Helmut Johannes Vollmer

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Helmut Johannes Vollmer (2020)

Helmut Johannes Vollmer (born September 11, 1941 in Hamburg ) is a German professor i. R. for Applied Linguistics and Technical Didactics of English . He is primarily known for his contributions to empirical research into foreign language teaching and learning, the evaluation of specialist teaching and student performance, and the development of bilingual teaching in Germany. He last taught (until his retirement in 2006) at Faculty 7: Linguistics and Literature Studies at the University of Osnabrück .

Life, academic career and focus of work

Vollmer grew up in Hamburg in the " Steenkampsiedlung ", a garden city settlement in the west of Hamburg, where he lives again after being released from his duties as a university professor . After graduating from the Ernst-Schlee-Gymnasium (modern high school) in Hamburg (1961) , he studied English , history and sociology at the Universities of Hamburg (1961-63, among others with Rudolf Haas and Fritz Fischer ), Tübingen (1964 –1965, among others with Walter Schulz and Gerhard Schulze) and Freie Universität Berlin (1966–1969, among others with Thomas Nipperdey , Ilse Hecht, Richard Gerber, Hans-Joachim Lieber and Dietrich Goldschmidt ). During this time, as a prerequisite for a scholarship from the Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst , he worked for six months as an unskilled worker in industry as part of a semester from 1963 to 1964. 1967–1968 he taught at the “ Critical University” in Berlin, which he co-founded, as a student lecturer and group leader. After graduating in 1969 for a Magister Artium (MA) from the Free University of Berlin, he worked on a research project (English school performance study) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. At the same time (1969–1971) he completed a temporary second degree in psychology (especially research methods ) and linguistics .

From 1973 until his retirement in 2006, Vollmer taught in various academic positions at the Universities of Bremen , Osnabrück , Webster College ( St. Louis , USA), Leipzig and Osnabrück again. During this time he mainly worked on investigations into pragma acoustics ( speech acts ), research into foreign language tests and bilingual teaching and learning . In addition to this activity as a university lecturer, he taught from 1973 to 1974 (at a comprehensive school in Bremen) and 1995 (at a grammar school in Osnabrück) as a bilingual teacher in the subjects of English, history and politics / social studies. In 1994 he completed his habilitation in English studies ( applied linguistics and language teaching and learning research ) in the linguistic and literary studies department of the University of Osnabrück on the subject of "learner language analysis" (reviewer: Werner Hüllen , Wolfgang Zydatiß).

In 1971, Vollmer married Edith Langer (two children) for the first time, and in 1991 she married Micheline Sauriol, a French-Canadian from Montréal, for the second time.

Research projects, memberships, expertise

From the beginning (since 1981) Vollmer belonged to the group of German foreign language didactics in the " Spring Conference for Research into Foreign Language Teaching ", where he emphatically advocated empirical research in foreign language didactics. In 1989 he was a co-founder of the German Society for Foreign Language Research (DGFF, 1993–1995 Vice Chairman), in 1990 co-founder of the “ Zeitschrift für Fremdspracheforschung” (ZFF), where he is a member of the editorial board to this day. In this context, together with Johannes-Peter Timm, he developed a systematic conception of foreign language research as a generic term for the disciplines of foreign language didactics, language teaching research and second language acquisition research.

In 1999, Vollmer was co-founder of the Society for Subject-Matter Teaching (GFD) as the umbrella organization for all subject-matter teaching in Germany (Vice Chairman and since 2015 honorary member), in 2017 co-founder of the international English-language online journal "Research in Subject-Matter Teaching and Learning" (RISTAL), since then also co-editor In the GFD he is a member of the working group “General Subject Didactics”, which strives for closer cooperation between all subject didactics and has developed an independent theory of subject didactics (s). In this context he worked on the history of English didactics, outlined its theoretical and pragmatic approaches, analyzed its research repertoire, previous research achievements and research perspectives, also with a view to interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary projects. At the same time, he dealt with the interdisciplinary relationship between general didactics , specialist didactics and general specialist didactics.

From 2000 to 2006 Vollmer was head of the research center "Bilingualism and Multilingualism" in the Department of Linguistics and Literature Studies at the University of Osnabrück, where he was involved in the development of an additional bilingual certificate "Bilingualism / Bilingual Teaching (English)". In the years 2000–2003, as spokesperson, he coordinated the preparations for the collective application for DFG projects in foreign language didactics. From 2003 to 2005 he headed his own DFG project "Subject learning and (foreign) language skills for bilingual and monolingual learners: task-based cognition, communication, cooperation".

In his capacity as an applied linguist and foreign language didactician, Vollmer was appointed by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in 2004 to the commission for the development of national English / French educational standards for the secondary school leaving certificate and then for advanced foreign language learning at upper secondary level up to the Abitur . Since 2006 he has also worked as a scientific expert and author. a. for the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (2006–2016) as part of the project “Languages ​​of Schooling / Plurilingual and Intercultural Education”; for the accreditation agency ACQUIN in Bayreuth (2010–2020), for the European Center for Foreign Languages ​​(ECML) in Graz (2015–2019) and for the University of Education St. Gallen / Switzerland (2015–2018). Since his retirement, Vollmer has also been a guest member at the University of Hamburg as part of a research project on the perception of multilingualism . In addition, he is an active member of the Society for Applied Linguistics (GAL) and the Society for Canadian Studies (GKS) and, since 2015, a member of the Board of Trustees of the German-French Society CLUNY e. V., Hamburg. In 2019 he went on an extensive lecture tour to Asia (Singapore, Shanghai / Wuhu, Hong Kong).

Fonts (selection)

  • Development of a school performance test for the subject English in the 7th grade of the grammar school (with test tasks). Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 1970.
  • with students from the University of Bremen: project orientation of the course. Experiences - possibilities - limits. (Pedagogical Professional Practice - Bremen Working Materials, Vol. 4), University of Bremen, Bremen 1975.
  • with Peter Mohr: Playing in communicative English lessons. Pragmalinguistic Perspectives. Hessian Institute for Teacher Training, Fuldatal 1978.
  • with Fritz Sang: General language skills and foreign language acquisition. On the structure of performance dimensions and linguistic competence of the foreign language learner (contributions to the discussion, vol. 1). Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin 1978.
  • Language acquisition and command of languages: Investigations into the structure of foreign language skills. An empirical contribution to a psycholinguistically oriented language teaching / learning research. Gunter Narr, Tübingen 1982. (Series: Tübingen Contributions to Linguistics, TBL 187).
  • (Co-author). Indians: The Native Americans. Construction kit for English lessons in the 10th school year (incl. Cassette). Hessian Institute for Teacher Training, Fuldatal 1981.
  • with a group of students from the University of Osnabrück (transl. and ed.): Peter Blue Cloud / Aroniawenrate: I am Turtle / I am turtle. Poems, songs, stories. / Poems, songs, stories. Wurf-Verlag, Münster 1991. (Osnabrück Bilingual Editions of Minority Authors, OBEMA, Volume 5).
  • (Ed.) Multicultural society and minorities: Canada and USA. AV-Verlag, Augsburg 1992.
  • with Johannes-Peter Timm (ed.): Controversies in foreign language research. Documentation of the 14th Congress for Foreign Language Didactics, organized by the German Society for Foreign Language Research, Essen, October 7th - 9th, 1991. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1993.
  • with Eckhard Klieme et al .: Expertise: On the development of national educational standards. Bonn: Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Bonn 2003. [English version: The Development of National Educational Standards. In expertise. Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Bonn 2004; French version: Le développement de standards nationaux de formation. Une expertise. Ministère Fédéral de l'Education et de la Recherche, Bonn 2004.].
  • with Horst Bayrhuber, Bernd Ralle, Kristina Reiss & Lutz-H. Nice (ed.). Consequences from PISA - perspectives of subject didactics. StudienVerlag, Innsbruck 2004 (series of research on subject didactics, volume 6).
  • with Horst Bayrhuber, Doris Elster & Dirk Krüger (eds.): Competence development and assessment. StudienVerlag, Innsbruck 2007. (Research on Subject Didactics, Volume 9).
  • Items for a description of linguistic competence in the language of schooling necessary for learning / teaching sciences (at the end of compulsory education). An approach with reference points. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Strasbourg 2010. Online at: https://rm.coe.int/090000168047d003#_Toc429570331
  • with Eike Thürmann & Irene Pieper: Languages ​​of schooling: focusing on vulnerable learners. Council of Europe, Strasbourg 2010. Online at: https://rm.coe.int/16805a1caf .
  • (Ed.) With Karin Aguado & Karen Schramm: Observing, measuring, evaluating foreign language behavior. New methodological approaches in competence research and videography. Lang Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2010. (Series Colloquium Foreign Language Teaching, Vol. 37).
  • with Horst Bayrhuber et al. (Ed.): On the empirical foundation of subject didactics. Waxmann, Münster 2011. (Didactic Research, Vol. 1).
  • with Horst Bayrhuber et al. (Ed.): Formats of didactic research. Empirical Projects - Historical Analysis - Theoretical Foundations. Waxmann, Münster 2012. (Didactic Research, Vol. 2).
  • with Michael Becker-Mrotzek, Karen Schramm & Eike Thürmann (eds.): Language in the subject. Linguistic and professional learning. Waxmann, Münster 2013. (Didactic Research, Volume 3).
  • with Martin Rothgangel, Ulf Abraham, Horst Bayrhuber, Volker Frederking & Werner Jank (eds.): Learning within and beyond the subject. Inventories and research perspectives from 17 subject didactics in comparison. Waxmann, Münster 2020. (General Didactics, Volume 2).

Important essays

  • with Fritz Sang: Competing Hypotheses about Second Language Ability: A Plea for Caution. In: JW Oller (ed.), Issues in Language Testing Research. Newbury House, Rowley, MA 1983, pp. 29-79.
  • with Johannes-Peter Timm : Foreign language research: on the conception and perspective of a scientific area. In: Journal for Foreign Language Research, Vol. 4 (1993), Issue 1, pp. 1-47.
  • Discourse learning and intercultural communication skills. The contribution of pragmalinguistics and discourse analysis to an expanded concept of language learning. In: L. Bredella (ed.): Understanding and understanding through language learning? Foreign language teaching in a future Europe. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1995, pp. 104-127.
  • Bilingual subject teaching as content and language learning. In: G. Bach & S. Niemeier (eds.): Bilingual teaching. Basics, methods, practice, perspectives. 4th edition. Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2008, pp. 51-73. (1st edition 2000).
  • Professional competence as subject-based discourse skills using the example of geography. In: S. Doff (Hg.): Studienbuch Bilingualer Sachfachunterricht in the secondary level I. Narr, Tübingen 2010, pp. 242-257 (plus 18 pages of online materials at: http://meta.narr.de/9783823365914/vollmer_fachkompetenz .pdf ).
  • School language skills: central discourse functions. University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück 2011. Online at: http://www.home.uos.de/hvollmer/VollmerDF-KurzdefinUNGEN.pdf .
  • with E. Thürmann: Language education and educational language as the task of all subjects in mainstream schools. In: M. Becker-Mrotzek, K. Schramm, E. Thürmann & HJ Vollmer (eds.): Language in the subject. Linguistic and professional learning. Waxmann, Münster 2013, pp. 41–57.
  • with E. Thürmann: Linguistic dimensions of professional learning. In M. Becker-Mrotzek & H.-J. Roth (ed.): Linguistic education - basics and fields of action. Mercator Institute for Language Promotion and German as a Second Language. Waxmann, Cologne / Münster 2017, pp. 299–320.
  • with B. Schneuwly: Bildung and Subject Didactics - Exploring a Classical Concept for Building New Insights. European Educational Research Journal, 17 (1), 2018, pp. 37–50. Online at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904117696096 .

(a total of almost 200 articles and contributions in compilations)

literature

  • Festschrift for the 65th birthday: Johannes-Peter Timm (ed.): Foreign language learning and foreign language research. Competencies, standards, forms of learning, evaluation. Festschrift for Helmut Johannes Vollmer. Narr, Tübingen 2006. ISBN 3-8233-6235-6
  • Who is who? The German Who's Who. 51st edition. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 2013, p. 1143.
  • Thomas Finkenstaedt & Rita Stoll (eds.): Third mirror of the Anglisten: Biographical and bibliographical information from 546 professors, lecturers, post-doctoral candidates. Part 3: Letters S to Z (Augsburger I & I - Schriften, Vol. 57) University of Augsburg, Augsburg 1990, pp. 151-155.

References and comments

  1. ↑ This resulted in Vollmer's dissertation: Language acquisition and language proficiency: Investigations into the structure of foreign language skills. University of Osnabrück 1980; revised and publish with Gunter Narr, Tübingen 1982. Tübingen Contributions to Linguistics, TBL Vol. 187.
  2. ↑ https://www.michelinesauriol.com
  3. ↑ See German Society for Foreign Language Research , the DGFF website at https://www.dgff.de/ and Helmut Sauer: “On the history of the DGFF”, online at https://web.archive.org/web/20090124112824/ http://www.dgff.de/fileadmin/user_upload/dokumente/Sauer.pdf .
  4. ↑ See Willis J. Edmondson , Juliane House : Introduction to language teaching research. A. Francke, Tübingen, Basel. 4th, revised. Edition 2011, p. 15. - See Johannes-Peter Timm, Helmut J. Vollmer: Fremdsprachforschung: On the conception and perspective of a scientific area. In: Journal for Foreign Language Research, Vol. 4 (1993), Issue 1, pp. 1-47.
  5. ↑ See https://www.ristal.org/about-us/editorial-board/
  6. ↑ See above all: with Horst Bayrhuber, Ulf Abraham, Volker Frederking, Werner Jank & Martin Rothgangel : On the way to a general subject didactics. Waxmann, Münster 2017. - (Ed.) With Martin Rothgangel, Ulf Abraham, Horst Bayrhuber, Volker Frederking & Werner Jank: Learning in the subject and beyond. Inventories and research perspectives from 17 subject didactics in comparison. Waxmann, Münster 2020.
  7. ↑ First published in 2017, in revision 2020 with Karin Vogt: Englischdidaktik - Inventory and Research Perspectives. In: M. Rothgangel, U. Abraham, H. Bayrhuber, V. Frederking, W. Jank & HJ Vollmer (eds.): Learning in and beyond the subject. Inventories and research perspectives from 17 subject didactics in comparison. (General Subject Didactics, Volume 2). Waxmann, Münster 2020, pp. 103-131.).
  8. ↑ z. E.g .: with Martin Rothgangel: Towards a Theory of Subject-Matter Didactics. Research in Subject-Matter Teaching and Learning (RISTAL), Volume 3/2020.
  9. ↑ This resulted in: Technical and linguistic quality: interim balance of a DFG project. Journal for Foreign Language Research 17 (2), 2006, pp. 201–244. - Constructing Tasks for Content and Language Integrated Learning and Assessment. In: J. Eckerth & S. Siekmann (eds.): Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching. Theoretical, Methodological and Pedagogical Perspectives. Lang, Frankfurt / New York 2008, pp. 227-290 (Duisburg Papers on Research in Language and Culture). - Discourse functions and professional discourse competence in bilingual and monolingual geography learners. In: S.-A. Ditze & Ana Halbach (Ed.): Bilingual subject teaching (CLIL) in the context of language, culture and multiliteracy. Lang, Frankfurt / M. 2009, pp. 165-185.
  10. ↑ See: Jean-Claude Beacco, Mike Fleming, François Goullier & Eike Thuermann: The Language Dimension in All Subjects. A Handbook for curriculum development and teacher training. Council of Europe, Strasbourg 2016; as download at: https://www.coe.int/en/web/language-policy/a-handbook-for-curriculum-development-and-teacher-training.-the-language-dimension-in-all-subjects .
  11. ↑ See https://www.ew.uni-hamburg.de/einrichtungen/ew4/didaktik-romanische- Sprachen/projekte/ wahrnungmehrsprachigkeit.html .
  12. ↑ See https://cluny.de/about/kuratorium/
  13. ↑ Sources: especially website HJ Vollmer at http://www.home.uni-osnabrueck.de/hvollmer/ as well as personal articles in Wilfried Kürschner (ed.): Linguisten-Handbuch. Narr, Tübingen 1994, pp. 982-983; Who is who? The German Who's Who. 51st edition. Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck 2013, p. 1143; Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar Online. People, publications, contacts. 32nd edition De Gruyter, Berlin 2020; Thomas Finkenstedt & Rita Stoll (eds.): Third mirror of the Anglisten: Biographical and bibliographical information of 546 professors, lecturers, post-doctoral candidates. Part 3: Letters S to Z (Augsburger I & I - Schriften, Vol. 57). University of Augsburg, Augsburg 1990, pp. 151–155; Johannes-Peter Timm (ed.): Foreign language learning and foreign language research. Competencies, standards, forms of learning, evaluation. Festschrift for Helmut Johannes Vollmer. Narr, Tübingen 2006, pp. 17–31: “Foreign language learning and foreign language research - aspects of a researcher's life” and pp. 465–467: “Helmut Johannes Vollmer: About the person”.

Web links

  • Homepage Helmut Johannes Vollmer
  • Homepage of the University of Osnabrück
  • Homepage of the University of Osnabrück, Faculty 7: Linguistics and literary studies
personal data
SURNAME Vollmer, Helmut Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German linguist (applied linguistics) and foreign language didactics (English)
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg