Discussions about literary texts are a central component of German language classes, yet they have been scarcely researched empirically. The SEGEL project aims to address this research gap. At the core of SEGEL is the empirical examination of the widely accepted assumption in literary didactics that subjectivity and emotionality in discussions about literature are crucial for their success. SEGEL is designed as a randomized controlled intervention study, in which 'conversation type' and 'interaction form' are empirically investigated as two separate influencing factors.

For the first factor, conversation type, the distinction is made between 'cognitively oriented communication in literature lessons' (KOKIL) and 'subjectively, emotionally, and cognitively oriented communication in literature lessons' (SEKOKIL). For the second factor, interaction form, teacher-centered and student-centered interaction forms are experimentally varied as influencing variables.

The effects of the interventions are measured using established assessment tools and adapted procedures, which were tested and optimized in a preliminary study in the Cognitive Lab and a pilot study. In the main study, 73 teachers from high schools in Bavaria, Lower Saxony, and Baden-Württemberg participated, spread across the four treatment types and an untreated control group. The ongoing analysis accounts for the complex multilevel structure of the design and includes not only the estimation of treatment effects but also mediation and moderation analyses. Based on these findings, SEGEL aims to provide empirical evidence in a key research area of literary didactics.