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Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lenhard opens lecture series on the topic of “Refugees in Germany”

11/18/2016
On November 17, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lenhard, Chair of Pedagogical Psychology at the University of Würzburg, visited the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) and gave a talk on the topic “Differenzielle Effkte im Wortschatz- und Leseerwerb: Die Auswirkung von Mehrsprachigkeit am Beispiel von PPVT4 und ELFE II [Differential effects in vocabulary and reading acquisition: impact of multilingualism using the example of PPVT4 and ELFE II]”. His contribution thus launched the lecture series “Refugees in Germany–Educational Trajectories and Social Integration,” which is hosted by the LIfBi as part of project “ReGES–Refugees in the German Educational System”, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF).
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lenhard opened the lecture series “Refugees in Germany–Educational Trajectories and Social Integration” at the LIfBi.  
The central focus of the event, which was met with great interest, was on the presentation of two testing methods for surveying children and youths’ linguistic competencies in German. The use of this method for students of various ages and for those with or without a migrant background was also addressed.

PPVT4 (“Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test”–4th Edition) assesses the receptive vocabulary by having the child assign a spoken word to one out of four pictures presented. The test is regarded as an important predictor for reading literacy. In his lecture, Prof. Dr. Lenhard conveyed information on the analyses, the translation of the test into German, and standardization, as well as differential effects–while also discussing the effects of aspects such as gender and migrant background. Moreover, Prof. Dr. Lenhard outlined the results of ELFE II (“Ein Leseverständnis für Erst- bis Sechtsklässler [A Reading Comprehension for Students in Grades 1 through 6]”–2nd Edition), and, in this context, he also took into account students with a migrant background: It was found out that the differences between children with German as their first language and those who have learnt German as a second or foreign language are growing with increasing age. The lecture was followed by a round of discussions that included, among other things, an exchange of information about the significance of the presented results for the project ReGES.

The public lecture series “Refugees in Germany–Educational Trajectories and Social Integration” will continue in the coming weeks. All dates for 2016 can be found here.