Times: Monday, 05 September, 09:30-11:00; Tuesday, 06 September, 09:00-10:30; Wednesday, 07 September, 09:00-10:30

Title: Practical introduction to East Frisian Low German I-III

Lecturer: Frank Fokken, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

This exercise is aimed at participants who would like to get a first insight into East Frisian Low German and into the working methods and content of the language courses for beginners and advanced learners at the University of Oldenburg. No active or passive knowledge of Low German is required, but it is certainly welcome.

The focus of the exercises is on comprehension and speaking. Using easy-to-understand short texts and various listening examples, an initial basic vocabulary is built up, basic grammatical knowledge is taught and basic sentence patterns are introduced, which are consolidated in various speaking exercises. The focus will be on elementary topics such as "Introducing yourself", "The family" and "Describing people". In this practical introduction to East Frisian Low German, various methods of teaching the foreign language will be introduced and applied.

The immersive language of instruction is East Frisian Low German.

Literature:
Arbatzat, Hartmut (2016). Platt - dat Lehrbook. Hamburg: Quickborn.
Hiestermann, Heike/Konen-Witzel, Katrin (2021). Snacken - Proten - Kören. Hamburg: Quickborn.
Knabe, Herma/Nath, Cornelia (2014). Nu man to! En Spraaklehrbook in 12 Lessen. Aurich: Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH.
Lücht, Wilko (2016). East Frisian grammar. Aurich: Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH.

Time: Monday, 05 September, 11:30-12:15

Title: Low German today: Status & Use - Culture - Science

Lecturers: Marina Frank, Prof. Dr Doreen Brandt, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

To introduce and set the mood for the Summer Academy's planned teaching programme, this teaching unit provides a brief overview of the situation of Low German today. Three aspects are considered. The first concerns the question of the status and use of Low German in the present day: Who speaks or understands Low German today, in which communicative situations and in which media is the language used? Where can one come into contact with Low German and where can one learn the language? The second aspect is closely linked to this and concerns the productivity of the language in the cultural sphere, for example in literature and music, theatre and radio plays. Finally, the third aspect focuses on Low German as an object of research and teaching in the North German academic landscape.

Time: Monday, 05 September, 13:45-15:15

Title: Basic features of the history and status change of Low German

Lecturer: Prof. Dr Andreas Bieberstedt, University of Rostock

Summary:

Following the introduction to Modern Low German, this teaching unit outlines the main features of a Low German language history from its beginnings around 800 AD to the 20th century. The structural and functional development of Low German from Old Low German, through Middle Low German to Modern Low German of the present day is treated from the perspective of a historical multilingual situation in Northern Germany, which is in a permanent process of change and in which Low German and High German appear as contact languages and competitors (for the Old and Middle Low German phase, Latin must also be taken into account as a further linguistic player). A multiple change in the status of Low German becomes apparent, which was strikingly described by Willy Sanders (1982) with the terms "Saxon language", "Hanseatic language" and "Low German". In this teaching unit, key aspects of this change of status will be discussed using selected materials and texts. At the same time, the historical change in the evaluation of Low German associated with this change of status will be analysed, primarily on the basis of contemporary metalinguistic statements.

Time: Tuesday, 06 September, 10:45-12:15

Title: Language variation

Lecturer: Prof. Dr Michael Elmentaler, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel

Summary:

Variability is a fundamental characteristic of language. Even written standard German is not free of variation (e.g. in lexis: Fleischer/Schlachter/Metzger, in morphosyntax: ich habe/bin gesessen, in pronunciation: Käse/Kese). This is all the more true for spoken High German and to an even greater extent for a weakly standardised language such as Low German with its numerous dialects. In order to be able to describe its linguistic structures appropriately, it is therefore necessary to clarify the concept of variation. In the lecture, a basic distinction is made between two types of variation.

The first type of variation can be described as "external variation". According to Mattheier (1984, 772), this refers to a "categorisation of linguistic variability according to the socio-communicative function of language". In a sociolinguistic understanding, variation here refers to a change in linguistic forms that is related to extra-linguistic conditioning factors. In addition to the factor of space (regional variation), these external factors also include parameters such as situation (or in writing: text type), level of education of the speakers or target audience. In a second sense, variation refers to the occurrence of several alternative variants for a variable within a conversation or a text. This type of variation is referred to as "internal variation", as it is not controlled by external factors, but by internal linguistic contextual conditions (phonetic environment, sentence context, etc.). However, internal variation can also occur independently of context, as "free", unrecognisably motivated variation.

In the lecture, the different forms of variation will be illustrated using examples from spoken and written Low German. It will also take a look at a) the functions of the individual variants, b) how Low German speakers themselves assess the occurrence of variants (is there "good" and "bad" variation in Low German?), c) whether a decrease or increase in variation can be observed over time and d) how variation should be dealt with in the course of the intended didacticisation and standardisation of Low German.

Time: Tuesday, 06 September, 13:45-15:15

Title: Exploring a Low German sound system - A practical introduction to dialectological field research in western East Frisia

Lecturer: Prof. Dr Jörg Peters, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

This workshop aims to gain practical experience in Low German field research in the field of segmental phonetics and phonology. The starting point will be current sound recordings of Wenkerian sentences in the municipality of Krummhörn on the west coast of the East Frisian peninsula. These recordings are to be analysed with regard to phonological leading variables in the area of vocalism and consonantism. The aim is (i) the dialectological localisation of the sound recordings in the East Frisian language area; historical Wenker maps and the East Frisian grammar of Lücht (2016) serve as sources for this; and (ii) an assessment of the dialectality level of the language samples; original Wenker sheets from the area of the municipality of Krummhörn, the historical local grammar of Greetsiel by Hobbing (1879) and the description of the sound system of the local dialect of Campen by Reershemius (2004) will serve as comparative material.

The workshop only requires basic knowledge of phonetics and phonology, as acquired in the first semesters of German studies and related philologies.

Literature:
Hobbing, Johann (1879). The sounds of the dialect of Greetsiel in East Frisia. With introduction: On the characteristics of the dialect. A phonetic-physiological attempt. Emden.
Lücht, Wilko (2016). East Frisian grammar. Aurich: Ostfriesische Landschaftliche Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH.
Reershemius, Gertrud (2004). Low German in East Frisia. Between language contact, language change and language shift. Stuttgart: Steiner.

Times: Tuesday, 06 September, 15:30-17:00; Thursday, 08 September, 15:30-17:00

Title: Praat

Lecturers: Heike Schoormann, Marina Rohloff, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

This workshop introduces the analysis programme Praat, which specialises in the phonetic analysis of spoken language. In addition to basic first steps and getting to know the user interface, we will work with some examples in this programme and introduce some advanced functions. The exact content will be adapted to the participants of the workshop (previous knowledge in the field of acoustic phonetics, interest in knowledge in relation to own studies), but could include the following things if possible: Analysis settings & levels, segmentation and annotation levels, incorporating scripts, vocal toolkit, PSOLA.

You have the option to choose between this and the REDE workshop. If you would like to take part in the Praat workshop, please contact us to clarify your previous knowledge and any programme requirements. So that the workshop can be adapted more specifically to the level of knowledge and ideas of the participants, simply send us an email by 25 July 2022 to: or

Times: Tuesday, 06 September, 15:30-17:00; Thursday, 08 September, 15:30-17:00

Title: Research and language cartography with the REDE SprachGIS

Lecturer: Marina Frank, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

The REDE SprachGIS is a research-centred linguistic-geographical information system on the modern regional languages of German, which was developed as part of the project Regionalsprache.de project and is being continuously expanded. On the one hand, SprachGIS can be used as a data pool with countless research options, on the other hand, it is possible to create your own maps.

In the first part of the workshop, we will first explain the background to the project Regionalsprache.de project. Then we will familiarise ourselves with various research options. The REDE SprachGIS contains maps from language atlases, audio recordings from various research projects, literature references and much more. In the second part of the workshop, we will then create our own maps. On the one hand we will get to know the drawing tools in REDE SprachGIS, on the other hand we will visualise (our own) language data.

You can choose between this workshop and the Praat workshop. If you would like to take part in the REDE workshop, please contact us to clarify your previous knowledge and any programme requirements. So that the workshop can be adapted more specifically to the level of knowledge and ideas of the participants, simply send us an email by 25 July 2022 to:

Time: Wednesday, 07 September, 10:45-12:15

Title: Reynke de vos (Lübeck 1498) and Middle Low German literature

Lecturer: Prof. Dr Doreen Brandt, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

In a first step, the teaching unit provides an overview of Middle Low German literary production from its beginning in the 13th century to its end in the 16th and 17th centuries and also addresses the status and evaluation of this part of vernacular writing in the Middle Ages and early modern period on the part of German studies research and literary historiography (translation literature, Hansel literature, etc.). With the Middle Low German animal epic "Reynke de vos", which was printed by the Lübeck Mohnkopf-Offizin in 1498, participants will not only get to know one of the most important representatives of European animal epics, but will also gain insights into the repertoire of North German printers around and after 1500.

Time: Wednesday, 07 September, 13:45-15:15

Title: With the fox in mind. The "Reynke de vos" and the Low German literature of the 'Zwischenzeit' (ca. 1650-1800)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr Doreen Brandt, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

In the 16th century, the animal epic "Reynke de vos" was virtually omnipresent on the early modern book market. And in the 17th and 18th centuries, too, the fox poem was repeatedly printed and the older Middle Low German literature was kept present in this way. This is all the more remarkable as High German had replaced Low German in all domains of written communication by the middle of the 17th century at the latest. This process also affected literature, but not in its entirety. The extent to which Low German remained productive and present in literature in the so-called interim period from around 1650 to 1800 and the role played by Middle Low German literature and in particular the "Reynke de vos" will be addressed and discussed in this teaching unit.

Time: Thursday, 08 September, 09:00-10:30 a.m.

Title: Introduction to perceptual dialectology

Lecturer: Dr Yvonne Hettler, University of Hamburg

Summary:

The North German colloquial language is characterised by Low German variants, such as the velar /a:/, whose perception and evaluation is examined in the context of perceptual dialectology. Studies have shown, for example, that speakers assume they are speaking "pure" standard German and are unaware of the North German variants they are using. Dealing with the perception of variants and varieties and the (subjective) knowledge about them therefore makes it possible, among other things, to recognise language conceptualisations that can also determine the language behaviour of individuals.

In this teaching unit, we will gain an overview of the development of this relatively young branch of research and look specifically at the methods and content of perceptual dialectology. Central to this is salience research, which deals with the different degrees of attention that listeners pay to linguistic features and examines, among other things, which variants (e.g. also in the context of dialect imitations) trigger which evaluations and which regional concepts. The conspicuousness of linguistic phenomena depends on a variety of parameters: In addition to characteristic-inherent factors, such as the phonetic distance to the standard language, it is to a large extent individual to the listener and is also determined by the listener's awareness of language and norms and their language experiences. In this teaching unit, the concept of salience and current findings on the perception of Low German variants will be discussed, with the aim of sensitising participants' hearing to the perception of North German variants.

As preparation, we recommend reading Auer (2014).

Auer, Peter: Notes on the concept of salience in sociolinguistics. In: Linguistik online 66, 4/14 (2014), pp. 7-20.

Time: Thursday, 08 September, 10:45-12:15

Title: The writing system of Low German and its standardisation

Lecturer: Dr Franziska Buchmann, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

The writing system of Low German has so far been little researched: from a graphematic perspective, however, it is certainly profitable to examine the phonological, syllabic, morphological and syntactic writing principles of Low German and to analyse the relationship between them. Due to the sociolinguistic peculiarities of Low German in the 20th/21st century and the very good state of research on High German, it makes sense to use the findings on High German as a basis for investigation.

It should also be noted that, unlike High German, Low German does not have a supra-regional written standard language. It is therefore necessary to analyse the different regional varieties or decide which variety to start with in the study.

The phonographic analysis includes the inventory of the letters used on the one hand and the correspondence between the graphemes and the phonemes on the other. The syllabic spellings include the vowel spellings and the spellings of syllable boundaries: Elongation-h, double vowel spellings, syllable articulations. Morphological spellings include all spelling principles that are inherited from one word form to another within a word or inflectional paradigm, and in this context a distinction must be made at least between so-called stem constancy and affix constancy. The syntactic principles of spelling include capitalisation and lower-case spelling as well as hyphenation and contraction.

If we look at the writing of Low German from a production perspective, questions of standardisation arise: in various contexts, but especially in the field of education, the question of how to deal with the variants of Low German arises time and again. On the one hand, the texts to be written should reflect the diversity of spoken regional varieties, and on the other hand, for practical reasons, a text should not and cannot always be translated into all regional varieties. Moreover, nobody wants to elevate one regional variety to the status of the leading variety. So the question is also how to deal with the lack of standardisation, which also means that there is no educational language of Low German.

Time: Thursday, 08 September, 13:45-15:15

Title: Low German as a foreign language

Lecturer: Dr Franziska Buchmann, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

It is no secret that Low German has a limited vitality. As a rule, it is no longer passed on to descendants as a first language or as a second first language in families; instead, the teaching of the language in educational institutions is gaining in importance. In this context, Lower Saxony has been focusing for years on offering language courses in schools: either through lessons or through study groups, with very different concepts of implementation. Everything from language encounters in German lessons to Low German project days and theatre clubs to immersion lessons can be found. Unfortunately, Lower Saxony still lacks a binding, continuous programme from nursery school to university.

A curriculum for a Low German subject must meet the requirements of modern foreign language teaching: It must fill the Common European Framework of Reference as well as the competence areas of speaking, listening and listening-viewing comprehension, reading, writing and language mediation with concrete (linguistic) content. At the same time, it would be desirable if findings from foreign language acquisition were integrated into the curriculum. Unfortunately, there have been no observational studies to date, for example on the development of interlanguage skills in pupils; nor are there any intervention studies that could prove the effect of a teaching unit; nor do we know which conscious or unconscious strategies learners use to work on a specific task. On the other hand, we do know many reports from practical experience from which the factors for successful second language acquisition, namely motivation, opportunity and ability, can be derived for the special situation of Low German.

The teaching unit provides an overview of the various subject areas.

Time: Friday, 09 September, 09:00-10:30 a.m.

Title: The Franco-German War in Low German Poems of the 1870s

Lecturer: Nikos Saul, University of Oldenburg

Summary:

With the Franco-Prussian War, Low German literature experienced a politicisation and reference to current political events on an unprecedented scale. Many Low German poetry collections of the following years contained poems dealing with the war. Monothematic collections with titles such as Uns' Krieg mit den Franzos 1870-71 also appeared. In the field of prose, it was mainly descriptions of experiences on the front that reached the market. This Low German war literature reached its quantitative peak in 1871 and 1872, after which - until the First World War - a renewed focus on topics that were less or not at all political in nature can be recognised.

Using a number of poems that exemplify the main tendencies of Low German war poetry production at this time, the unit examines the representation of the Franco-German War in Low German poetry. What attitudes do the texts adopt towards the war and how do they convey these to the audience? Which characters appear: simple soldiers or high-ranking politicians? And what are the consequences for the combatants and the civilian population? In view of the nationalism that was to become influential in Low German contexts in the years that followed and which defined Low German as the ideal type of German, it is also necessary to ask how an assumed Low German region and its population were portrayed in the face of the war.

Unlike the Low German war poems of the First World War, those of the Franco-German War have hardly been researched to date. The teaching unit is intended to help bring them more into the focus of research.

Time: Friday, 09 September, 10:45-12:15

Title: Expansion literature and niche culture. On the development of Low German literature of the 20th and 21st centuries as reflected in selected texts and concepts

Lecturer: Robert Langhanke, Europa-Universität Flensburg

Summary:

After a brilliant development of a renewed Low German literary language in the second half of the 19th century, when individual texts seemingly effortlessly penetrated national and international high culture and left lasting cultural-historical traces there, the emergence of texts in the early 20th century still presents itself in a more linguistic landscape-related manner, but continues to be self-confident and accompanied by the idea of an alternative Low German literary and cultural language. These ideas could not be maintained throughout the century until the year 2022 and have given way to an increasingly small-scale literary scene, whose main characteristic has become textual as well as personal and reception-related clarity. The far-reaching ideas of a so-called Low German movement were followed by the niche of a Low German scene that developed and presented itself differently in each language region. Regional Low German literatures determine the field while at the same time being overlaid by comparable concepts. The fact that the idea of Low German literature, which dates back to the 19th century, is still alive is due to the unbroken ability of individual authors to innovate in literature and language, to take poetic risks in Low German, which needs to be explored and which counters any premature suspicion of provincialism.

In the early 20th century, Stammler (1920) and Borchling (1927), more recently Bichel, Meier and Eiben-von Hertell in the handbook Cordes/Möhn (1983) and more recently Möhn/Goltz (2016) have offered to categorise more recent Low German literature. Schuppenhauer (1969, 1972), Bichel (1974), Haas (1983) and Schröder (2004) are concerned with a valid definition of this literature after irritating claims in the course of the 20th century. Whether "[Low German] literature [...] is literature like any other, only in Low German language form", as Schuppenhauer (1972, 33) puts it, remains the starting point of an open discussion, which is taken up at the summer school, just like the attempts to form a literary-historical tradition.

Poets have primarily conveyed an understanding of a modern or appropriate Low German literary language through their texts. The readership is presented with an unexpectedly heterogeneous field, which can neither be secured solely through conservative clichés of humorous, petty bourgeois or primarily village-based texts, nor can it be adequately grasped solely through experimental and language-creating text forms. Waltrud Bruhn's poetry represents the subject matter just as much as Rudolf Kinau's short prose. Rather, the aim is to illuminate the tensions of a literary industry that is still self-sustaining, but at the same time is proportionally just as exposed to the loss of Low German as the everyday linguistic situation in northern Germany.

So which producers and recipients can be assumed, where do which Low German literary forms exist, and which living and linguistic worlds do texts from the period in question shape for which discourses? Specific text examples and theses on the recent development of Low German literature will stimulate discussion. The teaching unit attempts to provide a concise overview of the developments and concepts mentioned and invites students to experience literature more closely through individual texts.

Time: Friday, 09 September, 13:45-15:15

Title: Low German language and literature lessons at lower secondary level with Fritz Reuter's verse story "Kein Hüsung" (1857)

Lecturer: Ulrike Stern, University of Greifswald

Summary:

Based on the framework plan for Low German for the lower secondary level and the upper secondary level in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the seminar will present a teacher's guide to one of the most important works of East Low German literature: Fritz Reuter's "Kein Hüsung". Published in 1857, the thirteen-chapter verse story was last staged in the 2016/17 season by the Fritz-Reuter-Bühne Schwerin, the Low German section of the Mecklenburg State Theatre in Schwerin, in an abridged theatre version, which was recorded as a radio play in collaboration with the Heimatverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V. in 2020. This audio material is available free of charge to all interested parties and, in addition to the textbook of the production, is an important building block in the teaching of the work at school, which also offers points of reference beyond Low German lessons, for example in history, religion or philosophy lessons. The Centre of Excellence for Low German Didactics at the University of Greifswald is developing the corresponding teacher's guide with a topic- and text-based approach. The latter focuses on four selected chapters: "De Not", "De Hass", "De Muurd" and "Dat Enn". In the seminar session, an overview of the possible processes and tasks for these chapters will be given before selected excerpts from individual teaching units are tried out and reflected on together. Prior reading of the verse narrative is not necessary.

Time: Sunday, 04 September, 19:00

We meet at 7 pm in the Ols Brauhaus at the harbour for a dinner together.

Time: Monday, 05 September, 16:00-17:30

The Low German city tour starts in the city centre on Schlossplatz at the main entrance to the castle. HERE you can find more information about the city tour.

Time: Wednesday, 07 September, 18:00-19:30

HERE you can find more information about the public evening lecture.

Time: Wednesday, 07 September, 20:00

After the evening lecture, we will have dinner together at the L'Osteria restaurant in the city centre.

Time: Friday, 09 September, 6 pm

At the end of the Summer Academy we will be organising a picnic in the courtyard.