14 On the Use of Hypermediality in Teaching Culture in German as a Foreign Language Context

Since the development of the World Wide Web in 1989 by Sir Tim Bernes-Lee and the Belgian engineer Robert Cailliau at the CERN European Laboratory for Particle Physics, people’s lives have taken an increasing digital turn; certain age groups being especially Internet-savvy, and almost constantly online. As a result, it has become a part of our everyday life to constantly take pictures or make films and simultaneously share them via digital media, whether locally or remotely. This increasing digitalization of communication, therefore, not only dissolves the limitations of local and remote communication, but also leads to interpersonal interactions, which are mediaassisted on a regular basis, thus compelling teachers to bring the digital media in face-to-face classroom sessions. The permanent availability and versatility of digital media (the Internet, CDs/ DVDs, interactive kiosks, mobile devices), provide, on one hand, new directions for scientific development, and on the other hand, offer scholars a source of new research topics and approaches. For Pisani, Radtke and Wolters (2014: 226), digital media share three common features: hypermediality, interactivity, and multimediality. Alongside computer science, these characteristics have become keywords in the research in the fields of communication, translation, education, etc. From the perspective of translation studies, Sandrini (2011: 235) points out that ‘this development should not be seen as a mere change in media, but [...] [must] be analysed holistically, with all its implications at the level of text production and organisation, multilingualism, technical requirements and many further areas of investigation’. The newness of the field is also demonstrated by the fact that, regardless of discipline, scholarly discourse, whether linguisticsor pedagogy-oriented, always begins by explaining the origin of the concept of hypertext (e.g., Foltz, 1996; Gerdes, 1997; Iske, 2009; Rehm, 2006; Schröder, 2013; Stahl & Bromme, 2005; Schulmeister, 2013; Tergan, 2003; Winter, 1998). The author of the present study subscribes to those theoretical perspectives, which distinguish between hypertext and hypermedia.

the network-like connections of this multimedia content (e.g., Horz, 2015: 124;Iske, 2009: 1;Schröder, 2013: 77-79;Tergan, 2003: 335).Moreover, in what follows, the concepts hypertext and website will be regarded as synonyms (e.g., Schröder, 2013: 76).A concrete example of the above-mentioned concepts is the World Wide Web, understood as a global database of multimedia content (hypermedia), which can be connected by the users into constantly changing hypertexts.
In recent years, the use of the Internet and of hypermediality in teaching has been increasingly debated by pedagogical and psychological theories, which frequently emphasise the similarity of semantic networks -i.e., the fact that items of information are stored in the brain in a networked manner -to the construction of hypertexts: It is often assumed that the network-like representation of hypertexts provides an advantage for learning, since cognitivist models of long-term memory also speak of a network-like construction of knowledge representation.(Horz, 2015: 124)

The Didactic Approach
The theories presented in the previous section imply that it may be useful to train networked thinking.Moreover, in my own teaching practice, I have consistently been confronted with the fact that students almost never establish links to other knowledge or apply acquired knowledge to new problems, or else that they have difficulty in doing so.In order to develop these abilities, one very useful approach is to use projects, particularly as this teaching method represents 'a complex form of learning, which involves many subskills […] which can also be described as methodological competencies, and can therefore [be] learned and practiced' (Emer&Lenzen, 2002: 193;Lang, 2009: 576).
The following competencies can be acquired and trained: -Professional competencies (connections and facts related to the subject being dealt with…) -Social competencies (teamwork, personal responsibility, groupwork, conflictsolving strategies…) -Methodological competencies (strategies for finding a topic, for group formation, for literature searches, etc.) -Organisational competencies (distribution and coordination of tasks, management of resources, such as time, money, space, energy, the organisation of field trips…) -Skills (practical skills, the creation of brochures, working with computers…).
(Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, 2001: 43-44) A concrete example of the aforementioned competencies is the interdisciplinary teaching project entitled (Country of choice) on the internet, which extends over several semesters, and therefore, includes three sub-projects: Overall project: (Country of choice) on the internet Sub-project 1: (Country of choice) on the internet: (Country of choice) in pictures Sub-project 2: (Country of choice) on the internet: create a hypertext/a website Sub-project 3: (Country of choice) on the internet / (beliebiges Land im Internet): hypertext / website translation The overall project can focus on any country, with the first sub-project suitable for teaching cultural knowledge and the latter two for language-based knowledge, such as teaching of text comprehension, text production (writing acquisition), or translation.It should be emphasized here that the demands on the students are initially low, and then increase gradually.Each sub-project builds prior content knowledge and trains skills which are necessary for the next sub-project.For example, the last sub-project, in the field of translation, presupposes certain cultural knowledge, as well as media competences, namely knowledge on the structure and generation of hypertexts/websites, since […] the web [becomes] significant for translation, both as a research field and as an area of application.A new type of source text emerges, which brings with it new challenges generated by the internet medium as a form of communication, and the fact that it is constituted as a digital text.(Sandrini, 2011: 236) Finally, the already acquired cultural, hypertextual and translation-relevant knowledge must be culturally adapted to the expectations of an anonymous group of foreign language speakers, which is by all means a challenging task for inexperienced translators.

The Cultural Sub-project
The cultural sub-project is entitled Germany on the Internet: Reading images of Germany (Deutschland im Internet: Deutschland-Bilder lesen -DBL) and extends over one semester, i.e., 14 learning units.The project aims at the active acquisition firstly of targeted professional and social competencies, and secondly of organisational competencies.

Learning goals
In short, this sub-project aims at achieving the following main learning goals: 1. Acquisition of cultural knowledge about Germany 2. Developing of media competency 3. Developing cooperation strategies On one hand, the students are required to actively develop their cultural knowledge, at the same time as their research competency, and on the other hand, they improve their media competency.They are encouraged to discuss the subject-related content as well as reflect critically upon the use of the media, i.e., evaluate the quality of the Internet content.This learning method is suitable for the successful attainment of these goals since -as the constructivists would put it -this is active self-directed knowledge acquisition, which would not be possible using teacher-centered transmission of knowledge.It is this autonomous behaviour that allows the creation of complex connections between concepts and the processing of new information into lasting knowledge.Moreover, the project method has resulted in the development of social competencies, and especially collaborative learning, which 'targets a collective interactive construction of meaning, and implies a commitment to a common goal' (Schulz -Zander, 2005: 129).
A secondary goal is the development of organisational competencies, such as, for instance, those related to planning, the distribution and coordination of tasks, and time management.

Procedure
If we exclude the first teaching unit, which is dedicated to formulating the objectives, to creating and coordinating the small groups and to planning, and the last unit, which is devoted to project evaluation, the remaining 12 teaching units can be divided into three stages of three units each: 1 st stage: Selection: guided thematic Internet research in small groups 2 nd stage: Organisation: processing the data into a combination of text and image 3 rd stage: Integration: interconnecting the separate hypermedial units into a network Selection: In the first stage, the students undertake an Internet search of images, films and texts related to certain cultural content items.They are instructed to search mainly for images and films which convey as much cultural information as possible in a concise manner.The task is also based on the psychological theories of learning with texts and images which stem from research on memory or text comprehension.'The memory-oriented or product-oriented approaches (e.g., Kulhavy, Lee & Caterino, 1985;Mayer, 2009;Paivio, 1986)' show that 'information from text and images is better remembered when it is stored simultaneously -that is, with a greater degree of spatiotemporal and thematic overlap' (e.g., Ostermeier & Eitel, 2014: 21).Productoriented approaches (e.g., Eitel & Scheiter, 2014;Ostermeier & Eitel, 2014;Schnotz, 2001) have pointed out that images and texts 'complement each other in the construction of an effective mental model', since an image facilitates the semantic interpretation of a text 'while reading a text facilitates in turn the choice (selection) of relevant information in the corresponding image' (Ostermeier & Eitel, 2014: 23).
The outcome of this stage should be a well-organised archive of image, film, audio, and text documents centered around the relevant cultural topics.The collaborative research process builds information, research and media competencies, and fosters collaborative learning.
Organisation: After each group has collected material on the cultural content they have chosen, such as, for instance, landscape, historical overview, sights, way of life, and so on, in the second stage, they are asked to integrate the material into a combination of text and images.In addition to the media-oriented competencies, this task also develops reflective skills.Finally, the resulting multimedia documents are integrated and presented to the other students as PowerPoint presentations so that each small group shares their multimedia text.This also provides presentation skills practice.
Integration: The last stage consists in connecting the individual multimedia texts into a coherent hypermedia structure, which consolidates the already practiced competencies.The final product is then presented in the class and can also be submitted to a student conference.
The knowledge acquired by the selection, organisation and integration of the cultural material naturally provides the prior knowledge indispensable for the next two sub-projects: creating and translating websites with cultural content.

A teaching unit
In pedagogy, it is agreed that learners 'should only tackle tasks when they have acquired a basic understanding of the underlying […] principles and their application' (Renkl, 2015: 15).In order to provide students with a clear understanding of the work they are performing, the method of parallel texts has been imported from the field of translation didactics.The concept of parallel text refers to authentic texts which appeared in similar communication situations in the target culture, which can be classed as the same type of texts and which deal with the same or a similar topic (e.g., Göpferich, 1998: 184;Kautz, 2000: 97-99;Sinner & Wieland, 2013: 107).
Students are already familiar with parallel texts from their translation courses so that, in the first teaching unit of the first stage (Selection), they are shown a so-called parallel text to the required end project.Thus, they are introduced to an example of hypermedia structure on a cultural topic created by the teacher, but one that deals with a country other than Germany.In this specific case, it is a hypermedia unit dealing with the Republic of Austria.
In this way, the students acquire a general idea of the most important topics in the study of culture.Otherwise, the self-directed research of the databases available online could lead to disorientation, to their being 'lost in hyperspace' (Conklin, 1987: 28).In order to prevent this disorientation and help students better evaluate the relevance of the content, the presentation of a parallel text as well as the permanent access to an already existing model are essential.
The presentation of parallel texts also facilitates collaborative learning, as the students can develop from the very beginning a common picture of the design of their end product.Otherwise, the existence of different design ideas may impede collective work.
In addition to this, with the help of parallel texts students also acquire an initial idea of the relations of dependence among different semiotic systems: text, image, sound and film, and may develop combinations of text and image or sound and image.
Although the method of parallel texts is not new, by the use of a parallel text in teaching culture, the present study proposes the transfer of an auxiliary method from the field of translation studies to another discipline.Thus, it represents a concrete example of how the main objective of 'networked thinking' can be achieved, by showing how connections can be established with the already acquired knowledge, and how this knowledge can be used in multiple situations, regardless of their nature.
The parallel text planned for one of the units, Österreich im Internet.Österreich-Bilder lesen (Austria on the Internet.Austria in pictures) discusses the main points regarding theAustrian culture, by means of interconnected data from different semiotic systems, i.e., the items of information on Austria are given, like in a hypertext, without aiming to be exhaustive, and in any order.
The introduction to the topic is made by means of 'a visual enumeration' of the best known clichés about Austria.The concept of Austria, or Alpine Republic, is the node for the next information item, namely the landscape.After the presentation of the most popular Austrian holiday destinations, the statement 'But over time other territories also belonged to Austria' connects to the topic of Austria's History.Maps, images or historical photos are chronologically presented to illustrate certain historical events and personalities, such as, for instance, the first Kingdom, the House of Babenberg, the Ostarrichi Document, the first record on Austria, or the Habsburgs.This chapter also includes sound and film documents on Emperor Franz Joseph I. Next, other historical events up to Austria's accession to the European Union are presented.As a member of the European Union, Austria enriches the European cultural heritage, a statement which makes the transition to the next cultural item, presenting the country's sights.The tourist attractions of individual federal states are presented in a networked manner and with occasional humorous comments.A joke regarding the animosity between Germany and Austria represents the node, which leads to the last chapter, die Deutschen und die Österreicher (The Germans and the Austrians).A short film is played, Alles gleich anders -warum Österreich nicht Deutschland ist (Otherwise all the same -why Austria is not Germany), broadcast by ORF and now available on YouTube.
The presentation can be found in the Appendix and the complete slide show in PowerPoint Österreich im Internet: Österreich-Bilder lesen can be accessed from the following link: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxZDTdykBXrNYjFRY05nRFVCY2c&usp=sharing

Conclusion
By the use of hypermediality in the project-oriented teaching of culture, important transdisciplinary competencies can be developed, such as professional competencies, media competencies, information and research competencies, social competencies, etc.The outcomes of the learning process and the acquisition of competencies are enhanced by the active, autonomous involvement of the students and by the fact that the teacher only rarely takes on the role of source of knowledge.