The study participants were comprised of both university-level American learners in German for the Professions and invited expert guests. The invited expert guests were native speakers of German living in Germany with expertise on a number of topics related to their respective areas of professional interest. As such, they were considered experts in both content and language, whereas the student participants were considered novices in both regards.
Student participants were recruited to participate in the study by enrolling in German for the Professions at the University of Kansas. At the beginning of the course, all students were given a statement of informed consent explaining the goal of the
research project and informing them of their ability to withdraw from participation in the study at any time. During Fall 2010 (study instance 1), two students withdrew from the course, and were excluded from the study. During Fall 2011 (study instance 2), one student withdrew from the course and was excluded from the study. No students from either cohort withdrew from participation in the study while remaining enrolled in the course.
Invited expert guest participants were recruited in three main ways and shall be termed first-, second-, or third-level contacts. First-level contacts were those expert guest participants previously known to the researcher through his own time spent in Germany. Second-level contacts were those expert guest participants not directly known by the researcher, but known directly by one of the researcher’s first-level contacts. Third-level contacts were those expert guest participants wholly unknown to the researcher and with whom the researcher was required to establish new ties in order to secure their
participation in the study. In all cases, the researcher solicited the participation of expert guests initially through e-mail, with follow up discussions taking place through
synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication, or CMC (i.e., Skype or Adobe Connect Pro) or through face-to-face meetings. Having laid this foundation, let us now review the specific characteristics of the participants comprising both groups.
3.3.1 Experimental Cohort 1, Fall 2010
Experimental cohort 1 consisted of nine student participants (5 male, 4 female) with varying specialization and exposure to German prior to the course (see Table 3-1), as well as four invited expert guest participants (3 male, 1 female), all living and working in Germany at the time of the study (see Table 2). During this phase of the study, the researcher also served as the instructor for the course.
Table 3-1: Student participants, Fall 2010
Pseudonym Major (Minor) High school instruction University instruction (prior to study) Time spent in a German-speaking country Karl Linguistics (German)
none 4 semesters 2 weeks of private travel
Gregor Architecture (German)
2 years 4 semesters 2 weeks of private travel
Tim Film (German) none 4 semesters 1 week of private
travel Andrea Biochemistry
(German)
3 years 2 semesters 6 weeks as a high school exchange student, 1 week of private travel
Bill German 4 years 3 semesters 5 seven-day visits
during 2006-2009
Beth German,
International Studies / Business
none 6 semesters 1 year spent living and studying in Germany
Jenny Architecture none none 15 months spent
living and studying in Austria and
Germany
Jackson German 3 years 4 semesters 9 days of private
travel Kate International
Studies
4 years none 6 weeks as a high
school exchange student, extensive private travel
Table 3-2: Invited expert guests, Fall 2010
Pseudonym Contact level Expertise Discussion topic
Roland First-level contact Teacher at upper-level vocational school
Vocational education and entry into the working world Erika First-level contact Project manager at Siemens Project management at a
large, multinational corporation
Thomas First-level contact Employee of community bank (Volksbank)
Banking in Germany Thomas and
Jürgen
First-level contact Student internship coordinators
Internships and other professional opportunities in Germany
3.3.2 Experimental Cohort 2, Fall 2011
Experimental cohort 2 consisted of eight student participants (6 male, 2 female) with varying specialization and exposure to German prior to the course (Table 3-3), as well as four invited expert guest participants (3 male, 1 female), all living and working in Germany at the time of the study (Table 3-4). During this phase of the study, the
researcher did not serve as the primary instructor for the course and was only responsible for details regarding the Web conferencing component.
Table 3-3: Student participants, Fall 2011
Pseudonym Major High school
instruction University instruction (prior to study) Time spent in a German-speaking country Chuck Chemical Engineering
Henry Business 4 years 4 semesters 6 weeks summer study abroad program George no information no information no information no information Carson Civil Engineering 2 years
(3 years private instruction)
2 semesters 6 weeks private travel
Lisa English and Psychology
3 years 5 semesters 6-week summer study abroad program Max no information 2 years 4 semesters 3 weeks private
travel
Emily German none 4 semesters none
Joshua no information 3 years 6 semesters 6-week summer study abroad program
Table 3-4: Invited expert guests, Fall 2011
Pseudonym Contact level Expertise Discussion topic
Thomas First-level contact Employee of community bank and student internship
coordinator
Internships and other professional opportunities in Germany
Gisela Second-level contact
Active member of Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
Comparing German and American politics Roland First-level contact Teacher at upper-level
vocational school
Controversies in the German educational system
Manfred Third-level contact
Managing editor of Die
Sendung mit der Maus (“The
Show with the Mouse”)
The influence of television on children