German Language Research Methodology Based on Language Use

The second half of the eighteenth century in the lands under the sceptre of the House of Austria was a period of development of a language policy addressing the ethno-linguistic diversity of the monarchy’s subjects. On the one hand, the sphere of use of the German language was becoming wider, embracing more and more segments of administration, education, and culture. On the other hand, the authorities were perfectly aware of the fact that communication in the languages and vernaculars of the nationalities living in the Austrian Monarchy was one of the principal instruments of spreading decrees and announcements from the central and local authorities to the less-educated strata of the population. Consequently, a large-scale reform of primary education was launched, aimed at making the whole population literate, regardless of social status, nationality (mother tongue), or confession. In parallel with the centrally coordinated state policy of education and language-use, subjects-both language experts and amateur polyglots-joined the process of writing grammar books, which were intended to ease communication between the different nationalities of the Habsburg lands. This article considers some examples of such editions with primary attention given to the correlation between private initiative and governmental policies, mechanisms of verifying the textbooks to be published, their content, and their potential readers. This paper demonstrates that for grammar-book authors, it was very important to be integrated into the patronage networks at the court and in administrative bodies and stresses that the Vienna court controlled the process of selection and financing of grammar books to be published depending on their quality and ability to satisfy the aims and goals of state policy.

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The Politics of Pronunciation among German-Speaking Mennonites in Northern Mexico

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199859993.013.12 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Judith Klassen

Keyword(s):

Language Use ◽

German Language ◽

Northern Mexico ◽

Low German ◽

Politics Of Language ◽

German Speaking ◽

Secular Society ◽

Modern Technologies

This chapter discusses the politics of language use in collective singing among conserving Mennonites in northern Mexico. The group migrated to Mexico from Canada to distance itself from the worldly influences of modern technologies and secular society in general. In the new environment the German language stands as a symbolic marker, distinguishing Mennonites from the wider society. The chapter shows how further in-group linguistic distinctions are marked through uses of High and Low German (drawing on the wider class associations of the two languages), in which a distinct “a” (pronounced “au”) from Low German is often employed in contexts of High German use. The chapter explores what happens when this distinctive pronunciation is used politically in collective song as an expression of defiance by individual singers and the tensions that result when collective song becomes a space for “phonological expressions of difference.”

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Second Language Research: Methodology and Design

RELC Journal ◽

10.1177/0033688217707630 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 358-361

Author(s):

Is’haaq Akbarian

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Research Methodology ◽

Language Research

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The intentional and the socio-cultural in language use

Pragmatics & Cognition ◽

10.1075/pc.2.2.03nuy ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 237-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jan Nuyts

Keyword(s):

Verbal Behavior ◽

Human Behavior ◽

Speech Acts ◽

Language Use ◽

Language Research ◽

Recent Debate

This paper is a contribution to the recent debate between a number of anthropologists and philosophers concerning the role of intentions in a theory of verbal behavior. It reviews a number of arguments put forward by ethno- and anthro-polinguists against the intention-centered view of human behavior common in current cognitively oriented language research, and typically represented in John Searle's theory of intentionality and of speech acts. It is argued that these arguments do not affect the assumption that intentions are always and necessarily present in (verbal) behavior (they are based on a much too simplistic view of intentionality), but they do show that intentions as such are insufficient to understand (verbal) behavior. These matters are discussed against the background of Searle's theory of intentionality.

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Islandsk klarsprog som forskningsområde

Klart språk i Norden ◽

10.7146/ksn.v0i0.20428 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Ari Páll Kristinsson

Keyword(s):

Language Use ◽

Research Field ◽

Plain Language ◽

Language Legislation ◽

Language Research ◽

The Law ◽

Traditional Grammar

The paper discusses Icelandic plain language as a research field. The conclusion is that until recently, Icelandic linguists did not find it worthwhile to prioritize research into plain language. The author suggests that this lack of interest can be explained by the ideology that plain language use is inherently entailed by Iceland’s prevailing lexical purism, deep-rooted respect for ’Saga style’ concise sentences, traditional grammar, and ancient idioms. Consequently, the general perception has been that there is no particular need for plain language efforts. Recent Icelandic language legislation (2011) challenges this traditional indifference towards plain language research, as the law stipulates that the language used in activities of government and municipalities shall be ”good”, plain and clear (Art. 10). This act can motivate future researchers to attend to Icelandic plain language. The author emphasizes the value of language discourses as material for such research.

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Deutschsprachige Vorlesungen und ihr textuelles Umfeld in historischer Perspektive: Systematisierungsaspekte und Fallbeispiele

Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik ◽

10.1515/zgl-2021-2038 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 505-555

Author(s):

Thomas Gloning

Keyword(s):

Language Use ◽

18Th Century ◽

Research Programme ◽

German Language ◽

List Type ◽

Academic Education ◽

Conditioning Factors ◽

Scientific Principles ◽

History Of ◽

Historical Developments

Abstract The history of German-language lectures has been unfolding since the 18th century. However, it is not well researched with regard to many aspects of language use and text use, although lectures have played and continue to play a central role in the history of academic education. This paper focuses on four perspectives: the role of language and text use for knowledge organisation in lectures (in their respective multimodal and performative contexts); the interplay of lectures with forms of preparation and reception, which together constitute a systematically organised „communicative ecology“; the question of the specific tasks and conditioning factors of language use in the lectures of different disciplines and subject zones; and finally, the question of historical developments, which can be determined, among other things, by media developments and by changes in scientific principles. The discussion of examples from the history of German-language lectures, varied according to time and subjects, will illustrate the research programme.

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Tannengrund und Wald

Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendliteraturforschung ◽

10.21248/gkjf-jb.57 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 122-133

Author(s):

Anna Stemmann

Keyword(s):

Fairy Tales ◽

Young Adult Literature ◽

Spatial Dimension ◽

German Language ◽

Central Position ◽

Ludwig Tieck ◽

Language Research ◽

Complex Functions ◽

The One ◽

Spatial Construction

Artikelbeginn:[English title and abstract below] In Ludwig Tiecks Die Elfen (1812) und E.T.A. Hoffmanns Das fremde Kind (1817) nehmen Naturräume eine zentrale Position ein. Insbesondere der Wald ist als ein Kindheitsraum besetzt, der ambivalent konnotiert ist. Im Wald können sich die kindlichen Figuren fernab der Eltern autonom bewegen, dennoch geht diese Raumaneignung auch mit bedrohlichen Erfahrungen einher, die die aufstörenden Ablösungsprozesse in der Kindheit verdeutlichen. Into the WoodsConstructions of Fragile Childhood in Ludwig Tieck’s Die Elfen and E.T.A . Hoffmann’s Das fremde Kind In Die Elfen (1812) by Ludwig Tieck and Das fremde Kind (1817) by E.T.A. Hoffmann, natural spaces occupy a central position in terms of the spatial semantic field of the texts. As a narrative element, they fulfil complex functions that go beyond the mere spatial dimension. The forest, in particular, is rendered as a childhood space with ambivalent connotations and functions. Although the childlike figures can move autonomously within the forest – far away from their parents – this spatialisation is nevertheless accompanied by threatening experiences that reflect the disturbing process of detachment from childhood. This article examines the spatial construction of Hoffmann’s and Tieck’s texts by rereading both literary fairy tales from a topographical perspective in order, on the one hand, to trace the spatial semantic order (Yuri Lotman) and interstices (Michel Foucault) and, on the other, to discuss the associated notions of childhood. It also seeks to make recent German-language research on Romanticism, which has been informed by cultural studies, productive for children’s and young adult literature research. The idea of Romantic childhood as a utopia must, in the wake of the work of Detlef Kremer and Andreas Kilcher, be differentiated and brought into line with current research on Romanticism.

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Uses and Gratifications

10.5771/9783845263557 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Denise Sommer

Keyword(s):

Everyday Life ◽

Uses And Gratifications ◽

Media Use ◽

German Language ◽

Reference Book ◽

Language Research ◽

The Media ◽

Media Research ◽

The Many ◽

Subjective Significance

The ‘uses and gratifications’ approach is quintessential in media research and, at the same time, highly topical. Our need for communication is universal and unique, but expectations of what the media offers change as the media itself changes. If one wants to understand this more precisely, one cannot avoid the uses and gratifications approach. This book provides a well-founded overview of this quintessential theory of media use, explain-ing it using examples and empirical findings, and showing how topical it is in the digital age. It pays particular attention to the many important contributions of German-language research to the approach. As an introduction to theory, it is aimed at students and, at the same time, serves as a reference book for anyone who wants to understand media use according to needs more precisely. Its author has been researching and teaching the subjective significance of the media in everyday life and its effects at various universities for many years.

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