Discipline-Specific Language Learning in a Mainstream Computer Science Classroom: Using a Genre-Based Approach

In recent decades it has become apparent that discipline-specific and educational language skills required for different school-subjects can only be taught within lessons of the very subject. The specific requirements of all the different subjects cannot be taken into account in general language-lessons. These findings led to adaptions in Germany's educational policy to consider specific language requirements in many curricula of different subjects. It also led to publications of many scientific papers as well as practical and methodical material addressing integrated language and subject teaching. Particularly computer science (CS) has a special role compared to other sciences, because in CS students have to learn various languages: formal ones, such as modelling or programming languages, and they have to develop computing-related language-skills in writing, reading and speaking. Even though there are first publications about discipline-specific language learning in CS education, there is still a lack of research concerning language-sensitive CS education and CS teacher qualification. Therefore, concepts and research approaches on this topic are developed by an interdisciplinary cooperation of the Computing Education Research Group and the project "German as second language in all subjects" at the University Duisburg-Essen. This paper presents first results of our current work and gives an exemplary insight into the development of teaching material for writing descriptions of UML class diagrams using a genre-based approach.