Authentic Communication in Business German

This professional paper reports on the implementation ofPeer-Assisted Learning (PAL) within the Business German curriculumat the Haute École de Gestion Fribourg (HEG-FR), a bilingualuniversity of applied sciences in Switzerland. While the programformally requires advanced language proficiency (C1) by graduation,many students begin their studies at a lower level of German. Toaddress this gap, a PAL-based Inverted Classroom model wasintroduced in fall 2024/25 with the aim of fostering authentic,workplace-related communication in German.Students independently researched professional topics andconducted 60-minute sessions in German, thereby maximizing oralpractice, reinforcing subject-specific vocabulary, and cultivatingconfidence in extended speaking situations. Peer and instructorevaluations, carried out entirely in German, supported reflectivelanguage use and collaborative learning.Preliminary observations suggest that PAL stimulated learnermotivation and enhanced both linguistic proficiency and transversalcompetences such as self-reflection and critical thinking. Rather thanpresenting a systematic empirical study, this paper provides apractice-oriented account of the implementation, highlighting itspedagogical implications for multilingual higher education settings.