The Use of the Fine Arts in Foreign Language Teaching for Improving the Speaking Skills of German Learners

 The aim of this study was to examine the role of the visual arts in promoting language competence in adult learners of the German language. The first part of this article explains why the use of fine arts in foreign language teaching is recommended. The second part shows how language and artistic images can be combined as two interdisciplinary poles and effectively improves speaking skills. The practical part of this post included a preliminary study as well as a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The study takes place in four 90-minute sessions. In the first session, the pre-test is carried out with the help of oral questions from the test “German for Immigrants”. The data is analyzed and the results are included. Furthermore, based on a didactic concept with the help of a artwork by the Austrian artist Albert Paris Gutersloh will be shown how art can be used specifically in language teaching to improve the language skills. At the end of the two sessions there is a 90-minute post-test. The data analysis is carried out according to the test criteria "German for immigrants". The results indicated the effectiveness of arts in improving language learners' language skills, particularly in the effective use of vocabulary and grammar skills. It can therefore be concluded that the visual arts can be used well as an effective visual medium to promote educational goals, particularly language skills.