Patrick Stevenson

This book explores the dynamics of language and social change in central Europe in the context of the end of the Cold War and eastern expansion of the European Union. One outcome of the profound social transformations in central Europe since the Second World War has been the reshaping of the relationship between particular languages and linguistic varieties, especially between 'national' languages and regional or ethnic minority languages. Previous studies have investigated these transformed relationships from the macro perspective of language policies, while others have taken more fine-grained approaches to individual experiences with language. Combining these two perspectives for the first time--and focusing on the German language, which has a uniquely complex and problematic history in the region--the authors offer an understanding of the complex constellation of language politics in central Europe. Stevenson and Carl's analysis draws on a range of theoretical, conceptual and analytical approaches - language ideologies, language policy, positioning theory, discourse analysis, narrative analysis and life histories - and a wide range of data sources, from European and national language policies to individual language biographies. The authors demonstrate how the relationship between German and other languages has played a crucial role in the politics of language and processes of identity formation in the recent history of central Europe.

Discourses on Policy, Identity and the German Language

Language and Social Change in Central Europe

This lively and engaging book, set in the historical context of centuries of migration and multilingualism in Berlin, explores the relationship between language and migration. Berlin is a multicultural city in the heart of Europe, but what do we know about the number of languages spoken by its inhabitants and how they are used in everyday life? How do encounters with different languages impact on the experience of migration? And how do people use their experiences with language to shape their life stories?To investigate these questions, the author invites the reader to accompany him on a research expedition that leads to an apartment building in the highly diverse district of Neukölln. Its inhabitants come from different parts of the world and relate their experiences – their Berlin lives – in ways that reveal the complex and intricate relationships between language and migration.

Berlin Lives

Language and Migration in a Multilingual Metropolis

Nils Langer

Kristine Horner

Gertrud Reershemius

The German-Speaking World is an accessible textbook that offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in the world. This new, second edition has been fully revised to reflect the many political and social changes of the last 20 years including the impact of technology on language change. It continues to combine text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems. Key features of this book: Informative and comprehensive: covers a wide range of current issues Practical: contains a variety of graded exercises and tasks plus an index of terms Topical and contemporary: deals with current situations and provides up-to-date illustrative material Thought-provoking: encourages students to reflect and research for themselves The German-Speaking World is the ideal textbook for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of German but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics.

A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues

The German-Speaking World

Luigi Giussani

John Zucchi

The Journey to Truth Is an Experience is the first English translation of Il Cammino al vero è un'esperienza, Giussani's early works on the Christian experience, written from 1959-64. It begins with a guide on how to live the Christian life within the Student Youth community, followed by a call to base one's relationship with Christ on the example set by the apostles and other figures in the New Testament. Giussani concludes by outlining the movement's mission and the possibility for community, charity, and communion in the Christian life.

Journey to Truth is an Experience

Reader in German and Head of German Studies Patrick Stevenson

Combining text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers, this textbook covers a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in societies around the world.This accessible textbook offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in societies around the world. It is written for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of German but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics. It combines text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems.In Part One Patrick Stevenson invites readers to investigate and reflect on issues about the status and function of the German language in relation to its speakers and to speakers of other languages with which it comes into contact. In Part Two the focus shifts to the forms and functions of individual features of the language. This involves, for example, identifying features of regional speech forms, analysing similarities and differences between written and spoken German, or looking at the 'social meaning' underlying different forms of address. Part Three explores the relationship between the German language and the nature of 'Germanness'. It concentrates on people's attitudes towards the language, the ways in which it is changing, and their views on what it represents for them.

The German-speaking World

This accessible textbook offers students the opportunity to explore for themselves a wide range of sociolinguistic issues relating to the German language and its role in societies around the world. It is written for undergraduate students who have a sound practical knowledge of German but who have little or no knowledge of linguistics or sociolinguistics. It combines text with practical exercises and discussion questions to stimulate readers to think for themselves and to tackle specific problems. In Part One Patrick Stevenson invites readers to investigate and reflect on issues about the status and function of the German language in relation to its speakers and to speakers of other languages with which it comes into contact. In Part Two the focus shifts to the forms and functions of individual features of the language. This involves, for example, identifying features of regional speech forms, analysing similarities and differences between written and spoken German, or looking at the 'social meaning' underlying different forms of address. Part Three explores the relationship between the German language and the nature of 'Germanness'. It concentrates on people's attitudes towards the language, the ways in which it is changing, and their views on what it represents for them.

Annotation. This collection of specially commissioned essays focuses on the forms, functions, and uses of contemporary German in the period of dynamic change following reunification. Some contributors address broad issueslanguage and national identity, the status of German as an international language, language change and attempts to fix the form of the language, and sociolinguistic variationwhile others examine topics of particular significance in the current sociopolitical climate. These include social change and linguistic variation in Berlin after the Wall, the political language of the Rightand Left, the speech of youth subcultures, language and gender, language and television, and language in intercultural communication. Reviews of the hardback edition ̀This volume fills a void in up-to-date English-language information on German linguistics. Highly recommended for all college and university collections, as well as public libraries.' Choice, 33: 3, November 1995 ̀The appearance of this collection is timely. . .it updates us on important, immediate issues affecting German language and society' ̀. . .while this work will be appreciated most by those focusing on sociolinguistics in the German-speaking context, those searching for comparative sociolinguistic material will find it a valuable source as well.' ̀All in all, Stevenson has organized an interesting and useful volume for Germanophile sociolinguists and for those interested in a multidimensional real German.' Language Learning, 46:1, March 1996.

Patrick Stevenson

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