPRACHE zur Förderung des Wortschatzes bei Kindern nicht-deutscher Familiensprache

A large group of children at German schools (also) speak a language other than German at home. The academic success of these pupils is suboptimal compared to children without a migration background. Reading competence is essential for success at school. Various studies on linguistic competences have examined determinants of reading comprehension (e.g. reading frequency). However, there is a lack of consideration of the influence of perceived parental values on their children's language-related values, behaviour and consequently performance. This is particularly the case for pupils with migration-related bilingualism.  
A total of 465 pupils participated in the intervention session (77 of them with a Turkish migration background and achievement test data), in which a text with unknown words was read independently either twice in German or first in Turkish and then in German. It can be seen that the children learn additional words in both conditions; an additional potential of the family language cannot be proven. Individual and family conditional factors of reading comprehension were collected in a pupil questionnaire, for which data of 118 children with a Turkish migration background are available. While the pupils' attitude towards the usefulness of the German language and the reading frequency in the German language prove to be positive predictors of German reading comprehension, the usefulness of Turkish and the reading frequency in the Turkish language prove to be negative predictors of German reading comprehension.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • Wahiba El-Khechen (geb. Abou-Saleh)

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Location & approach

The most convenient highway exits are on the B 1/A 40 (Dortmund-Barop) (closer to the North Campus) and on the A45 (Dortmund-Eichlinghofen). The university is signposted at both exits. In the local road network you will find signs to Campus Nord, where the Campus Treff is also located. From Emil-Figge-Strasse, entrance no. 18 and from Vogelspothsweg entrance no. 23 lead to parking spaces near the venue.

From Dortmund main station, take the S-Bahn "S1" in the direction of Solingen on track 7 to the stop "Dortmund-Universität" (price level A). The S-Bahn runs every 15 minutes during peak hours on weekdays and takes about 6 minutes. From Düsseldorf, the S-Bahn runs every 30 minutes. Directly at the S-Bahn station you will find the CDI building, which houses the Center for Research on Education and School Development.

One of the university's landmarks is the H-Bahn, which has two terminuses on the North Campus. One is located directly above the S-Bahn station and is easily accessible from it by elevators. The other is located in the center of Campus North at the bridge between the University Library and the Mensa, right next to the Audimax. The H-Bahn runs from here to the South Campus and the Eichlinghofen district.

Dortmund has an airport connected with some destinations in Central Europe. There are regular flights, for example, to Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Katowice, Krakow, Leipzig-Halle, London, Munich, Nuremberg, Paris, Poznan, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich. For the approximately 20 kilometers from the Dortmund airport to the campus, you can take the bus to the main train station and from there the S-Bahn. Faster is usually the use of a cab. Far more international flight connections are offered by the Rhine-Ruhr Airport in Düsseldorf, about 60 kilometers away, which can be reached directly by S-Bahn from the university station.