Adelheid O’Brien has been a member of the CENES Department since 1995, initially as a sessional lecturer (1995–2009) and, since 2009, as a lecturer. From 1986 to 2000, she was also part of the teaching staff at the Goethe-Institute Vancouver and, during the summer semesters from 1989 to 2000, at the Goethe-Institutes in Berlin and Düsseldorf, where she taught courses at various levels. She is an integral member of the German Language Program. Adelheid also serves as the contact person for the German Reading Program, where she oversees curriculum development and the implementation of innovative instructional models.

Her teaching and research interests focus on:
• Intercultural language learning and teaching
• Second language acquisition and pedagogy
• Curriculum development
• Course design and development of instructional materials
• Application of online delivery systems and hybrid instructional models
• Generative AI in foreign language teaching and learning
• Teaching Business German/Deutsch für den Beruf

Projects and Contributions

Course and Module Development

• O’Brien, A., and U. Tallowitz. GOLDEN: German Online Distance Education Network. Development and Piloting Modules on German Reading Knowledge. University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 2005. http://manila.unl.edu/amoeller/golden.
• “Test Bank Development for German for Reading Knowledge I and II.” Specialized academic modules in Humanities, Sciences, Economics/Business, and Musicology. UBC Department of Distance Education and Technology, 1999.
• “Development and Piloting of the Humanities Module – Level II.” Reading German for Academic Purposes Program, University of British Columbia, 2008.
• O’Brien, A., and I. Maslenikau. “Development of a New Online Course for the German for Reading Knowledge Program.” A guided, self-directed online study and hybrid course. University of British Columbia, 2021.

Chapter Contributions

• “1992 und die Zukunft.” Die Europäische Union und NAFTA, Goethe-Institut Vancouver, 1998.
• “Internet – Einheit, Banken.” Arbeitskreis Wirtschaftsdeutsch, Toronto, 1999.
• “Kapitelentwürfe zu fachsprachlichen Einheiten: Tourismus, Banken, Unternehmen, Steuern.” Arbeitskreis Wirtschaftsdeutsch, Toronto, 1999.
• Reading German – Lesekurs Deutsch, edited by Jörg Matthias Roche, Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2009.