The German-Speaking World A Practical Introduction to Sociolinguistic Issues

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.

Part one The Position of German in the World 1 German: language, people, place 2 Language and national identity3 German in the globalised world of the twenty-first century Part two Aspects of German in Use 4 Regional variation 5 Standard German 6 Patterns of variation and change in contemporary German 7 New styles of spoken German 8 Mediated language 9 Linguistic landscapes Part three Sociolinguistic Controversies 10 Linguistic purism 11 Language and education 12 Language and citizenship

Patrick Stevenson is Professor of German and Linguistics at the University of Southampton, UK. Kristine Horner is Reader in Luxembourg Studies and Multilingualism at the University of Sheffield, UK. Nils Langer is Professor of North Frisian and Minority Research at the University of Flensburg, Germany. Gertrud Reershemius is Professor of Linguistics and Language Contact at Aston University, UK.