ChatGPT in German Language Teaching: An Experimental Study on the Effectiveness of AI-Supported Instructional Methods

Öz

In the era of rapid digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) is being increasingly integrated into educational contexts, opening up new paths for personalized and motivating language teaching. The present experimental study examines the effectiveness of ChatGPT-supported teaching activities in uppersecondary German classes. During the spring semester of 2024/ 25, 50 eleventh-grade students at a public school in Türkiye participated and were randomly assigned in equal numbers (n = 25 / 25) to an experimental group and a control group. Over four weeks both groups completed two lessons per week on the A1.2 unit “Im Einkaufszentrum.” While the control group received conventional, curriculum-based instruction, the experimental group worked with weekly dialogues, vocabulary tasks and writing activities generated by ChatGPT. A validated 20-item achievement test (Cronbach’s α = .84) was administered as a pre- and post-test. Paired-samples t-tests revealed a highly significant gain in the experimental group (M = 12.40 → 16.85; p < .001) that clearly exceeded the moderate increase in the control group (M = 12.10 → 13.45; p = .022). An independent-samples t-test of the post-test scores confirmed the advantage of AIsupported instruction (p < .001). These results demonstrate that ChatGPT enhances learner engagement, enables individualized feedback and significantly improves vocabulary, grammar and productive language performance. At the same time, they underscore the pivotal role of teachers in adapting AI-generated material to concrete classroom needs.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• ChatGPT
• artificial intelligence
• German language teaching
• experimental research
• digital learning

ChatGPT im Deutschunterricht: Eine experimentelle Studie zur Wirksamkeit KI-gestützter Lehrmethoden

Öz

Im Zeitalter des rasanten digitalen Wandels wird Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) zunehmend in Bildungskontexte integriert und eröffnet neue Wege für personalisierten, motivierenden Sprachunterricht. Die vorliegende experimentelle Studie prüft die Wirksamkeit von ChatGPT-gestützten Lehraktivitäten im Deutschunterricht der Sekundarstufe II. Im Frühjahrssemester 2024/25 nahmen an einer öffentlichen Schule in der Türkei 50 Schüler:innen der elften Klasse teil, die mithilfe einer Randomisierung gleichmäßig (n = 25 / 25) auf Experimental- und Kontrollgruppe verteilt wurden. Beide Gruppen absolvierten vier Wochen lang je zwei Unterrichtsstunden zur A1.2-Einheit „Im Einkaufszentrum“. Während die Kontrollgruppe konventionellen, lehrplanorientierten Unterricht erhielt, arbeitete die Experimentalgruppe mit wöchentlich von ChatGPT generierten Dialogen, Wortschatzaufgaben und Schreibaktivitäten. Ein validierter 20-Item-Leistungstest (Cronbach-α = .84) wurde als Prä- und Posttest eingesetzt. Abhängige tTests zeigten in der Experimentalgruppe einen hoch signifikanten Leistungszuwachs (M = 12,40 → 16,85; p < .001), der den moderaten Anstieg der Kontrollgruppe (M = 12,10 → 13,45; p = .022) deutlich übertraf. Ein unabhängiger t-Test der Posttests bestätigte den Vorteil der KI-gestützten Instruktion (p < .001). Die Ergebnisse belegen, dass ChatGPT das Lernengagement steigert, individualisierte Rückmeldungen ermöglicht und Wortschatz-, Grammatik- sowie Produktionsleistungen signifikant verbessert. Zugleich unterstreichen sie die zentrale Rolle der Lehrkraft bei der didaktischen Anpassung KI-generierter Materialien an konkrete Unterrichtsbedürfnisse.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• ChatGPT
• künstliche Intelligenz
• Deutschunterricht
• experimentelle Forschung
• digitales Lernen

Kaynakça

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