Ongoing Projects

The Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative, originally developed at the University of Ottawa, is a pedagogical initiative that refers to authentic, every-day communication tasks in a target language as risks, since learners oftentimes perceive of them as risky due to their potential of e.g. being misunderstood or making mistakes. In order that learners become aware of the numerous every-day situations in which they can use and practice their target language, the Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport was developed in Canada. This passport contains various every-day activities (so-called risks) that learners can undertake in their target language and tick off afterwards.

The project “The Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative for German Learners in an Austrian University Context” focusses on the implementation of the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative in German courses at the Language Center of the University of Vienna that are part of the University Preparation Programme of the Vienna Universities (VWU). Through this initiative and the “Riskier was!”-Heft (“Risk something!”-booklet; the German counterpart to the Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport) specifically developed for this context, German learners shall be accompanied and encouraged to ‘risk’ using their target language German in every-day situations and benefit from it. At the same time, insights shall be gathered on how the “Riskier was!”-Heft is used by learners and how the initiative itself is assessed by both learners and teachers.

The project focusses on the implementation of the Linguistic Risk-Taking Initiative in German courses at the Language Center of the University of Vienna that are part of the University Preparation Programme of the Vienna Universities (VWU). Through this initiative and the “Riskier was!”-Heft (“Risk something!”-booklet; the German counterpart to the Linguistic Risk-Taking Passport) specifically developed for this context, German learners shall be accompanied and encouraged to ‘risk’ using their target language German in every-day situations and benefit from it. At the same time, insights shall be gathered on how the “Riskier was!”-Heft is used by learners and how the initiative itself is assessed by both learners and teachers.

The study travel passport is an LRT task catalog adapted as part of Sebastian Windisch's doctoral project. The focus of this adaptation is on promoting the communicative competence of German learners through authentic language use during study trips or tourist stays in German-speaking countries. A central feature of this adaptation is the increased integration of gamification: based on the assumption that oral interaction in an authentic environment carries a higher linguistic risk, learners receive so-called Courage Points for each task. Participants document their activities, collect points and receive a gamification badge at the end as a visible expression of their commitment.
The tasks are based on level A2/A2+ and are linked to specific descriptors. The passport is supplemented by regional content, a travel dictionary and materials on Austrian German.
The passport was evaluated in two test cycles with students from the universities of Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Coimbra, Le Mans and Naples. The participants were accompanied on their study trips by OeAD lecturers as part of the Vienna campaign “Europe's youth gets to know Vienna” (BMBWF).