German Language
The project
Even before the German became an object of study in school and the sciences (today it is so mainly in German Linguistics) it had already been an object of study of the arts, philological, literary for centuries. It was above all a topic of debate and reflection in cultural and educational policy. This has not changed much. According to a representative survey by the Institute of German Language in Mannheim (IDS) a good two fifths of the German population are interested in the topic. It forms part of public debates in different contexts (to varying degrees):
- Critical examination of language change - often interpreted as language decay, especially with regard to the Anglo-American influence;
- The question of the international role of German (especially in light of the dominance of English);
- The question of politically correct usage of language (especially with regards to the linguistically equal treatment of men and women as well as non-discriminatory handling of minorities);
- The consideration of spelling (above all the debate about the spelling reform, which peaked in the nineties, but is now abating);
- In the realm of education and science there is a debate regarding the role of German, e.g. as a subject of study and as a language of science. Keywords here are: multilingualism, students with a migratory background, incorporation of soft skills, e. g. in the context of BA/MA courses, the replacement of German by English as the main language of science and (especially in Switzerland) the role of standard German and dialects in kindergarden and school.
- A further interesting point is the current politicization of German in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: this is particularly visible in the endeavour to anchor German or rather Austrian German more in EU-committees as well as - in Germany - the publicly backed demand to anchor the priority of German in the constitution. In Switzerland German is a political issue and subject of numerous debates especially in the light of multilingualism (the role of German as a national language, the tension between standard German and dialects within German-speaking Switzerland).
- Next to the commercialization of language in and as advertisement, German has also become a matter of entertainment (cf. the success of Bastian Sick a. o.)
- Further object of interest are dialects, sociolects, etymology, grammar, linguistic manipulation in politics and advertisement, language acquisition, etc.
Aims and projects of German Language
Project-managers
Prof. Dr. Prof. h.c. Gerd Antos
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PD Dr. Jochen A. Bär
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Dr. Jürgen Spitzmüller
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