Sprachdidaktische Rahmenbedingungen für den akademischen DaF-Unterricht.

The paper is an introductory study on language-teaching conditions of German as foreign language at the university-level. It aims to help advanced students, as well as instructors of German Linguistics to become familiar with the main contemporary methods and researches conducted on German Language Teaching and its reference disciplines. A first task is therefore to offer a theoretical background of didactic procedures, in order to use them in the practical organization of academic lessons, in particular of Master-level degree courses. At the same time the book addresses those scholars interested in the development of the academic role of foreign language-teaching and intend to use it in connection with the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR 2001). The paper is therefore directed towards junior professors who need a practical introduction into the organization of academic lessons on German as foreign language. But it can also impart students new competencies and qualifications, based on linguistic knowledge, theoretical insights and supported learning-practice. On this level of the communication-oriented method, the role of the teacher takes on a new function. Through this method, the once defined “purveyors of knowledge” (i.e., performing a “knowledge transfer” function) are turned into “helpers” of the autonomous students’ learning process. Thus, the dominant form in Master’s degree courses tends to become individual work, which primarily aims at educating students to a responsible studying and training practice of language-learning. Therefore, the successful work of the teacher will depend on the level of the theoretical knowledge acquired in his or her personal studies, as well as in pragmatic competences offered to students.