ABSTRACT Immersion education has been surging in the United States, with a focus on bilingual programs and continued interest in total immersion approaches, especially for early learners. To this day, however, there are few pre‐ and during‐service training opportunities or degree programs specialized in preschool, additive, total immersion pedagogy. In consultation with the directors and teachers of the Kinderstube German Immersion Preschool in Minnesota, USA, this article offers an accessible, short, and user‐friendly pedagogical resource that teachers and administrators can use for training and informational purposes, including communication with parents. It distills research findings on total, additive immersion for the preschool age, translates them into workable pedagogical suggestions, and offers practical approaches to working with young children in the immersion classroom. The article strengthens the position of preschool immersion educators as they are more than just preschool teachers, more than just knowledge and skills facilitators, and more than just language instructors. The recommendations focus on preschool‐aged children in the immersion environment but can be used for older learners and the non‐immersion second language classroom as well.

ABSTRACTLanguage should be inclusive. This implies that it should be accessible for as many people as possible. The concept of easy‐to‐read language (Leichte Sprache, LS) developed for this purpose and primarily for people with learning difficulties is beneficial for L2 learners of German as well. Inclusive language also entails the aspect of acknowledging gender diversity: people of each gender should be represented in the language. These two approaches are often presented as incompatible in German, and common forms of gender‐conscious linguistic realizations of human reference are deemed irreconcilable with the rules of LS. However, there is a lack of empirical findings, especially on epicene nouns, which have one grammatical gender regardless of the referent's social gender (e.g., die LehrkraftFEM “the teaching person”). Based on a study in which users of easy‐to‐read language evaluated nouns for personal reference in terms of the subjective perception of intelligibility, comprehension, and referential effect, partly collecting individual preferences, the present paper offers empirically informed impulses for language practitioners striving for inclusive, applicable communication strategies, focusing on the high potential of epicenes as gender‐inclusive person nouns.

ABSTRACTThis study analyzes the inclusion of binary and non‐binary gender‐just language in US first‐year college German textbooks. The analysis covers eight textbooks, evaluating their use of gender‐just forms such as the gender star and neopronouns, which explicitly represent non‐binary positionalities, as well as “neutral” or binary gender‐inclusive forms such as neutralization and the co‐naming of masculine and feminine forms. Findings indicate significant variation in inclusivity, with most textbooks integrating binary inclusivity, some textbooks integrating non‐binary inclusive language to some extent and only one predominantly using the generic masculine. Results suggest that while most textbooks incorporate gender‐just language, linguistic inclusivity often remains binary and tokenistic. The study concludes that while available teaching materials do significantly incorporate gender‐just language, holistic evaluation of gender‐just language in context is necessary to support pedagogies of care for transgender and gender non‐conforming students.

ABSTRACTUnlike English, which has broadly adopted the singular they and uses gender‐neutral nouns for people, German lacks widely used or officially accepted non‐binary nouns and pronouns. As a result, most German language teaching materials continue to reflect a cisnormative binary gender system. Research has demonstrated that limiting teaching materials to the binary options (er, sie) leads to misgendering and marginalizes non‐binary students. Language instructors, therefore, face the critical task of identifying inclusive linguistic forms (e.g., neopronouns, gender‐inclusive nouns) that allow all students to express their identities and be respectfully addressed by others. Drawing on usage‐based language acquisition theory, this paper outlines key challenges in developing authentic, gender‐inclusive instructional materials. We propose a socio‐pragmatic framework to support the meaningful integration of gender‐inclusive language (GIL) into the beginning communicative curriculum. Additionally, we show how recent programming from German public broadcasters offers valuable resources for engaging students in discussions of non‐binary identity and GIL use at intermediate and advanced levels.