Hanna Lämsä-Schmidt

I am a member of the TEFL team (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and the BistaTest English project team at Trier University. In cooperation with the Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen in Berlin, we develop new language tests designed to assess the listening and reading skills of Year 9 students.

I completed my studies in English and German in 2016 in Tampere, Finland, and obtained my teacher qualifications. Since then, I’ve worked as a teacher trainer in the TEFL department at the University of Potsdam from 2016 to 2024. I am currently completing my PhD, in which I studied how primary school learners of English use their existing linguistic repertoire for learning English. In my research, I rely on Vygotskyan sociocultural theory, translanguaging theory and pedagogy, and I apply qualitative research methods in research on language learning and teaching.

My interests in research and teaching include

  • Multilingualism in language education
  • Sociocultural Theory in SLA and Language Teacher Education
  • Early (foreign) language learning
  • Task-based language learning and teaching
  • Translanguaging as a pedagogical approach
  • Teaching English in plurilingual and pluricultural contexts
  • Critical theory in language teaching and learning

 

Publications

Lämsä-Schmidt, H. & Rossa, H. (forthcoming 2026). Hörverstehen und audiovisuelles Verstehen. A. Wierag (Ed.), Die Wirksamkeit von Lehr-/Lernmethoden im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Manuscript in preparation.

Lämsä-Schmidt, H. (forthcoming 2026). Ethical reflections on research with multilingual children in foreign language education. K. Wieland, U. Grum & K. Schultze (Eds.), Kolloquium Fremdsprachenunterricht (KFU): Verantwortung in der fremdsprachendidaktischen Forschung: Methoden, Ethik, Third Mission. Manuscript in preparation.

Lämsä-Schmidt, H. (2026). What languages are on the shelves? Exploring linguistic diversity in the local library – and expanding it. Der fremdsprachliche Unterricht Englisch, 199, 12-16.

Lämsä-Schmidt, Hanna. (2024). Translanguaging-to-learn during collaborative dialogue in task-based interaction: The potential of utilizing Arabic as a heritage language for additional language learning. Critical Multilingualism Studies, 11, 351-393. https://cms.arizona.edu/index.php/multilingual/article/view/280/344

Lämsä-Schmidt, Hanna. (2024). Working Against the Monolingual Norms of TEFL at the Primary School Level. In A.F. Selvi, C. Kocaman (Eds.), International Perspectives on Critical English Language Teacher Education: Theory and Practice. Bloomsbury.

Lämsä, Hanna & Roos, Jana. (2018). Translanguaging: an opportunity to promote plurilingualism. Grundschulmagazin Englisch2, p. 37-38. Accessible from www.oldenbourg-klick.de/zeitschriften/grundschulmagazin-englisch/2018-2/translanguaging