Kulturstudien und Deutsch als Zweitspra

The present anthology establishes connections between the teaching and learning contexts of German as a second language in schools and adult education, and the specialized discourse of cultural studies, aiming to make these connections more visible than has been the case so far. The contributions in the volume address, on one hand, the question of the role of cultural aspects in acquiring, particularly subject-specific and educational language competencies in school contexts, while also discussing topics and content of integration and orientation courses for adult migrants, as offered and conducted in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as part of official integration policy. It examines the extent to which processes of culture-related or culture-reflective learning, as well as the corresponding competencies that connect linguistic and cultural aspects, such as discourse competence, are relevant for learners of German as a second language and how they can be promoted. Furthermore, all contributions also address the fundamental question of the relationship between language, language acquisition, and appropriation on one side, and the processes of creating and negotiating meaning, and thus culture, on the other side.