Heike Mersmann-Hoffmann (Studienrätin i.H.)

Zuständigkeit

Sprachkurse Englisch

Sprachen

Englisch

Biographie

Heike Mersmann-Hoffmann studierte Englisch und Deutsch (Staatsexamen – Lehramt für die Sekundarstufe II/I) an der Universität Münster, absolvierte das Referendariat und unterrichtete die Fächer Englisch und Deutsch ab 2001 an einem Berufskolleg und später an Gymnasien in Münster. Zusätzlich hatte sie seit 1998 Lehraufträge für Englisch am Sprachenzentrum der Universität Münster und Lehraufträge für Fachdidaktik am Englischen Seminar. Seit November 2021 arbeitet sie als Studienrätin im Hochschuldienst am Sprachenzentrum.

Veröffentlichungen

Häusler, Anja, Heike Mersmann-Hoffmann, Sigrid Richter, Lise Allirand, Karin Bukenberger, Maike Engelhardt, Juana Salas Poblete (2024): Einsatz von KI-Systemen  im Fremdsprachenunterricht  an Hochschulen – ein Impulspapier. Arbeitskreis Sprachen e.V.
https://www.aks-sprachen.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AKS-Impulspapier-FSU-im-Zeitalter-der-KI.pdf
English version:
https://www.aks-sprachen.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-07-04-AKS-Discussion-paper-Use-of-AI-systems_EN_final.pdf

Stracke, Bohr, Gabriel, Galla, Hofmann, Karolyi, Mersmann-Hoffmann, Mönig, Mundorf, Opel, Rischke-Neß, Schröppel, Silvestri, & Stroot (2024). Was ist Künstliche Intelligenz (KI)? Wie kann ich KI ethisch in der Hochschule nutzen? Hrsg. v. Netzwerk „Ethische Nutzung von KI“.  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10793844

Mersmann-Hoffmann, Heike (2023). Schluer, Jennifer (2022): Digital Feedback Methods. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempo. Fremdsprachen und Hochschule 99/100, 1-8.  https://doi.org/10.46586/fuh.v100.2023.11266

Mersmann-Hoffmann, Heike (2023, Juni 23). Heike Mersmann-Hoffmann: Who's afraid of ChatGPT?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvIIR5yJlUA

Online resources

... not only for my courses

This link takes you to the instructions on how to access the New York Times subscription for members of the University of Münster :
New York Times - ULB subscription

 

AI Tools

For a brief introduction to ChatGPT, AI tools and their usage, you can watch my TEDx Talk "Who's afraid of ChatGPT?" here: TEDx Münster: "Who's afraid of ChatGPT?" on YouTube 

Two tools I refer to in my courses as examples of AI tools are Grammarly and DeepL Write.

The Language Centre has published infomation and a declaration on the use of AI tools. Find it on our website: Use of AI

As of 8 May 2024, all students of the University of Münster have access to the UoM's own AI system: UniGPT. The link provides access to our open source LLMs (Mixtral, Llama), but also data-protected access to OpenAI's models (including ChatGPT 4o).

Since November 2022, I have been collecting information on AI systems and their possible applications, legal and ethical implications and further developments. To make this information accessible to a greater audience, I have created a Taskcard with links and comments. The Taskcard will be continuously edited, corrected and updated - but it can only show a small fraction of the topic. (comments only in German, but it includes many links to English sources)
Taskcard on Artificial Intelligence

 

Dictionaries

The following links take you to monolingual English dictionaries you will find useful for my classes.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
This is the standard dictionary for my courses. It is an excellent dictionary for learners of English because it provides you not only with definitions and example sentences, but also with information as to collocations, synonyms and word families.

Cambridge Dictionary
You will find a Learner's Dictionary and a bilingual English-German, German-English dictionary here.

Collins English Thesaurus
If you are looking for synonyms and alternative phrases, a thesaurus is where you look them up. This is one of the best-known ones.

 

Grammar

I have been asked repeatedly which resources you can use to improve your grammar on your own. There are numerous sites on the web, but I admit to not being able to recommend any language learning sites specifically. However, the dictionaries I mentioned in the other post also provide grammar tasks (to an extend). Also, there is a series in Cambridge University Press that I always use in class (yes, old-fashioned printed books). Please find the references below:

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - English language exercises

Cambridge Dictionary - Grammar

You will find a great variety of exercises - from simple grammar tasks to complete online courses - on this site run by the British Council (my link takes you to the grammar page):
British Council - Learn English

And a site started by two Germans - an English tutor and a programmer - with information and exercises on a great number of topics and skills:
English Grammar Online

Murphy, Raymond. English Grammar in Use. (5th edition: with key). Cambridge: CUP, 2019. (Rules and exercises)

And this is my "language bible": Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. Oxford: OUP. [Newest edition] (Explanation of (complex) rules). For a free teaser follow:
Practical English Usage - examples