Austrian German as language of instruction and education

This project will examine the role of Austrian Standard German as a language of instruction and education at Austrian schools. Special attention in this context has to be paid to the dialect - colloquial language - standard - continuum which is characteristic of Austria. Research activities will include data collection at schools, analyses of curricula, books and teaching materials used for teaching German as a first and second language (DaM and DaZ) at school level, and curricula and courses of study at universities, teacher training institutes and training institutes for kindergarten pedagogics. The main focuses of this project are the examination of the following complexes of questions: 1. What is the role of Austrian German in teaching at elementary and secondary school levels? To what extent is Austrian German taken into consideration in teacher training? Which concept of norms (monocentric or pluricentric) is predominantly followed by Austrian pupils and teaching professionals? How do pupils and teachers perceive and conceptualize the linguistic situation in Austria concerning the characteristic dialect - colloquial language - standard - continuum? 2. What conclusions can be drawn about teacher training didactics and teaching practice at schools? In this context the integrative approach to language teaching will have to be given special consideration: It emphasizes the central role of German as a language of education throughout all school subjects. German, in this context, can be both: the first language/mother tongue (L1) for some students and the second language (L2) for others. The current state of research implies that there is a crucial connection between the concept of norms presented and taught in schools and the lack of loyalty among Austrians to their variant of German. As the results of the guided expert interviews carried out for this project application prove, there are numerous research desiderata on the role of Austrian Standard German in the context of German as a first or second language (DaM and DaZ). The project on hand intends to fill these gaps in knowledge. The data collection will include analyzing the the data obtained from different sources (curricula for schools, universities and teacher training institutes), as well as gathering data at schools by means of different methods (questionnaires, group discussions, guided interviews, participatory observation in class). The data evaluation will consist of both quantitative statistical and qualitative discussion-analytical approaches. In addition to clarifying the role of Austrian German in education, one result of this project will be the development of recommendations for language and educational policies about Austrian German - with a particular focus on the conscious treatment of linguistic variants and Austrian German in teaching practice, as well as for the development of teaching materials and lesson plans

In many linguistic publications, references have been made to a linguistic inferiority complex among Austrian speakers of the German language towards German-speakers from Germany. In some publications these feelings of inferiority have been linked to a lack of knowledge about and vague concepts of the pluricentric variation within the German language (Austrian Standard German, German Standard German, Swiss Standard German). Linguists also presume that pluricentric variation is only rarely a point of discussion in school teaching and teacher training. Therefore this research project has focused on the question if and how both students and teachers at Austrian schools get in touch with variation within the German language during their education and teacher training, respectively. To achieve this, firstly curricula for teaching German at primary and secondary level, curricula for teacher training at universities and pedagogical institutes (Pädagogische Hochschulen), and the most commonly used German course books were examined with regard to the representation of linguistic variety. Secondly, a survey among approximately 160 teachers and 1300 students at upper secondary level was carried out throughout Austria, examining language attitudes of both students and German teachers, and the role of Austrian Standard German in everyday school teaching routines. Furthermore, 21 interviews with German teachers, group discussions with teachers and students, and participating observations in class were conducted. One result of the analysis of these curricula is that there is no systematic use of terminology when referring to norms, no reference is made to a linguistic codex and pluricentric variation is not mentioned as such at any point. With few exceptions, the same applies to teacher training curricula. Apart from one course book, Austrian Standard German is not dealt with in any of the course books examined in this research project. Student sensibilisation for pluricentric variety is therefore completely left to teachers. Results of the surveys show that the vast majority of teachers consider German to be a language with differences in its standard form among the German-speaking countries. Most teachers and students associate Austrian German predominantly with dialect or colloquial German. The concept of pluricentric languages is mostly not known. Attitudes towards the correctness of Austrian Standard German compared to German Standard German proved to be ambiguous. However, a clear majority of teachers and students are convinced that Austrian Standard German as such exists. As regards the preference of Austriacisms or Germanisms, our results point to a tendency among students (linguistic lay persons) and younger teachers to prefer more German expressions to Austrian ones. In contrast to this, middle-aged and older teachers tend to prefer a higher amount of Austrian expressions. The results of this research project strongly suggest that linguistic variation ought to be dealt with in a systematic, neutral and explicit manner in teacher training, in teaching material as well as in school teaching.