Research
Research
SPEIK
Prof Dr Juliana Goschler, Dr Madjid Nezhad Masum
The aim of the SPEIK project(LanguageSurveyof IranianImmigrant Children) is to create a bilingual German-Persian text corpus. It comprises transcribed linguistic utterances produced by German children (and adolescents) with an Iranian migration background using the narrative method. The created corpus will then be analysed in a further phase as part of an explorative study. Among other things, it will be analysed whether the texts produced show certain deviations from the norm in the respective language. The observed deviations will then be systematically analysed in accordance with the second language acquisition hypotheses. With regard to the contrastive hypothesis, the question of the extent to which the deviations from the norm that occur can be attributed to the similarities or differences between the first and second language is addressed. In addition, it is shown whether the interlingual influence is only one-sided or rather characterised as a mutual effect between the two languages. Against the background of the learner language hypothesis, the role of intralingual factors such as overgeneralisation and regularisation in the development of the observed deviations is also established. Word order, word formation, linguistic complexity, time expression and narrative structure serve as indicators for analysing the texts.
Shaping upheavals - language promotion and education as integral components of innovative teacher training in Lower Saxony
Prof Dr Juliana Goschler (local project leader), Dr Anne-Kristin Cordes, Dr Snizhana Maksymchuk (research assistants), Sabine Eickhoff (seconded teacher, BBS Jever)
In cooperation with the universities of Göttingen, Hanover, Hildesheim, Braunschweig, Lüneburg, Vechta, Osnabrück and funded by the Mercator Institute and the state of Lower Saxony.
Oldenburg DaZ corpus - OLDaZFrog
Prof. Dr Juliana Goschler
Creation of a corpus of elicited narratives by monolingual and multilingual speakers.
Verbs of movement in the second language and contact varieties
Prof Dr Juliana Goschler
In collaboration with Prof. Dr Anatol Stefanowitsch (FU Berlin), Prof. Dr Christoph Schroeder (University of Potsdam), Till Woerfel (LMU Munich).
Statement on the question of the family language
signed by 51 linguists, language psychologists and developmental psychologists
There is currently a controversial public debate about whether families should be told or encouraged what language they speak and in what contexts. In this statement, we would like to draw attention to an aspect that has received little attention in this debate: scientific findings on language acquisition and child development.
There is no question that learning German is crucial for children's success at school and thus also for later career opportunities. Language acquisition should and must therefore be promoted accordingly - especially for children who acquire German as an early second language.
Successful language acquisition (both in the first and second language) requires a language-stimulating environment and language learning opportunities with diverse, sufficiently complex and error-free language examples. Low linguistic stimulation, incorrect and less complex language examples, on the other hand, can delay children's language acquisition. In addition, children in such language environments would learn German in an incorrect form. This would make the further acquisition of educational language skills more difficult. The language level required for success at school cannot be achieved in this way. This type of language acquisition situation, which can be considered problematic, can arise when parents are encouraged to speak in a language that they themselves do not speak at native speaker level.
Language is also an essential medium for successful parenting and a close parent-child relationship. It is important that parents can express themselves in detail and confidently when talking to their children. If parents are unable to discuss certain topics due to language barriers (for example in a foreign language), this can be detrimental to children's social development. Emotional topics in particular will be neglected in such constellations. It is therefore recommended that parents speak to their children in the language they know well and feel comfortable in - regardless of whether this is German or another language.
Overall, scientific findings speak against encouraging parents whose native language is not German to speak German in the family. Children learn German easily in daycare centres - if these are of a high quality and they attend them long enough before starting school - at least two to three years is the recommendation here. Bilingualism is unproblematic - even at an early age - and can even have positive effects on overall cognitive development under favourable conditions.
Prof. Dr Heike Behrens - Basel
Dr habil. Dagmar Bittner - Berlin
Dr Silke Brandt - Lancaster
MSc. Julia Brase - Göttingen
Prof. Dr Katja F. Cantone-Altıntaș - Essen
Dr Anne-Kristin Cordes - Oldenburg
Prof. Dr Solveig Chilla - Heidelberg
Prof. Dr Moritz M. Daum - Zurich
Prof. Dr Annick De Houwer - Erfurt
Prof. Dr Holger Diessel - Jena
Dr Miriam Dittmar - Brugg
Dr Antje Endesfelder-Quick - Leipzig
Prof. Dr Claudia Friedrich - Tübingen
PD Dr habil. Natalia Gagarina - Berlin
Dr Anja Gampe - Zurich
Prof. Dr Juliana Goschler - Oldenburg
Dr Eileen Graf - Chicago
Dr Susanne Grassmann - Zurich
Prof. Dr Cornelia Hamann - Oldenburg
Dr Annegret Klassert - Potsdam
Msc. MA Christian Kliesch - Lancaster
Prof. Mechthild Kiegelmann - Karlsruhe
Dr Gunde Kurtz - Heidelberg
MA Cornelia Lahmann - Cologne
PD Dr Katrin Lindner - Munich
Prof. Dr Nivedita Mani - Göttingen
MA Julia Meyer - Munich
Dr Marije Michel - Lancaster
Prof. Dr Elke Montanari - Hildesheim
Prof. Dr Natascha Müller - Wuppertal
Prof. Dr Greg Poarch - Tübingen
Prof. Dr Claudia Riehl - Munich
PD Dr habil. Katharina Rohlfing - Bielefeld
Dr Dorothé Salomo - Magdeburg
Dr Katrin Skoruppa - Basel
Dr Ulrike Schild - Tübingen
Dr Daniel Schmerse - Berlin
M.A. Sarah Schneitz - Berlin
MA Melanie S. Schreiner - Göttingen
Prof. Dr Christoph Schroeder - Potsdam
Prof. Dr Monika S. Schmid - Essex
Dr Cornelia Schulze - Erfurt
Prof. Dr Anatol Stefanowitsch - Berlin
Prof. Dr Sabine Stoll - Zurich
Dr Barbara Stumper - Oldenburg
Prof. Dr Wolfgang Tietze - Berlin
MA Nathalie Topaj - Berlin
Prof. Dr Rosemarie Tracy - Mannheim
Prof. Dr Isabell Wartenburger - Potsdam
Prof. Dr Gert Westermann - Lancaster
MA Till Woerfel - Munich
Contact:
Prof. Dr Juliana Goschler
University of Oldenburg, School III - School of Linguistics and Cultural Studies, Institute for German Studies, juliana.goschler@uol.de +49-441-798-3047
Dr Susanne Grassmann, University of Zurich, Institute of Psychology, Developmental Psychology, s.grassmann@psychologie.uzh.ch +41 44 63 5 74 99
Further comments from linguists:
Berlin Centre for General Linguistics / Interdisciplinary Network for Multilingualism (BIVEM):
International Research Centre for Multilingualism at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich:
www.ifm.daf.uni-muenchen.de/aktuelles/stellungnahme_csu_leitantrag.pdf
Prof. Dr Christoph Schroeder and Prof. Dr Heike Wiese from the Centre "Language, Variation and Migration" at the University of Potsdam
mediendienst-integration.de/artikel/sprachforscher-zu-leitantrag-csu-mehrsprachigkeit.html
Prof Dr Rosemary Tracy from the University of Mannheim
Prof Dr Anatol Stefanowitsch, Susanne Flach and Fatih Özcan from the Free University of Berlin
www.sprachlog.de/2014/12/10/integration-durch-sprachvorschriften/
Prof Dr Juliana Goschler from the University of Oldenburg
drmutti.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/dann-frogts-hoit-omoi-csu-deutschpflicht-und-wissenschaft/