Modalisierungen in der geschichtswissenschaftlichen Hochschullehre

How can the concept of historical fact and probability be made tangible in the study of history? How can students be introduced to the characteristics of historical research and presentation? The text-based arrangement developed here guides through the reflection on the use and context of the modal expressions that are constitutive for historical narratives – primarily modal words like "actually" and "presumably" – into subject-specific cognitive-linguistic actions. The contexts of use of these scientific linguistic means are described functionally-pragmatically, epistemologically justified, and illuminated through expert interviews with editors of historical journals. A feasibility study outlines how modalization-oriented text work can demonstrate that historical narratives are conditional narrative, argumentative, and discursive constructions of the past. The study offers theoretically and empirically grounded insights and suggestions for educators and students in the fields of linguistics and language didactics, history and history didactics, as well as writing studies and writing didactics.