Globalization and the Future of German

With a Select Bibliography

Andreas Gardt, Bernd Hüppauf, Andreas Gardt, Bernd Hüppauf

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9783110179187
• eBook ISBN:
  9783110197297
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Lingüística

Is the world en route to becoming a linguistic colony of the United States? Or is this dramatic view an exaggeration, and there is no danger to linguistic diversity at all? The German language is at the center of an intensive debate on this issue. Its position in the world is under increasing pressure due to the growing importance of (American) English as the language of globalization. The articles in this volume deal with the national and international position of German in relation to English, language policies, the future of German as a language of science, German in the USA, and the intellectual and aesthetic dimensions of encountering a foreign language. They present critical assessments addressing the dangers for the future of languages other than English, as well as positions which perceive the growing importance of English as a challenge and resource rather than as a threat.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• Globalization – Threats and Opportunities
• Globalization and Language
• The Past, Present, and Future of World English
• English as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe
• Global English – A New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture?
• English Rules the World. What Will Become of German?
• Language Policies in East and West. National Language Policies as a Response to the Pressures of Globalization
• The Impact of English on the Vocabulary and Grammatical Structure of German
• German as an Endangered Language?
• Does “Denglish” Dedifferentiate our Perceptions of Nature? The View of a Nature Lover and Language “Fighter”
• Internationalizing Science and Technology
• German as an International Language of the Sciences – Recent Past and Present
• The Future of German and Other Non-English Languages for Academic Communication
• Language and Identity
• The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe
• Language and National Identity
• Yiddish and German: An On-Again, Off-Again Relationship – and Some of the More Important Factors Determining the Future of Yiddish
• The Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language: Many Ways of Speaking German; Many Ways of Being American
• German in the USA
• Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut
• The Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA
• Self-Inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping
• Meeting the Challenge: The Future of German Study in the United States
• German in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss
• Language and the Creative Mind
• The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization: Semiotic Implications of Anglicisms in German
• Critically “Kanak”: A Reimagination of German Culture
• Globalization: A Look at the Positive Side
• Select Bibliography
• List of Contributors