English In Germany Research Articles

English in Germany as a foreign language and as a lingua franca

AbstractThe massive expansion of English in Germany over the past few decades has not challenged a robustly exonormative orientation, which still by and large recognises standardised British and American English as the most authentic and prestigious representations of the language. Attitudes to the use of English in the national context are diverse, ranging from enthusiastic embracement via grudging acceptance to active resistance. This diversity of opinion reflects the fact that English is currently transitioning from a foreign language (EFL) to a lingua franca (ELF). On the national scale, ELF use is promoted in business, academia and, more generally, among young and well‐educated Germans with an international orientation, but deeply resented by sectors of society. This paper argues that English (in its lingua franca function) has become the only language other than German that has open prestige. The task ahead will be to develop strategies of intelligent multilingualism that will help to ‘domesticate’ English in the national sociolinguistic context.

Early plurilingual foreign language teaching in mixed classrooms: Linguistic and metalinguistic predictors of foreign language development among majority-language and minority-language students in EFL classes

In a pre-posttest control group study, we test how plurilingual foreign language teaching affects foreign-language development in 258 primary-school students learning English in Germany. We compare general proficiency development in a group of students experiencing plurilingual teaching versus a group having regular, target-language-only teaching over a six-month period. Further, we assess whether and how proficiency in previously-acquired languages and phonological awareness affect learning gains in the plurilingual group. At the group level, the findings show that plurilingual instruction does not yield systematic differences compared to regular English instruction. Majority-language and minority-language students show comparable learning gains in standardized tests of receptive and productive vocabulary and receptive grammar in English. Regression analyses identify phonological awareness as a predictor of learning gains in the context of plurilingual foreign language learning. Further interactions with language background suggest that both proficiency in previously-acquired languages and metalinguistic skills modulate early foreign language learning and should be addressed in the classroom.

English in Germany: Evidence from domains of use and attitudes

This paper discusses the changing role of English in Germany drawing on evidence from domains of English use and speakers attitudes. In so doing, it reports two case studies carried out at the University of Mannheim, Germany. The quantitative data and its methods of evaluation are discussed in the sections reporting case studies. The first study documents the use of English across formal and informal settings as well as in spontaneous interactions. In so doing, it reports the results of a survey collected from 172 students. The second study discusses the results of a survey tapping into German speakers attitudes towards two native (British, American) and two non-native (Indian, German) Englishes, thereby eliciting respondents attitudinal orientations towards English varieties including their own. This case study is based on data stemming from 94 students. The first case study shows that English in Germany has been continuously expanding its social domains of use and there is a small but stable minority of German speakers using English in spontaneous daily interactions. The second case study highlights the importance of the native-speaker model for the attitudinal mindset of the German learners; they see no value in speaking German English and clearly do not identify with this linguistic variety, a finding which reveals their exonormative orientation. Against this backdrop, I conclude that whereas English spoken in Germany shows clear signs of evolving into an ESL variety, it is still, by and large, an EFL English, at least in terms of attitudinal orientations professed by educated young adults.

Nigerian English in Germany

AbstractThe study investigates language use and language attitudes among Nigerian immigrants in Germany, thus contributing to the study of World Englishes in mobility and migration. The data comprises ca. five hours of recorded interviews and is analysed both for the linguistic features it displays and the language attitudes expressed by interviewees. In the German environment, Nigerian Standard English has to be adapted to the needs of lingua‐franca interaction, which leads to intensive borrowing and other contact influences from German. In its conclusion, the study takes issue with prevailing policies in Germany, which promote rapid acquisition of German and look on lingua‐franca English as an obstacle in the way of achieving this goal. It argues that for a transitional period lingua‐franca interaction should be seen as taking place within a multilingual repertoire that minimally requires English and German, but – depending on domain and context – may also include further components, such as Nigerian Pidgin.

Revisiting Primary English Teachers’ Critical Reflections on Coursebook Usage

AbstractThis study of 30 primary teachers of English in Germany used questionnaires to explore their critical reflections on coursebook usage in classrooms. The research questions were: What are primary school teachers’ perceptions of English language teaching materials? What materials are used by primary school English language teachers? What are their reasons for using certain materials? What characteristics define good language teaching materials for primary school English teachers? The participants mostly prefer implementing their own self-designed materials in combination with coursebooks. Given that preparing personal primary school teaching materials is quite time-consuming, the teachers’ arguments for their choice should be explored further to optimize English language teaching. Some argued that self-designed materials are more adjustable to the needs of their students and more authentic. The paper proposes some strategies for striking a balance between teaching English with and without a coursebook, such as making coursebook learning activities more interactive and raising awareness of effective coursebook selection. Different stakeholders can thus collect useful ideas for improvement, including teacher trainers, teachers, student teachers, school administrators, and publishers.

Using young learners’ language environments for EFL learning

Abstract In this article we explore how primary school learners of English in Germany engage with examples of English that they were asked to locate in their local environments (their linguistic landscapes, LLs). In association with each located image, the learners completed a standardised worksheet in German that asked for brief written comments about its location, the reason why they had selected the image and why they thought that English had been used. Their written reflections demonstrate that these children are remarkably sophisticated in their analyses of linguistic, social and cultural aspects of what they found. They show that with nuanced pedagogies primary school children can benefit greatly from leaving the classroom to find language examples in the worlds around them.

Striking the balance: the role of English and German in a multilingual English-medium degree programme in German higher education

In 2002, English-medium degree programmes (EMDPs) became a permanent feature of German higher education (HE). While this action marked an important step towards government-supported institutionalisation of English in Germany, no formal strategy or guidelines governing the role of English in HE have been developed. To date, research in this area in Germany has been predominantly focused on the top-down perspectives of decision-makers comparatively few studies have been conducted into bottom-up perspectives of those directly experiencing such language policy and planning decisions. In this paper, empirical data resulting from a mixed-method case study conducted at a German HE institution will be analysed to reveal hitherto unexplored bottom-up insights into the lived reality of an EMDP in Germany. The paper begins with an introduction to such programmes in Germany, before outlining the methodology pursued and exploring demographics and participant motivations within the programme under investigation. Applying Spolsky's (2004, p. 39) framework for analysing language policy, the de facto language policy experienced by study participants is revealed, providing insights into daily linguistic practices within the programme, and the pragmatic and ideological roles that English and German play in participants' reported experiences. Uncovering this de facto language policy serves to provide policy-makers at the top level with bottom-up perspectives for future policy formulation which may lead to a more well-grounded language policy (Shohamy, 2009, p. 188).

"Sprachpraxis" and Mass Customization

The language component of a degree in English in Germany, or "Sprachpraxis" as it is known in some universities, has in recent years faced a number challenges. Not only are German universities adapting to the B.A./M.A. system but also the very nature of teaching English globally, primarily teaching English as a Lingua Franca (E.L.F.), has had profound effects. This paper aims to explore the most salient questions that have arisen with regard to issues such the role of the native speaker (NS), identity, culture and language. Further, the question will be discussed as to how "mass customization" may be directly applied to the German university. While the introduction of such a system is not without its problems, it could be beneficial to the student, the practitioner and the university as a whole.

Exchanging Second Language Messages Online: Developing an Intercultural Communicative Competence?

Abstract: This article reports on a study carried out twice on an online second language course that was set up between a Canadian University and a German University. In that course, students of German in Canada and students of English in Germany exchanged 2,412 messages in 2004 and 1,831 messages in 2005. A list of processing criteria for assessment was developed so the assessment process was transparent to instructors and students alike. The main research question was if these processing criteria led to the development of an intercultural communicative competence as defined by Byram (1997). Results showed that students who asked wh‐questions, shared personal experiences, gave examples, and found material that was not provided in the course, engaged in the online dialogue with great success.

English in Germany: contact, spread and attitudes

ABSTRACT: The majority of studies examining English in Germany have been rather narrow in focus, addressing largely the phenomenon of Anglicisms in the German language. In the late 1980s, however, scholars began looking beyond Anglicisms to consider the broader topic of the English language in the German context. This paper presents a qualitative, macrosociolinguistic profile of English in the largest of the German‐speaking countries, and also Europe's most powerful economy, the Federal Republic of Germany. Utilizing Kachru's world Englishes model as a theoretical framework, this study examines the following issues for a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of English in Germany today: the history of contact, the functional range of English, and the attitudes associated with the language.

The discourse of didacticization of English in Germany

ABSTRACT: Although the significance of foreign languages is eagerly publicized within the European Union (EU), the implementation of supranational educational policies is frequently incompatible with the national ‘context of situation ’ (Kachru, 1992). A case in point is the German education system, in which the necessary reforms are caught between requirements on the European level and the structural ills of the national system, while still struggling to integrate the global and local implications of English use. The line of argument pursued highlights the importance of the discourse of the didacticization of English in the attempt to standardize European educational policies. The first part of the paper analyzes the most salient positions held in the ongoing discussions, ranging from the promotion of multilingualism to the endorsement of English as a lingua franca (House, 2003). Second, the proposals of didacticization made on the basis of linguistic theorizing are reviewed. The third part explores the specificity of the German education system, focusing on the extent to which the reforms have conceptually incorporated the notion of world Englishes. The analysis illustrates the incongruity of the German context of situation, suggesting that secondary education, in particular, is increasingly pressured by the reforms already under way in the primary and tertiary sectors.

Finding the right words in the study abroad context: The development of German learners' use of external modifiers in English

This paper examines the pragmatic development of nine German university students in a study abroad context over the period of one academic year. The investigation focuses on learners' ability to soften the illocutionary force of request utterances by employing a range of external modifiers. Data for the present investigation were elicited at three distinct points of the learners' sojourn in the target language environment: shortly after their arrival, in the middle of their stay and shortly before they returned home to Germany. The data were collected with the help of the Multimedia Elicitation Task (MET) which had been specifically designed for the present study. The MET is a computer based instrument that contains 16 request scenarios. The study examines whether learners varied the use of external modifiers according to the status of their interlocutors and/or the imposition of the request. It also investigates whether their choice of modifiers over time seems to have been influenced by exposure to their L2 in the study abroad context by comparing the data of the German learners of English in England to data collected from 13 German learners of English in Germany with no study abroad experience and also to 15 British English native speakers.

Toward an Intercultural Stance: Teaching German and English through Telecollaboration

We discuss the challenges of Web-based teaching for language teachers and then describe in detail an extended episode of misunderstanding that occurred between 2 students discussing their versions of history during a classroom-based, asynchronous telecollaborative project between learners of German in the United States and learners of English in Germany. We argue that discussion of such moments of miscommunication can be valuable learning opportunities for both students and teachers. They open up for explicit discussion what usually remains invisible in cross-cultural communication: the nature of the subject matter, the conditions of cross-linguistic exchanges, the nature of language as discourse, and the goals of foreign language education. Our analysis suggests that as students explore the nature of language and communication across cultures through their technology-mediated interactions, teachers are pivotal in helping them take an intercultural stance.

The impact of English in Germany

Following on Susan Ridder's article ‘English in Dutch’ (ET44, Oct 95) and Pieter Loonen's and Ross Smith's articles on English in the European Union (ET46, Apr 96), a detailed survey of the effect in recent years of English on German and the Germans

THE AIMS OF MODERN LANGUAGE TEACHING A FEW SUGGESTIONS

FEW years ago I happened to be on a coasting vessel northward bound from Copenhagen. A young man spoke to me in English; at first I thought that he was an Englishman, his English was not merely good, it was excellent, not only in accentuation, but in construction and in the choice of words. It was probably ten minutes before I detected anything suggesting a foreign origin. With some hesitation I asked whether he was an Englishman; he replied that he had never been either in England or in the United States, but that he was a Cuban who had learned English in Germany, and he added that he had never studied English except on the Continent. He of course had great linguistic ability, but granting this I could not help comparing him with gifted American students I had known and I could not recall a single American student of American parentage who at the end of his collegiate course and without having been in France could carry on a conversation with a Frenchman for ten minutes before any foreign influence could be detected in his speech. It is probably in this respect, that is, in teaching students to speak the language, that in both preparatory schools and colleges our work is weakest. We have felt this strongly at Princeton and, hoping to develop this side of modern language instruction, we introduced a few years ago an aural test which we give to all Freshmen offering a modern language for entrance. We did not feel that we could go very far at first, consequently we began with what were really aural rather than oral tests, for many boys can be taught to understand a spoken language while they still have great difficulty in expressing themselves in any language but their own. We hope soon to change the nature of these tests so that they may be really oral. We should prefer to have the College Entrance Examination Board take over such oral tests, just as the Board has taken over the written examinations, but the Board feels that at present the difficulty and expense to be incurred insupplying