Conceptual Change und sprachbezogene Konzepte – eine theoretische Annäherung

Abstract

The construct of conceptual change is used in teaching-learning research to express the change in learners' specialised concepts. This profound change relates to ideas and knowledge structures. However, there is no standardised theory of conceptual change, as proposed by research in the natural sciences; rather, there are two central perspectives and various forms of interpretation. In the German didactic discourse, there is more frequent talk of ideas or pre-concepts that students have in relation to language, but this is not usually based on a comprehensive theoretical understanding of conceptual change as a mental change process. In this article, we will first introduce the two perspectives that characterise the (scientific) discourse in order to then theoretically negotiate conceptual change in relation to students' language-related concepts. This is an initial theory-based approach and at the same time a search movement with the aim of introducing conceptual change into the discourse as a possible perspective on changing cognitive-linguistic dispositions in language learning and development processes.