English Language (Teacher) Education in Germany after 1945

Abstract

The history of English in Germany also includes the history of teaching English as well as the academic discipline which deals with this subject area. This applies particularly to the second half of the twentieth century in the Federal Republic of Germany when the institutionalization of foreign language education disciplines began with the establishment of professorships for subject education of the new languages at universities, in particular at specific colleges of teacher education ( Padagogische Hochschulen ). Using English language education as an example, this chapter attempts to show how the academic identity of a rather young discipline developed in post-WWII (Western) Germany and which factors played a decisive role in this process, with a focus on the two decades which determined its genesis (the 1970s and 1980s).