What almost all accounts of standardisation histories have in common is a focus on printed, formal or literary texts from writing elites. While Haugen identified the written form of a language as "a significant and probably crucial requirement for a standard language" (Haugen in Am Anthropol 68:922-935, 1966a; Haugen, in: Bright (ed)…

This mixed method case study explored globalization and complex relationships through a virtual exchange project between students from Germany and Colombia in upper intermediate level English classes. We believed by providing a space for online conversation, written collaboration and discussion, students would enhance their plurilingual and…

This article discusses insights gained from a case study on telecollaboration for intercultural communication in foreign language school contexts. Focus was on non-native English and German lingua franca conversations between pairs of students (aged 14-16, B1 level) from schools in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Telecollaboration…

This study examines the linguistic complexity and lexical diversity of both overt and covert L2 output produced during synchronous written computer-mediated communication, also referred to as chat. Video enhanced chatscripts produced by university learners of German (N = 23) engaged in dyadic task-based chat interaction were coded and analyzed for…

This paper begins by looking at responses to Bernstein in Germany in the 1970s that criticized his notions of class difference in sociolinguistic codes. As part of a re-examination of Bernstein's ideas, the paper goes on to look at the current communicative situation in German education where urban schools have many second-generation immigrant…

This article is devoted to the linguistic, communicative and sociocultural situation in branches of multinational companies located in the Czech Republic and Hungary. There are typically several languages used in these branches. In addition to the local languages, there are the languages of the parent companies--most commonly English or German,…

Describes the current use of comparative subordinating conjunctions or coordinators on the basis of data collected from a corpus of one million words of German in print. Revises a number of the grammatical rules regarding the use of these words. (SED)

Graffiti constitutes a medium through which the youth express opposition to authorities, as well as desires, dreams, and hopes. Graffiti shows many of the linguistic characteristics of youth language, including playfulness and, first and foremost, polylingual languaging. Graffiti in almost every city, at least in Europe, uses English and one or…

Revision of an article in Colloquia Germanica", n2-3 p268-288 1970. (RS)

Drawing on a corpus of spoken and written German obtained from the "Institut fuer Grunddeutsch," it is shown that the dative ending -e which occurs in strong masculine and neuter nouns is disappearing, especially in spoken German. (IFS/WGA)

Concludes that the German used in the east Belgium newspaper differs fr om standard High German. Proceeds to list these differences in the areas of lexicology, semantics and stylistics, morphology and syntax, orthography e tc. (Text is in German.) (DS)

German-speaking Switzerland has no single national dialect, artificial or otherwise--only many local dialects. Only standard German is written (and read); the various Schweizerdeutsch dialects are spoken. Even on radio and television the dialects are sometimes used, especially those of the larger speech communities. (Text is in German.) (WGA)

Describes a poetry writing project that uses the "strangeness" of German to beginning students as an impetus for creativity, demonstrating students' unexpected linguistic resourcefulness and the use of the poems as inspiration for more innovative teaching and learning within a task-oriented and communicative curriculum. (Author/CB)