Event Date
Tuesday, October 25, 2022, 12-2PM
53A Olson Hall
Teaching a Pluricentric Language: The Case of National and Regional Variation
Dr. Tom Smits
University of Antwerp
Fulbright Scholar Fall 2022
Language variation is present at all levels of language and instructors have to navigate the differences between the “standard language”, which is an 'idea in the mind’, and linguistic realities. Geographical variation has historically been well researched in German, so does this explain why there is far less sociolinguistic controversy on the language's pluricentricity than in other languages? A pluricentric language, however, may present a downright conundrum to the (foreign) language teacher as to what constitutes (good) language as subject matter. This workshop will distinguish between levels of geographical language variation and discuss how language teachers deal with it. The model presented here can be applied to other languages and comparisons to other languages are encouraged during the presentation.
Tom Smits is an Associate Professor in English and German Foreign Language Teaching and German Variational Linguistics at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). In 2021, he was appointed as Senior Research Associate at Rhodes University (South Africa) after a successful nomination by the Faculty of Education in recognition of his standing in the field of multilingualism and multiculturalism in education. He coordinates the Erasmus+ strategic partnership "Learning scenarios to support inclusive language and culture education for heterogeneous school classes" and (co-)supervises educational and research projects in Belgium, Indonesia, DR Congo, Zambia, and South Africa.