Learner conversations as models of spoken language in second language German

In this article we present the methodology and creation of an open-access online resource for students and teachers to help develop conversational skills in second language German. The materials were created as part of a project aimed at promoting and develop­ing German conversational skills for learners in UK higher education contexts, an area which has often been neglected, despite its obvious importance. We will first describe the methodology. We took an applied linguistics approach to the materials in several ways. The materials were based on the specific requirements of UK HE learners; they feature the use of higher-level learners (and not L1 speakers) as models of conversational com­petence; they highlight the linguistic features of conversations which enable successful interaction; and they employ corpus linguistics methods to demonstrate high frequency features of conversation. Following this, we will move on to discuss some of the theoretical challenges we faced and how we sought to address them from both a practical and theoretical stance.