<!doctype html public «-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en»> http-equiv=content-type> Current programs to help primary school students learn German as a second language have the overarching aim of strengthening school-related and education-related verbal abilities in both speech and writing. Based on a theoretical conceptualization of children's spoken language in school, the author describes and evaluates an empirical method to determine the efficacy of language support.