Language discrimination in Germany

Abstract

Language attitudes matter; they influence people's behaviour and decisions. Therefore, it is crucial to learn more about patterns in the way that languages are evaluated. One means of doing so is using a quantitative approach with data representative of a whole population, so that results mirror dispositions at a societal level. This kind of approach is adopted here, with a focus on the situation in Germany. The article consists of two parts. First, I will present some results of a new representative survey on language attitudes in Germany (the Germany Survey 2017). Second, I will show how language attitudes penetrate even seemingly objective data collection processes by examining the German Microcensus. In 2017, for the first time in eighty years, the German Microcensus included a question on language use 'at home' . Unfortunately, however, the question was clearly tainted by language attitudes instead of being objective. As a result, the Microcensus significantly misrepresents the linguistic reality of different migrant languages spoken in Germany.

Standardisation: bolstering positive attitudes towards endangered language varieties? Evidence from implicit attitudes

“…Accordingly, the standard language ideology of Standard German and its high levels of prescriptivism are wellevidenced in research, e.g. (Adler, 2019;Maitz & Elspaß, 2011). Unlike Standard Luxembourgish, Standard German is the medium of instruction and also a subject in the schools of our Belgian speech community.…”

“…Consequently, attitudes towards native speakers of Standard German are shown to be overwhelming positive in contrast to its vernaculars and other standardized majority languages, e.g. (Adler, 2019;Schoel et al, 2012). Accordingly, the standard language ideology of Standard German and its high levels of prescriptivism are wellevidenced in research, e.g.…”

“Ick bin een Berlina”: dialect proficiency impacts a robot’s trustworthiness and competence evaluation

“…It is even mandatory for politicians to speak the local dialect in Bavaria. In particular, the Bavarian dialect of Germany holds a significant and independent position within the conceptual framework of languages ( Adler, 2019 ). A survey revealed that the Bavarian dialect is considered the second most appealing German dialect (29,6%), after the Northern German dialect (34,9%), while only about 7% found the Berlin dialect attractive ( Gärtig et al, 2010 ; Adler and Plewnia, 2018 ).…”

Accepting a “New” Standard Variety: Comparing Explicit Attitudes in Luxembourg and Belgium

“…Consequently, attitudes towards Standard German are shown to be overwhelmingly positive when compared to other standardised languages present in Germany, such as English, Turkish and French (Rothe 2012;Schoel et al 2012a). Similarly, studies show more positive attitudes towards Standard German in contrast to its vernaculars in Germany and outside, e.g., in autochthon minority communities (Adler 2019;Deminger 2000;Schoel and Stahlberg 2012). Finally, the prestige of Standard German is intertwined with high levels of prescriptivism and linguistic discrimination against vernaculars and regional variation (Davies 2006;Maitz and Elspaß 2012;Schmidlin 2011).…”