Listening Comprehension and Instructor Input in American and Gymnasium Foreign Language Classrooms

The issue this paper addresses is the difference in foreign language learning between American

and German novice-level secondary classrooms; specifically, this investigation first observes the

instructor’s spoken foreign language in the classroom, which will entail identifying the amount,

complexity, and variation of the target language in the instructor’s speech. This study then evaluates

the influence of the instructor’s spoken language by assessing the listening comprehension skills of

the students through dictation exercises, which shall include appropriate vocabulary and grammar the

students have learned based on researcher’s observations and the assigned language textbook.

With these observations and evaluation of German and American secondary school classrooms, I

shall identify the differences between the instructors’ use of authentic foreign language in the classroom,

as well as the listening comprehension ability of the students. Establishing the differences in foreign

language use and its effect on the student listening ability, I shall suggest relevant improvements to the

corresponding classrooms regarding enhancing listening competency.