In 2018, I found myself reflecting on a question that many language teachers have probably asked at some point: How do we create opportunities for students to use language not only for communication, but also for critical thinking, interpretation and knowledge construction?
In advanced language classes, students are often capable users of the target language. They can read, write, discuss and present with confidence. Yet many still hesitate when they encounter unfamiliar cultural material or open questions that require them to develop and justify their own interpretation.
That question stayed with me and led me to rethink assessment in my culture unit GRMN3009
German Language and Society. Rather than viewing assessment as a collection of separate tasks distributed across a semester, I began thinking about how individual assessments might connect with one another and support my students as they gradually become more confident interpreters, communicators and researchers. This reflects broader work on constructive alignment and curriculum design, which emphasises coherence between learning outcomes, teaching activities and assessment tasks.
Across four iterations of the unit between 2018 and 2024, the assessment structure gradually developed. The change was not dramatic. Instead of asking what a particular task measured, I started asking how it might prepare students for what came next. Over time, the assessment tasks became interconnected, with knowledge, feedback and reflection flowing from one activity into another. My students no longer encountered assessment as a series of isolated checkpoints. Instead, they experienced a sequence of learning experiences that built upon one another and encouraged deeper engagement with the language and cultures of the German-speaking world.
Assessment therefore became more than a mechanism for measuring learning. Formative activities provided opportunities to test ideas, receive feedback and refine thinking, while summative assessments allowed students to consolidate and demonstrate what they had learned. Together, these tasks formed a coherent learning sequence through which students developed linguistic proficiency, intercultural understanding and critical thinking.
Starting with uncertainty
There is a moment that occurs almost every year, usually within the first few weeks of semester. A student raises their hand and asks whether their interpretation is ‘right’.
We might be discussing a film scene, analysing a photograph or exploring a visual representation of contemporary German society. Rather than moving straight to interpretation, I encourage students to spend time observing. What can they actually see? What details stand out? What assumptions might they be bringing to the image, sound or text?
What happens next is often one of the most rewarding parts of teaching. A student notices something that nobody else has mentioned. Another offers a completely different interpretation. As the discussion unfolds, students begin to recognise that meaning is not always fixed. Research on dialogic learning suggests that understanding often emerges through interaction, comparison of perspectives and collaborative reasoning.
These conversations help students realise that interpretation is not about finding a hidden answer. Instead, it becomes a process of noticing, questioning, discussing and constructing an argument supported by evidence.
…interpretation is not about finding a hidden answer. Instead, it becomes a process of noticing, questioning, discussing and constructing an argument supported by evidence.
Making interpretation collaborative
As the semester progresses, students spend increasing amounts of time discussing and refining their interpretations with one another. Activities such as placemat discussions and collaborative Padlet tasks encourage students to move between individual reflection and shared discussion.
Some of the most productive learning moments emerge when students disagree. A film trailer may generate several plausible interpretations, while a visual text can be understood differently depending on students’ cultural backgrounds, personal experiences and academic disciplines. Rather than viewing these differences as obstacles, the classroom becomes a space where competing interpretations can be explored and evaluated.
Over time, this change becomes visible in the kinds of questions students ask. Early in the semester, many want to know whether their interpretation is correct. Later, they become more interested in whether their interpretation is convincing, well-supported and meaningful within a particular context. This shift reflects growing confidence as students increasingly see themselves not simply as learners acquiring knowledge, but as active participants in the construction and negotiation of meaning. Peer dialogue and feedback are also recognised as important foundations for developing evaluative judgement and self-regulated learning.
Learning through film
Film has consistently been central to German Language and Society because it allows my students to engage with language, culture and society simultaneously. Through authentic German language media, they explore questions of identity, migration, memory, belonging and social change while connecting these themes to their own experiences.
Many students arrive expecting to analyse films. What they do not always expect is that they will create films themselves!
The collaborative video project remains one of the most memorable parts of the unit. One project I still remember was inspired by
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! A group of students reimagined the concept through the experiences of a young German backpacker arriving in Down Under for the first time. Through a series of humorous encounters involving Australian slang and caf├® culture, students explored broader themes of cultural adaptation and intercultural communication.
What I find most interesting about these projects is how they change the way students think about communication. Once students take responsibility for creating meaning themselves, questions about audience, representation and interpretation suddenly become important. They begin asking not only what they want to say, but how they want others to understand it.
Once students take responsibility for creating meaning themselves, questions about audience, representation and interpretation suddenly become important.
When objects tell stories
The final assessment takes students in a different direction. Some years ago, I revisited
A History of the World in 100 Objects and was reminded of the potential of object-based learning (OBL) and material culture. Objects tell stories, not only about themselves, but also about people, societies and processes of historical change.
This insight informed the design of the object biography essay. Students select an object connected to the German-speaking world and investigate its history, significance and changing meanings over time. The challenge is not simply to describe the object, but to follow the stories it reveals and consider how those stories intersect with broader cultural, social and historical developments.
The assessment draws on research demonstrating that objects can function as powerful entry points for inquiry-based learning in higher education. A single object can open multiple layers of analysis, encouraging students to move from observation and description towards interpretation, contextualisation and critical reflection.
Importantly, this progression reflects the broader design of the unit. Students begin with guided engagement with cultural texts and artefacts, develop interpretive perspectives through discussion and collaborative meaning-making, apply their understandings in creative production tasks and ultimately undertake independent inquiry.
The research essay brings together the different strands of learning developed throughout the semester. By tracing the stories embedded within a single object, students combine interpretive, collaborative, creative and research practices in a research-led inquiry that connects material culture with wider cultural, social and historical questions. Through this process, culture emerges not as a collection of facts to be memorised, but as a dynamic network of meanings, relationships and memories.
Beyond German
Although the examples discussed here are drawn from an advanced German language and culture unit, the underlying assessment design is not specific to German Studies. It can be adapted across a wide range of language learning contexts, moving through five connected ‘staged progression’ phases:
- Observation and exploration – noticing detail and surfacing assumptions before rushing to interpret
- Guided interpretation – engaging with cultural texts and artefacts
- Collaborative meaning-making – refining interpretations through discussion and peer dialogue
- Creative production – applying understanding in tasks, such as the collaborative video
- Independent inquiry – undertaking self-directed research, such as through the object biography essay
Whether students are studying Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, French, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew or another language, multimodal cultural texts can provide opportunities to explore how meanings are shaped and interpreted within different linguistic and cultural settings. Projects such as digital storytelling, podcasts, short films and object biographies can connect language learning with broader questions of culture, identity, history and society.
What matters most is not the specific assessment tasks themselves, but the principle that underpins them. When assessment is designed as an interconnected and developmental process, students can move beyond language reproduction towards interpretation, creativity, critical reflection and independent knowledge creation. In doing so, assessment becomes more than a way of measuring learning. It becomes a mechanism through which learning unfolds.
When assessment is designed as an interconnected and developmental process, students can move beyond language reproduction towards interpretation, creativity, critical reflection and independent knowledge creation.
