STANDARD AUSTRIAN GERMAN IN THE ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Elena Shirlina

Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod, Russian Federation /

Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, Austria

shirl2005@yandex.ru

 

Key words: Standard Austrian German, academic discourse, lexical and pragmatic variation, self-identification.

Abstract

The report will partially present the results of the research project, the purpose of which is comprehensive study and detailed description of written and oral academic discourse of standard Austrian German. Our particular interest in the academic discourse is due to the possibility to leave stratification variability (territorial dialects and vernaculars) beyond the scope of the study and focus on the speech of the educated representatives of Austrian society, for whom the use of standard Austrian German is an indicator of their social belonging, as well as an important element of national and cultural self-identification. In addition, in academic discourse, the language performs a dual role: on the one hand, it acts as a means of communication, on the other, as a subject of study. Besides, education policy is an important part of language policy.

The report will provide an analysis of modern laws which bring under regulation the usage of standard Austrian German in the field of education and science, as well as on-going projects on the Austrian variant of the German language in the education system. Also the report is devoted to the place that standard Austrian German, as well as the peculiarities of the language situation in Austria (multilingualism), occupy in the curriculum of future teachers, germanists, translators, specialists in the field of intercultural communication.

Standard Austrian German in academic discourse has a number of characteristic features. This is the variability of lexical units, both terminological and not terminological. Variability of terms from the thematic group "Science and Education" is associated with a special way of developing of the education system in Austria in certain historical periods. As we have found out, it is still not properly reflected in lexicographical sources. An even more important role is played by the peculiarities of standard Austrian German at the pragmatic level, revealed through observation, questioning and interviews: the presence of explicit signs indicating the hierarchy existing in the academic community, the "standard-dialect" continuum as a communication management mechanism and a number of others.

The subject of our study is also students' attitudes toward standard Austrian German and the changes taking place in the Austrian academic discourse under the influence of extra-linguistic factors such as internal and external academic mobility, the growth of the number of students from Germany in Austrian universities, the globalization of science and education as a result of the Bologna process and other.