DEPARTMENT OF GERMAN

Professor Lys’ research is concerned with the application and evaluation the effectiveness of media-related and technological innovations to improve the learning of foreign languages. Since 1987 Dr. Lys has been collaborating with Dr. William Anthony on the production of various educational documentaries. They have produced and directed Drehort: Neubrandenburg (On location in Neubrandenburg; 1991) a documentary about the lives of the people in a former East German town, AZUBI (Three Apprentices in Berlin, 1994) a documentary about the apprenticeship system in Germany, Drehort Bern, Gesichter einer Stadt (On location in Bern, faces of a city; 1997) a documentary about people in the city of Berne, Switzerland, and Drehort: Neubrandenburg 2002 (On location in Neubrandenburg; 2004), an update to the original film documenting the lives of the people in Neubrandenburg ten years after the Wende. Professor Lys has been developing and testing, among others, multi-media language software using her own documentary materials. She has developed Drehort: Neubrandenburg Interaktiv, an interactive online learning environment for German, Azubi: Interaktiv, and Intermatik, an interactive online grammar and culture software for intermediate German. She has received major grants, about 16 in the last 12 years alone ($ 110,000 internal funds and $ 25,000 external funds) for her current research which deals with the introduction of new technologies such as iPhones and iPads to improve language learning and teaching.

Dr. Lys has published a wide variety of material discussing the benefits of second language acquisition, computer-assisted language instruction, and active learning in volumes such as Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education: Principles and Practices, Body and Language Intercultural Learning Through Drama, Schnittstellen: Lehrwerke zwischen alten und neuen Medien, Computer Enhanced Learning: Vignettes of the Best Practice from America's Most Wired Campuses, Fremdsprachen Lehren und Lernen, Technology for Language Learning: Faculty authored Libra Courseware, and in the following journals: "CALICO", "Die Unterrichtspraxis", "IDV-Magazine", "GFL-Journal", and "Language Learning & Technology". Recent publications include:

Selected Works

Edited Volumes

• VIRTUAL WALLS: Political Unification and Cultural Difference in Contemporary Germany. Boydell and Brewer, Rochester, NY; Woodbridge, Suffolk. 2017. (Co-edited with Michael Dreyer; Index provided by our own Ted Laport - Thank you.)
• Reviewed in:
  • Journal of European Studies. Volume 48, Issue 3-4, November 2018, Pages 373-375. Review by Joachim Whaley, Professor of German History and Thought, Cambridge University.
  • German History. Volume 36, Issue 4, December 2018, Pages 681–683. Review by Clemens Villinger, Research Assistant/PhD Student, Leibniz Center for Contemporary History Potsdam.

Journal Articles

• Cross-Departmental Approach to Supporting Students with a Disability Affecting Foreign Language Acquisition. (Co-authored with Alison May and Jeanne Ravid). Prague Journal of English Studies. 2014. V3(1), 85-111.
• The Development of Oral Proficiency in Advanced Learners Using iPads. In Language Learning & Technology. 2013. 17(3), 94-116.
• Looking Back—A Lesson Learned: From Videotape to Digital Media. In CALICO, Special Issue on Technology. 2010. 2(3), 564-575.
• Die Bewohner der Stadt Neubrandenburg kurz nach der Wende und zehn Jahre danach. In IDV Magazin (Internationaler Deutschlehrer Verband). 2010. 82(2), 272-287.
• Computer-Mediated Grammar Teaching and its Effect on Different Language Tasks. In Hubbard, P., Schulze, M., & Smith, B. (Eds.), Learner-Computer Interaction in Language Education. CALICO. 2013, 166-186.
• Von der Exkursion zur medialen Lernumgebung: Der Einfluss des Bauhauses auf die moderne amerikanische Stadt. In gfl-journal. 2010. 2, 64-88. (co-authored with Denise Meuser and Ingrid Zeller).
• “I asked my parents why a wall was so important”: Teaching on the GDR and Post-Reunification Germany. In Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German. 2008. 41(2), 134-143. (co-authored with Bernhard Streitwieser. This article won the Best Article Award in 2008 in Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German).

Book Chapters

• “From a Divided to a Unified Germany.” In VIRTUAL WALLS: Political Unification and Cultural Difference in Contemporary Germany. Boydell and Brewer, Rochester, NY; Woodbridge, Suffolk. 2017. (Co-authored with Michael Dreyer)
• "Using Web Technology to Promote Writing, Analytical Thinking, and Creative Expression in German." In Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education: Principles and Practices. (Eds. Betty Lou Leaver and Jane G. Willis). Georgetown University Press. 2004. 228 –253.
• "Performing Brecht: From Theory To Practice." In Body and Language Intercultural Learning Through Drama. ABLEX Series: Advances in Foreign and Second Language Pedagogy. (Ed. by Gerd Braeuer). Emory University. 2002. 207-232.
• Interaktives Video: neue Potentiale für den Fremdsprachenunterricht. Methodisch-Didaktische Überlegungen und praktische Beispiele. In Schnittstellen: Lehrwerke zwischen alten und neuen Medien. Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin. 2001. 154-171.
• Using Technology to Increase Writing. In Computer Enhanced Learning: Vignettes of the Best Practice from America's Most Wired Campuses. (Ed. David G. Brown). Anker Publishing Company, Inc. Bolton, MA. 2000. 250-253.