Oya? O, ja! Reading Jugendliteratur in the German Classroom

Abstract

As early as 1990, Jurgen Koppensteiner entered a plea for the inclusion of Jugendliteratur in the German curriculum because it offered vielfaltige M6glichkeiten, den Unterricht abwechslungsreicher und somit erfolgreicher zu gestalten (106). However, apart from an occasional conference presentation, there has not been much response from the profession, and Jugendliteratur remains largely excluded from the foreign language (FL) curriculum. As an enthusiastic advocate of Jugendliteratur, I want to renew Koppensteiner's plea and encourage colleagues to experiment with this genre. It not only provides variety, but also affords us the opportunity to further the goals of FL proficiency and, more importantly, it ensures a pleasurable experience with books which students remember for years to come. In this article, I will focus first on the reasons for inclusion, then discuss some possible reasons for its omission and offer solutions to perceived problems. In the second half, I will share pedagogical concerns and practical suggestions for working with lengthy whole texts using Oya by K6nig, Straube, and Taylan as an example.