Comparing the language skills and grammatical competences of German language teacher trainees

Abstract

Grammar, as a system of rules in a language, holds an important place in the process of foreign language teacher education. The knowledge of the linguistic structure of the German language combined with the skills of writing, reading, listening and speaking constitute a meaningful whole with a mutual consistency. They can also be referred to as declarative and procedural knowledge. They serve to develop a consciousness of language and/or language learning. Based on such understanding, the present study aims at examining the relationship between the development level of writing, reading, listening and speaking skills and of grammatical competence of the teacher trainees. Comparing the findings of the project 'The Problem of Language Competence in German Language Teacher Education within the Context of Istanbul University' carried out by the academic staff of the Department of German Language Teaching and the exam results of German Grammar II course, this study explores whether there is a significant correlation between the trainees' success levels of language skills and grammar. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of ALSC 2012