German language and linguistics II : German as a pluricentric language [LALLB301]

Learning outcomes

The course aims to help students (whose mother tongue is not German) to reach the level of a B2 user (or, potentially, a C1 user) according to the CECRL criteria. As the course invites students to put into practice the theory offered to them, the course encourages the acquisition of a whole series of transversal skills (e.g. the development of a critical and creative mind, the ability to make a critical analysis based on scientific criteria, the ability to make a written and oral synthesis of the results of this analysis, the mastery of oral presentation techniques).

Objectives

The course aims to improve the students’ mastery of the German language by examining different aspects of the pluricentricity of the German language from the point of view of (historical) sociolinguistics, the sociology of language as well as contact linguistics.

Content

Under the denominator of the "pluricentricity of the German language", the course covers topics such as linguistic variation (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary), language standardization, linguistic identity, language contact (and conflict) as well as language policy and planning. The course is not limited to a purely theoretical treatment of the topics raised. The theory is illustrated by multiple concrete examples that will give students an insight into the variation that characterizes the German language in its current historical state.

So as not to limit our perspective to Europe, students are required to familiarize themselves with the history of German minorities in North America on the basis of a reader. They are also required to actively participate in exercise seminars that aim to maintain their German language skills on the basis of (translation) exercises.

Exercises description

A reader, PowerPoint presentations and a series of exercises will be made available to the students.