How to teach linguistics of Modern Foreign Languages

1. How to teach linguistics of Modern Foreign Languages Students as researchers Patrick Stevenson, University of Southampton

2. Benefits • the active student: not an empty vessel • the engaged student: sharing responsibility for the course • the inspired/aspirational student: you too can be a researcher • developing individual research skills • building team working skills

3. Skills • Developing individual research skills • searching and evaluating wide range of sources • gathering and processing data • Building team working skills • asking research questions • devising and designing projects • working within constraints • managing group dynamics • coordinating findings • producing outputs in different formats for different audiences • giving timed oral presentations and answering questions • participating in conference-like settings

4. Issues • ethics • sources • work-sharing / fair evaluation • assessment: content vs presentation • knowledge vs skills

5. Progression: a German Linguistics curriculum • Year 1: Introduction to German Linguistic Studies • Year 2: Language and Society in the German-speaking World • Year 3: Year Abroad Research Project • Year 4: Language, Politics and Communication in Germany

6. Progression: a German Linguistics curriculum Introduction to German Linguistic Studies • group project on an aspect of contemporary language use/change based on primary and secondary sources: e.g. • language and gender • patterns of address • language in the media • German around the world • group oral presentation (single mark for whole group) • takeaway exam (2 essay topics)

7. Progression: a German Linguistics curriculum Language and Society in the German-speaking World • group project on an aspect of contemporary language use/change – more extensive and in-depth than Year 1: e.g. • The linguistic integration of anglicisms in German • An investigation into Kiezdeutsch • The public reception of the spelling reform • group oral presentation (single mark for whole group) plus individual report • individual essay on self-selected topic

8. Progression: a German Linguistics curriculum Year Abroad Research Project • Preparation module in Year 2: devising, designing and conducting an individual research project • Research proposal on self-selected topic: e.g. • Language debates and school reform in Switzerland • Impact of crisis situations on interpersonal relations: address patterns and solidarity in German business contexts • The role of dialect in Austrian political campaigns • Empirical research project (October – June)

9. Progression: a German Linguistics curriculum Language, Politics and Communication in Germany • individual exercise in critical discourse analysis, based on self-selected topic and primary material: e.g. • Bundestag speech on the plagiarism accusation against former German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg • apolitical campaign song performed by Heinz-Christian Strache, leader of the right-wing Austrian FreiheitlichePartei • interview with Angela Merkel in the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet on ‘integration’ • studentprotestsagainstuniversity ‘reform’ in Germany: Bundesweiter Bildungsstreik vs Bundesweit gegen den Bildungsstreit • individual essay on self-selected topic