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Project duration 01.06.2018 - 30.09.2022

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

The project investigates the effect of stereotypes on vocabulary acquisition of learners in different age groups.

 

Project description

The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of stereotypes on learning and to identify moderating and mediating factors of the effect. Stereotype threat describes the situation that the knowledge of negative stereotype about one´s group (e.g., ethnicity, gender) could threat oneself, which could lead to a confirmation of the stereotype. Numerous studies showed that the stereotype threat effect lowers the achievement, while the achievement prerequisites are the same. It is still unclear, whether the effect also occurs in learning situations. Furthermore the study should help to understand, whether stereotype threat could be an explanation for the lower average language competencies of students with Turkish migration background, because of more negative achievement stereotypes concerning this migrant group.

Dunkelblau-grüner Rahmen eines Quadrates und darinliegender Schriftzug des Projektnamens ST2

Therefore the advancement of current state of research is to investigate implicit and explicit stereotype threat treatments in vocabulary learning situations (instead of achievement situations). The comparison of different treatments allows causal inference which helps to develop interventions for the vocabulary promotion in German for students with Turkish migration background.

Methods: Six experimental studies with different treatments; text based learning material, tests, questionnaire based scales for the collection of individual characteristics, e.g. about emotions, motivation, effort.

Lead researcher at IFS

Project management

  • Dr. Justine Stang-Rabrig

Project team

  • Sabrina König

External project partners

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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.