From Broadway to Berlin: Transformative Learning through German Hip‐Hop

Sosulski, Michael J.

doi:10.1111/tger.10131

Cited by 6 publications

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“…More recent work linking transformative learning to FL study has pointed to the language classroom as a rich site for students to question how and why cultures differ. Learning outcomes identified in research on transformative learning in FL learning contexts have included: deepening students’ understanding of culture, both of the target language and of their own (Goulah, 2007; Ivers, 2007; Johnson, 2015; King, 2000; Sosulski, 2013), shifts in how learners view and position themselves to the target language and its cultures (Crane, 2018; Johnson & Mullins Nelson, 2010; Johnson, 2015), and changes in how they see themselves as language learners (Johnson, 2015; King, 2000). In the following, we trace recent L2 learner studies that adopt an explicit transformative learning approach to describe what perspective transformation and their attendant pedagogies may look like in FL instruction.…”

Section: Transformative Learning and Structured Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the context of beginning FL instruction, written reflections have been found to elicit from students rich connections between their language learning experiences in and beyond the classroom walls (Crane, 2018). Educators who have studied transformative learning in study abroad and advanced undergraduate coursework (Anderson & Cunningham, 2010; Cunningham, 2010; Grossman, 2009; Sosulski, 2013) have conceptualized SR as connecting three different domains for understanding: learners’ past and current experiences, their beliefs and assumptions, and theoretical and conceptual knowledge. This triangular model is depicted in Figure 1 below.…”

Section: Transformative Learning and Structured Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking a curricular approach to perspective transformation, this contribution seeks to build on recent efforts to bridge transformative learning and world language education (e.g., Clifford & Reisinger, 2019; Crane, Fingerhuth, & Huenlich, 2018; Johnson, 2015; Johnson & Mullins Nelson, 2010; Randolph & Johnson, 2017; Sosulski, 2013) by studying how perspective‐shifting can be fostered among collegiate second language (L2) learners through regular reflection on language and intercultural learning at different instructional levels. After describing transformative learning and recent applications of the theory to language learning contexts, we consider how critical reflection—considered a cornerstone for individuals’ ability to question and transform their meaning perspectives—can be used to stage perspective‐shifting moments for students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Staging transformative learning across collegiate language curricula: Student perceptions of structured reflection for language learning

Crane

Sosulski

2020

Foreign Language Annals

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Building on recent efforts to bridge transformative learning and world language education (Clifford & Reisinger, 2019; Johnson, 2015; Randolph & Johnson, 2017), this article explores how perspective‐shifting can be fostered among L2 learners through critical reflection tasks staged across collegiate language curricula. A range of reflection tasks designed to decenter the self from existing assumptions, beliefs, and values as learners try on and respond to cultural perspectives different from their own is presented, focusing on the developmental needs of learners at different instructional levels. The study investigates how beginning to advanced collegiate L2 learners perceive working with structured reflection (SR) tasks across two German programs in the United States (an R1 state university and a private liberal arts college). Analysis of student surveys (n = 237) shows that L2 learners largely valued doing reflective work and that some learners found SR helped them to think about and evaluate their learning and facilitate perspective‐shifting.

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Section: Transformative Learning and Structured Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Transformative Learning and Structured Reflectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Staging transformative learning across collegiate language curricula: Student perceptions of structured reflection for language learning

Crane

Sosulski

2020

Foreign Language Annals

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“…To address the problem of cultural essentialization and assumptions about cultural standards, it was necessary to increase students' awareness of their preconceptions about hip-hop. Students in the class demonstrated that preexisting associations with hip-hop in the U.S. were carried over into the German context in some examples, mirroring results from Putnam (2006) and Sosulski (2013). However, this music video varied from previous studies because OK KID's portrayal of the phenomena of racism and ethnocentric standards pairs a surface-level denial of racism with racist imagery.…”

Section: Overview Of the Lessonmentioning

confidence: 82%

“…

This observational study examines the use of the German hip-hop music video, "Gute Menschen" by the band OK KID (2015), as a basis for developing students' symbolic competence regarding contemporary discourse on racism in Germany. Based on earlier investigations (Putnam, 2006;Sosulski, 2013), this article advocates for the use of German music videos to develop students' abilities to decode multimodal symbols (i.e., visual, musical, and lyrical symbols) individually and holistically. Existing research supports the use of target language music videos in beginner-and intermediate-level lessons because of their affective and aesthetic properties (

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confidence: 99%

Symbolic Competence and Race in “Gute Menschen”: Teaching About Racism in Germany Through a Hip‐Hop Music Video

Chen

2022

Die Unterrichtspraxis

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This observational study examines the use of the German hip‐hop music video, “Gute Menschen” by the band OK KID (2015), as a basis for developing students' symbolic competence regarding contemporary discourse on racism in Germany. Based on earlier investigations (Putnam, 2006; Sosulski, 2013), this article advocates for the use of German music videos to develop students' abilities to decode multimodal symbols (i.e., visual, musical, and lyrical symbols) individually and holistically. Existing research supports the use of target language music videos in beginner‐ and intermediate‐level lessons because of their affective and aesthetic properties (Gullete et al., 2016; Kaiser, 2011; Schier, 2014; Spinner, 2008). Prompted by the lack of adequate discourse on racial and cultural diversity in many widely used textbooks (Ilett, 2009; Risager, 2006), and in the specific German curriculum (at an R1 university located in the Southwest) circa 2019, this project offers an example of internet‐accessible realia that directly addresses discourse on racism in Germany. Resulting findings and discussions are based on students' written assignments from two third‐semester German classes. The results demonstrate that conversations about racism can be successfully taught in beginner‐ and intermediate‐level curricula.

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Transformative Language Learning and Teaching

2021

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Many world language methodologists agree with Kumaravadivelu (2003) that the field has entered a post-method era. 1 The methods still visible in the rearview mirror are the communicative approaches, which are very much alive in many schools and universities. Lying ahead is the marginally mapped territory of transformative language learning and teaching (TLLT), a manifestation of larger changes already under way in the dominant transactive education philosophy of world language learning: in the twenty-first century, our society is viewing the importance of language and cultural competence for all citizens in a different way than in the twentieth century (American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2017). 2 Kuhn (1962) 3 describes a paradigm shift as a fundamental change in the concepts and accepted practices of a scientific discipline, signaling not evolution, but a revolution, in the field. In the past century, the proposition that the development of communicative competence underlay language acquisition sparked the development of successive and often overlapping waves of language teaching methods and schools, from direct method and the natural approach, to more recent communicative approaches such as task-based language teaching and content-based instruction (Bateman & Lago, n.d.), all focused essentially on the same goal: proficiency across skills within the framework of the World-readiness standards for learning languages (The National Standards 1 This article reflects the current situation of terms in free variation: language learning, world language learning, the older foreign language education (FLED), and languages other than English (LOTE). 2 Some second language (L2) teachers started to implement aspects of TLLT in their classrooms at least two decades before the paradigm acquired a label. In many cases, their more holistic/ non-Cartesian, learner-oriented, and socially mediated approaches were not understood, not accepted, and/or resisted by peers and administrators who insisted on textbook-based learning, most often laboring under the influence of dualistic thinking (Descartes, 1668/2013) Slowly, though, their practices are being seen as necessary for transformative learning. 3 While Kuhn is generally the philosopher credited with the term "paradigm shift," the concept dates from Kant (1781), who proposed the concept of revolutions in ways of thinking (Revolution der Denkungsart) in Critique of pure reason.

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From Broadway to Berlin: Transformative Learning through German Hip‐Hop

Abstract: This article explores the possibilities for effecting Transformative

Cited by 6 publications

References 5 publications

Staging transformative learning across collegiate language curricula: Student perceptions of structured reflection for language learning

Staging transformative learning across collegiate language curricula: Student perceptions of structured reflection for language learning

Symbolic Competence and Race in “Gute Menschen”: Teaching About Racism in Germany Through a Hip‐Hop Music Video

Transformative Language Learning and Teaching

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