Fachbereich 05: Sprache, Literatur, Kultur - Anglistik - Lehramstudiengang (L3) ab Wintersemester 2023/24

This introductory lecture aims to familiarize participants with the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). It addresses a wide variety of issues and questions, ranging from ‘what does it mean to ‘become’ a professional English language teacher?’ to ‘what competencies and skills will I have to acquire?’ In conjunction with the lecture, (mandatory) weekly tutorials will be made available.

Prerequisites:
None. This course is accompanied by the obligatory Tutorium ("Übung") TEFL I A2.

Required Reading:
A digital reader will be available at the beginning of the semester.

Credit:
Graded: Regular attendance, active participation in class, homework assignments and written exam (Klausur).

Exam period:
Written exam: tba

Registration: FlexNow

This introductory lecture aims to familiarize participants with the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). It addresses a wide variety of issues and questions, ranging from ‘what does it mean to ‘become’ a professional English language teacher?’ to ‘what competencies and skills will I have to acquire?’ In conjunction with the lecture, (mandatory) weekly tutorials will be made available.

Prerequisites:
None. This course is accompanied by the obligatory Tutorium ("Übung") TEFL I A2.

Required Reading:
A digital reader will be available at the beginning of the semester.

Credit:
Graded: Regular attendance, active participation in class, homework assignments and written exam (Klausur).

Exam period:
Written exam: tba

Registration: FlexNow

Welcome! This lecture focuses on important paradigm shifts in the literature of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. More specifically, we will look at the development from modernism to postmodernism and from there to post-postmodernism. In other words, we will start out with novels that were written after WWI (such as Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway [1925]) in which the representation of consciousness or character interiority (i.e., thoughts, feelings, and emotions) figures prominently. We will then move on to the playful and self-reflexive (or metafictional) texts that were written (roughly speaking) after the 1960s (such as the rewrites of traditional fairy tales in Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber [1979]). Finally, we will discuss literary writings of the twenty-first century (such as Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad [2010]) that involve a new kind of sincerity, the return of the real, and a renewed interest in ethical questions. Some theoreticians refer to such (contemporary) novels in terms of ‘post-postmodernism’; others prefer to use terms such as ‘metamodernism,’ ‘cosmodernism,’ or ‘digimodernism’ to describe this kind of writing. Generally speaking, this lecture seeks to introduce students to theories of modernism, postmodernism, and post-postmodernism as well as types of modernist, postmodernist, and post-postmodernist narratives. On the one hand, we will discuss definitions and theoretical approaches, and, on the other hand, we will look at representative examples.

This course aims at familiarizing students with approaches to the study of human language in general and to the study of the English language in particular. Attention will be paid to important concepts and terminology from the core areas of theoretical linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) and to their relevance to the fields of applied linguistics, such as language acquisition, sociolinguistics and cognitive linguistics.


Module Exam (Modulabschlussprüfung): Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester!

The study of the history of the English language offers highly relevant insights into how the language has changed over the course of the centuries and into how the English language is structured and functions all around the world today. Therefore, we will pay particular attention to the different periods in the history of the English language, i.e. Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, Late Modern English and Present-day English, in order to follow the structural changes on the levels of phonology, lexis, syntax and semantics that have led to the English language as we use it today.


Module Exam (Modulabschlussprüfung): Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester!

This course offers an introduction into the qualitative and quantitative methods for analyzing English language structures on the various levels of linguistic description. We will not only provide an overview of these methods, but will also make sure that you have ample opportunities to practice their application to small-scale studies (with the help of data analysis software and simple statistical measures). We will also place an emphasis on how to discuss and present empirical findings.

Module Exam (Modulabschlussprüfung): Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester!

This course offers an introduction into the qualitative and quantitative methods for analyzing English language structures on the various levels of linguistic description. We will not only provide an overview of these methods, but will also make sure that you have ample opportunities to practice their application to small-scale studies (with the help of data analysis software and simple statistical measures). We will also place an emphasis on how to discuss and present empirical findings.


Module Exam (Modulabschlussprüfung): Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester!

This course offers an introduction into the qualitative and quantitative methods for analyzing English language structures on the various levels of linguistic description. We will not only provide an overview of these methods, but will also make sure that you have ample opportunities to practice their application to small-scale studies (with the help of data analysis software and simple statistical measures). We will also place an emphasis on how to discuss and present empirical findings.


Module Exam (Modulabschlussprüfung): Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester!

Cognitive Sociolinguistics combines two prominent paradigms in linguistics today: Sociolinguistics, which looks at society's influence on language, and Cognitive Linguistics, which focuses on linguistic evidence for cognitive phenomena and emphasizes an embodied view of cognition. Taken together, this class will examine how these two fields mutually benefit from each other by reviewing key concepts, theories and methods that help to study cognitive variation. A special emphasis will be placed on variation phenomena in World Englishes as well as various domains of public discourse.

Choice between exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

The Early Modern English period, i.e. the period from 1500 to 1700, is characterised by the standardisation of English catalysed by William Caxton setting up the first printing press in Britain. Also Early Modern English fictional writing continues to attract a lot of attention since Shakespeare’s plays fall into this period. In contrast, it was widely assumed that very little of linguistic interest took place with regard to the (development of the) English language in the period from 1700 to 1900 – a period where only the relatively large number of prescriptive grammars used to attract linguists’ attention. Today, this period in the history of the English language is generally referred as Late Modern English and by resorting to authentic text material of the time, important structural changes on different levels of language organisation (e.g. spelling and vocabulary on the word level or the development of the subjunctive and passive construction on the sentence level) have been identified.

In this seminar, we will – as a first step – contextualise Early and Late Modern English in relation to earlier and later periods of the English language. The main focus of this class will be on the structural characteristics and developments of English in terms of spelling, vocabulary and syntax, but we will also approach different (emerging) text genres of the time and consider sociolinguistic models to identify and describe possible changes in the English language and their agents. Methodologically, we will explore different empirical ways of studying English, for example with the help of dictionaries or corpus data.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the ‘Introduction to English Linguistics’ course.

Reading: Reading material will be provided for download via Stud.IP.

Registration: Please register with FlexNow.

Ungraded credit: Regular attendance, completion of reading and homework assignments, active participation in class and an oral presentation, which may involve group activities and class discussions, or a written report.
Graded credit: In addition to the above, a final exam or a term paper.

Exam period: Final exam on 09 February 2027; deadline for term paper submission: 15 March 2027.

n the broadest sense, semantics is the study of meaning. In this class we will expore what that exactly entails on various levels and from different perspectives. For instance, we will outline the core concepts concerning lexical semantics, i.e. word meaning and the relationship between words of a language, and phrasal/sentential semantics, i.e. sentence meaning. We will also consider in more detail how the study of meaning is variously approached by taking a structural semantic perspective vs. a cognitive semantic perspective.

Choice between an exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

Syntax is the part of grammar which deals with the various ways languages combine words into sentences. In this course, we will first look at some key concepts in syntax from a structuralist perspective, starting with smaller syntactic units such as the word and the notion of different word classes. Phrases are another key concept syntactically superordinate to words, which function as constituents in clauses. In this context, we will also explore the dichotomy of form and function in mind. Apart from analyzing different types of clauses (and sentences) and different ways of ordering elements in a clause (and a sentence), we will also examine the semantic roles of clause elements to discover the close connection between syntax and meaning. We will then briefly look into other approaches to syntax, before we explore syntactic variation in selected varieties of English and the differences between spoken and written grammars.

Choice between an exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

Course description

Epicentres in World Englishes are regional varieties of English that exhibit structural influences on neighbouring Englishes, i.e. it has – for instance – repeatedly been shown that Indian English can be regarded as influencing other varieties in South Asia such as Sri Lankan or Pakistani English. Epicentral configurations can consequently be found in South Asia, but also in Southeast Asia as well as in Australia and potentially in other parts of the world. The regional focus of this class is thus on Australasia and the notion of linguistic epicentres provides the framework against which the regional varieties are going to be presented.

In the course of this class, we will introduce central models describing the evolution of postcolonial/non-native varieties of English (e.g. Moag 1982; Kachru 1985; Schneider 2003, 2007) and discuss the notion of a linguistic epicentre in the World Englishes paradigm. Against this background and on the basis of structural and sociohistorical evidence, we will discuss the development and present-day structure-related as well as sociolinguistic profile of a selection of varieties in Australasia. Methodologically, we will explore different ways of a) empirically studying the structures and usage patterns that profile each of these Australasian Englishes in a unique way and b) trying to delineate epicentral configurations.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the ‘Introduction to English Linguistics’ course.

Reading: Reading material will be made available for download via Stud.IP.

Registration: Please register with FlexNow.

Ungraded credit: Regular attendance, completion of reading and homework assignments, active participation in class and an oral presentation, which may involve group activities and class discussions, or a written report.
Graded credit: In addition to the above, a final exam or a term paper.

Exam period: Final exam on 09 February 2027; deadline for term paper submission: 15 March 2027.

This seminar will cover the diversity of English found in North America from a sociolinguistic point of view. We will not only focus on regional varieties and major dialect areas, but also consider various other social factors that contribute to the linguistic landscape of North America. There will also be an opportunity to dive into various case studies and methodological approaches, in particular corpus linguistic approaches commonly used in variationist linguistics.

Choice between an exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

How can grammar be taught in ways that are both effective and engaging? This seminar addresses this question by exploring the fundamentals of grammar instruction and lesson planning in the EFL classroom. Students will examine different approaches to designing (communicative) grammar lessons, explore the use of gamification to increase learner engagement, and consider how differentiation can be built into grammar teaching to meet diverse learner needs. A further focus lies on testing grammatical competence.
Building on these foundations, students will design and present their own grammar lessons, applying communicative, differentiated, and gamified approaches in practice. Active participation, engagement with the assigned readings, and ongoing reflection and discussion are expected throughout the seminar.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Module TEFL I.

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Regular attendance, active participation in class; term paper

Exam period:
Term paper must be handed in until 15th March 2027.

Registration: Flex-Now

Literature – defined in a broad way – can foster several competencies of our EFL learners; it provides them with crucial aspects of language acquisition, intercultural learning competence and the ability to change perspectives, critical thinking and creativity, as well as communicative competence in general. In this course, students will examine the potential of various types of literature for the EFLC in grade 5 - 10, gain knowledge about the use of literature in different contexts and conclusively create concrete motivating learning arrangements.
Prerequisites: Successful completion of module TEFL I.
Required reading: Reading material will be provided via StudIP
Credit: Graded (non-modularised and modularised): regular attendance and active participation in class, creation of a learning arrangement, reflection, feedback and a written term paper due 15 March 2027. Registration: Flex-Now.


Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Module TEFL I.

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Regular attendance, active participation in class; term paper

Exam Period: The term paper has to be handed in by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This seminar introduces the fundamentals of teaching writing in the EFL classroom, combining theoretical models with practical approaches. Particular attention is given to differentiation, addressing the needs of learners with dyslexia, and integrating creative writing and task-based language learning as tools for developing learners' voice, motivation, and communicative competence.
Students will be expected to actively participate, engage with the assigned readings, and reflect on and discuss key concepts. Throughout the seminar, they will work individually and in groups to design their own task-based and differentiated writing activities, applying these strategies to real classroom scenarios, and present their work to the group.


Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Module TEFL I.

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Regular attendance, active participation in class; term paper

Exam period:
Term paper must be handed in until 15th March 2027.

Registration: Flex-Now

What do teachers want at the end of the day? To do their jobs and go back home with a little bit of their sanity intact. In this seminar we will try to explore ways to manage and create a classroom environment that is ideal, or, maybe, just allows for students and teachers to co- exist and work well with each other. We will be investigating topics such as language, behavior, discipline, challenging students, anger, rules and social forms and focus on providing solutions or just insight into some pressing classroom issues. Just be aware: there is no single magic solution. Establishing yourself as a teacher is something that comes with experience, self-reflection and developing a thicker skin. Students will be expected to actively participate, read the texts, reflect and share their thoughts and ideas. Throughout the seminar they will also be expected to work together to complete mini projects that would complement practically the deeper understanding of the different topics. The participants will have to use the knowledge acquired in the first sessions to create their own instruction processes and a manual to be used alongside these, for all the tasks and activities. Finally, to further benefit from that experience students would record their impressions and learning journey on a log that would be reviewed by the lecturer.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Module TEFL I.

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Regular attendance, active participation in class; term paper

Exam Period: The term paper has to be handed in by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

In the current age of globalization, migration and internet communication, intercultural communicative competence is a key requirement in many professions and has become a priority aim in school and university education. This course focuses on fundamental aspects of intercultural communication and approaches to developing intercultural/transcultural competence and understanding, placing special emphasis on culture and language integrated education in institutional settings such as high schools, universities, etc.

Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Ungraded: Regular attendance, active participation in class
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This course focuses on the rationale, goals, and principles of differentiated instruction in the EFL classroom. Participants will learn a) how to examine and recognize individual differences in learning, student’s preferences for learning, their needs and interests, their learning styles, multiple intelligences and identities, as well as b) how to create learning environments that will maximize the potential for successful learning. At the end of this course participants will possess a repertoire of strategies for differentiating instruction that will allow them to respond flexibly to the diverse needs and abilities of all students in the EFL classroom.
Please note that this course will be conducted in an asynchronous, computer-mediated virtual format predominantly. Since asynchronous online courses are not conducted live and in-person, participants are not required to be logged in at the same time as everyone else, for instance, to attend virtual lectures or participate in video conferences and chat sessions. Instead, the instructor will distribute coursework through a virtual learning management system (i.e. StudIP, usually at the beginning of each week). Participants can complete the provided writing assignments and tasks at their own paces, adhering to the deadlines requested by the instructor (usually at the end of each week). This means that they can log on whenever they want, completing the coursework as they would like during each weekly block of learning.

Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
Readings will be made available in a number of ways (library, the web, StudIP).

Credit:
Ungraded: Active participation, weekly learning logs, forum discussions, knowledge of recommended literature
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam Period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This seminar explores the concept of Teacher Identity by examining ongoing and continuous professionalisation as well as teacher well-being and life-work balance. Students will investigate several perspectives, as well as discuss current issues in teacher education. Based on their observations, they will have to work on a project connected to professionalisation and development.
Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Ungraded: Regular attendance, active participation in class
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This seminar explores the transformative potential of integrating authentic literature into the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. Moving beyond mere textual analysis, the course focuses on how literature serves as a catalyst for developing communicative, literary, and intercultural communicative competence across all age groups. Participants will examine the didactic principles of literature-based instruction through the lens of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC). The curriculum emphasizes the practical application of theory: students will transition from theoretical insights to classroom procedures by designing tasks, selecting suitable text types, and simulating teaching scenarios. By focusing on meaning-making and personal growth, the seminar equips future educators to foster language proficiency through culturally rich, communicative engagement.

Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Ungraded: Regular attendance, active participation in class
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

Motivation is one of the most important keys to success in learning and teaching English as a foreign language. This seminar aims to provide a deeper understanding of ‘what motivation is’ and how it can be ‘supported, maintained and, perhaps, increased’ in different EFL classroom environments, ranging from traditional to modern. The general approach is interdisciplinary, which means that recent trends and developments in motivational and in educational psychology, in learning theory, in the fields of applied linguistics and TEFL will be examined and discussed. These insights will serve as the background against which the following aspects will be explored in more detail: the significance of a ‘motivating’ classroom setting; the role of the teacher in supporting learner motivation, motivational strategies and skills; motivating and standards-oriented teaching/testing, etc.; the question of how to maintain teacher motivation.

Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Ungraded: Regular attendance, active participation in class
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This seminar offers a comprehensive exploration of spoken interaction within the foreign language classroom, bridging the gap between linguistic theory and classroom reality. The course is inspired by the concept of the 'Sprachstadt' – a model that conceptualizes the classroom as a dynamic, living 'city' of interaction where language is experienced through active social engagement rather than studied as a static subject.
Organized as a three-day intensive block, we begin on Day One by establishing a didactic foundation, focusing on the theoretical frameworks necessary to foster and assess oral proficiency through the collaborative design of evidence-based speaking tasks. On Day Two, we move from theory into the 'living city' via direct implementation; students will pilot their designs with learners at Gesamtschule Giessen Ost, documenting the real-world mechanics of verbal exchange. We conclude on Day Three with a critical reflective session dedicated to evaluating pedagogical outcomes and analyzing the efficacy of our interventions within the communicative landscape.


Prerequisites:
Teacher Education Programme: Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II
Anglophone Studies MA Programme: BA

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Ungraded: Regular attendance, active participation in class
Graded: in addition to the above, a term paper

Exam period:
Term paper to be submitted by March 15, 2027.

Registration: FlexNow

This advanced colloquium is designed for pre-service English language teachers in the final stage of their degree program. As a capstone course, it offers participants the opportunity to synthesize and critically reflect on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences acquired throughout their studies.
Focusing on key dimensions of language, literature, culture, and media pedagogy, the colloquium engages with current research, major debates, and emerging trends in English language education. Particular emphasis is placed on bridging theory and practice, encouraging students to evaluate educational decisions from both research-informed and practitioner-oriented perspectives.
The colloquium also fosters presentation, moderation, and language mediation skills while strengthening competencies in language education research, action research, and educational inquiry, preparing students for reflective and evidence-based professional practice.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Oral group exam

Exam period:
Exam dates: tba

Registration: FlexNow

This advanced colloquium is designed for pre-service English language teachers in the final stage of their degree program. As a capstone course, it offers participants the opportunity to synthesize and critically reflect on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences acquired throughout their studies.
Focusing on key dimensions of language, literature, culture, and media pedagogy, the colloquium engages with current research, major debates, and emerging trends in English language education. Particular emphasis is placed on bridging theory and practice, encouraging students to evaluate educational decisions from both research-informed and practitioner-oriented perspectives.
The colloquium also fosters presentation, moderation, and language mediation skills while strengthening competencies in language education research, action research, and educational inquiry, preparing students for reflective and evidence-based professional practice.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Oral group exam

Exam period:
Exam dates: tba

Registration: FlexNow

This advanced colloquium is designed for pre-service English language teachers in the final stage of their degree program. As a capstone course, it offers participants the opportunity to synthesize and critically reflect on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences acquired throughout their studies.
Focusing on key dimensions of language, literature, culture, and media pedagogy, the colloquium engages with current research, major debates, and emerging trends in English language education. Particular emphasis is placed on bridging theory and practice, encouraging students to evaluate educational decisions from both research-informed and practitioner-oriented perspectives.
The colloquium also fosters presentation, moderation, and language mediation skills while strengthening competencies in language education research, action research, and educational inquiry, preparing students for reflective and evidence-based professional practice.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Oral group exam

Exam period:
Exam dates: tba

Registration: FlexNow

This advanced colloquium is designed for pre-service English language teachers in the final stage of their degree program. As a capstone course, it offers participants the opportunity to synthesize and critically reflect on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences acquired throughout their studies.
Focusing on key dimensions of language, literature, culture, and media pedagogy, the colloquium engages with current research, major debates, and emerging trends in English language education. Particular emphasis is placed on bridging theory and practice, encouraging students to evaluate educational decisions from both research-informed and practitioner-oriented perspectives.
The colloquium also fosters presentation, moderation, and language mediation skills while strengthening competencies in language education research, action research, and educational inquiry, preparing students for reflective and evidence-based professional practice.

Prerequisites:
Successful completion of Modules TEFL I and TEFL II

Required Reading:
A comprehensive course bibliography will be made available on Stud.IP.

Credit:
Oral group exam

Exam period:
Exam dates: tba

Registration: FlexNow

Cognitive Sociolinguistics combines two prominent paradigms in linguistics today: Sociolinguistics, which looks at society's influence on language, and Cognitive Linguistics, which focuses on linguistic evidence for cognitive phenomena and emphasizes an embodied view of cognition. Taken together, this class will examine how these two fields mutually benefit from each other by reviewing key concepts, theories and methods that help to study cognitive variation. A special emphasis will be placed on variation phenomena in World Englishes as well as various domains of public discourse.

Choice between exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

Syntax is the part of grammar which deals with the various ways languages combine words into sentences. In this course, we will first look at some key concepts in syntax from a structuralist perspective, starting with smaller syntactic units such as the word and the notion of different word classes. Phrases are another key concept syntactically superordinate to words, which function as constituents in clauses. In this context, we will also explore the dichotomy of form and function in mind. Apart from analyzing different types of clauses (and sentences) and different ways of ordering elements in a clause (and a sentence), we will also examine the semantic roles of clause elements to discover the close connection between syntax and meaning. We will then briefly look into other approaches to syntax, before we explore syntactic variation in selected varieties of English and the differences between spoken and written grammars.

Choice between an exam or term paper: Details will be provided at the beginning of the semester

Course description

Epicentres in World Englishes are regional varieties of English that exhibit structural influences on neighbouring Englishes, i.e. it has – for instance – repeatedly been shown that Indian English can be regarded as influencing other varieties in South Asia such as Sri Lankan or Pakistani English. Epicentral configurations can consequently be found in South Asia, but also in Southeast Asia as well as in Australia and potentially in other parts of the world. The regional focus of this class is thus on Australasia and the notion of linguistic epicentres provides the framework against which the regional varieties are going to be presented.

In the course of this class, we will introduce central models describing the evolution of postcolonial/non-native varieties of English (e.g. Moag 1982; Kachru 1985; Schneider 2003, 2007) and discuss the notion of a linguistic epicentre in the World Englishes paradigm. Against this background and on the basis of structural and sociohistorical evidence, we will discuss the development and present-day structure-related as well as sociolinguistic profile of a selection of varieties in Australasia. Methodologically, we will explore different ways of a) empirically studying the structures and usage patterns that profile each of these Australasian Englishes in a unique way and b) trying to delineate epicentral configurations.

Prerequisites: Successful completion of the ‘Introduction to English Linguistics’ course.

Reading: Reading material will be made available for download via Stud.IP.

Registration: Please register with FlexNow.

Ungraded credit: Regular attendance, completion of reading and homework assignments, active participation in class and an oral presentation, which may involve group activities and class discussions, or a written report.
Graded credit: In addition to the above, a final exam or a term paper.

Exam period: Final exam on 09 February 2027; deadline for term paper submission: 15 March 2027.

This seminar aims to explore how war has been narrated in the American lyrical and musical tradition. From the draft era to the War on Terror, song lyrics have offered a running commentary on how war has been justified, mourned, questioned, and remembered. This seminar traces the shifting narratives of war in American popular music from the late 1960s to the present day, asking how musical genres and lyrical strategies shape public understanding of conflict, military service, and peace.

We will begin by asking what it means to narrate war through songs by asking which stories get told, which are left out, and how music’s emotional and mnemonic power complicates any simple reading of a lyric. From there, we will move chronologically and thematically from Vietnam-era protest anthems and patriotic counterpoints, through the mythologizing of the “good soldier” in post-9/11 country music, to the morally ambiguous veteran narratives found in contemporary rock and metal. We will also consider anti-war songs, peace anthems, and narratives of military trauma, including the thematization or omission of mental health topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. Throughout the seminar, we will explore how music genres further condition what can be said and how these musical frames both reflect and shape wider public debate.

Toward the end of our seminar, we will broaden our perspective by comparing American war narratives to musical traditions from other countries, asking which narrative patterns are specific to the U.S. and which transcend national and cultural boundaries.

This seminar aims to explore how war has been narrated in the American lyrical and musical tradition. From the draft era to the War on Terror, song lyrics have offered a running commentary on how war has been justified, mourned, questioned, and remembered. This seminar traces the shifting narratives of war in American popular music from the late 1960s to the present day, asking how musical genres and lyrical strategies shape public understanding of conflict, military service, and peace.

We will begin by asking what it means to narrate war through songs by asking which stories get told, which are left out, and how music’s emotional and mnemonic power complicates any simple reading of a lyric. From there, we will move chronologically and thematically from Vietnam-era protest anthems and patriotic counterpoints, through the mythologizing of the “good soldier” in post-9/11 country music, to the morally ambiguous veteran narratives found in contemporary rock and metal. We will also consider anti-war songs, peace anthems, and narratives of military trauma, including the thematization or omission of mental health topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. Throughout the seminar, we will explore how music genres further condition what can be said and how these musical frames both reflect and shape wider public debate.

Toward the end of our seminar, we will broaden our perspective by comparing American war narratives to musical traditions from other countries, asking which narrative patterns are specific to the U.S. and which transcend national and cultural boundaries.

What is Critical Masculinities Studies, and why should we talk about it now? This course introduces students to the emerging field of Critical Masculinities Studies through the lens of American Literary and Cultural Studies.

Drawing on perspectives from Critical Masculinities Studies, we will examine evolving representations of gender and sexuality in contemporary American literature and other cultural products. We will consider how these representations raise broader questions about the crisis of masculinity, power dynamics, ecological crisis, female production, loneliness, and other social and cultural issues in today's context. The course also invites students to think about how Critical Masculinities Studies might be applied to other disciplines.

Regarding course materials, students are expected to acquire Hua Hsu’s memoir Stay True (2022). Other reading materials will be uploaded to Stud.IP by the instructor. While the course focuses primarily on literature, students will also watch and discuss two films during the semester.

Detailed information about the syllabus, course requirements, and assessment will be introduced and explained during the first week of the course.

Expected exam date: 5 February 2027
Term paper deadline: 15 March 2027

This seminar aims to explore how war has been narrated in the American lyrical and musical tradition. From the draft era to the War on Terror, song lyrics have offered a running commentary on how war has been justified, mourned, questioned, and remembered. This seminar traces the shifting narratives of war in American popular music from the late 1960s to the present day, asking how musical genres and lyrical strategies shape public understanding of conflict, military service, and peace.

We will begin by asking what it means to narrate war through songs by asking which stories get told, which are left out, and how music’s emotional and mnemonic power complicates any simple reading of a lyric. From there, we will move chronologically and thematically from Vietnam-era protest anthems and patriotic counterpoints, through the mythologizing of the “good soldier” in post-9/11 country music, to the morally ambiguous veteran narratives found in contemporary rock and metal. We will also consider anti-war songs, peace anthems, and narratives of military trauma, including the thematization or omission of mental health topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. Throughout the seminar, we will explore how music genres further condition what can be said and how these musical frames both reflect and shape wider public debate.

Toward the end of our seminar, we will broaden our perspective by comparing American war narratives to musical traditions from other countries, asking which narrative patterns are specific to the U.S. and which transcend national and cultural boundaries.

What is Critical Masculinities Studies, and why should we talk about it now? This course introduces students to the emerging field of Critical Masculinities Studies through the lens of American Literary and Cultural Studies.

Drawing on perspectives from Critical Masculinities Studies, we will examine evolving representations of gender and sexuality in contemporary American literature and other cultural products. We will consider how these representations raise broader questions about the crisis of masculinity, power dynamics, ecological crisis, female production, loneliness, and other social and cultural issues in today's context. The course also invites students to think about how Critical Masculinities Studies might be applied to other disciplines.

Regarding course materials, students are expected to acquire Hua Hsu’s memoir Stay True (2022). Other reading materials will be uploaded to Stud.IP by the instructor. While the course focuses primarily on literature, students will also watch and discuss two films during the semester.

Detailed information about the syllabus, course requirements, and assessment will be introduced and explained during the first week of the course.

Expected exam date: 5 February 2027
Term paper deadline: 15 March 2027

This seminar aims to explore how war has been narrated in the American lyrical and musical tradition. From the draft era to the War on Terror, song lyrics have offered a running commentary on how war has been justified, mourned, questioned, and remembered. This seminar traces the shifting narratives of war in American popular music from the late 1960s to the present day, asking how musical genres and lyrical strategies shape public understanding of conflict, military service, and peace.

We will begin by asking what it means to narrate war through songs by asking which stories get told, which are left out, and how music’s emotional and mnemonic power complicates any simple reading of a lyric. From there, we will move chronologically and thematically from Vietnam-era protest anthems and patriotic counterpoints, through the mythologizing of the “good soldier” in post-9/11 country music, to the morally ambiguous veteran narratives found in contemporary rock and metal. We will also consider anti-war songs, peace anthems, and narratives of military trauma, including the thematization or omission of mental health topics such as post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt. Throughout the seminar, we will explore how music genres further condition what can be said and how these musical frames both reflect and shape wider public debate.

Toward the end of our seminar, we will broaden our perspective by comparing American war narratives to musical traditions from other countries, asking which narrative patterns are specific to the U.S. and which transcend national and cultural boundaries.

The course ‚Understanding the EFL classroom‘ provides the students with recent classroom-centered research methods and the ways of using them in EFLC in order to understand teaching and learning processes in a deeper way. By introducing different research scenarios in the fields of teaching literary, cultural, language and media competencies, it points out the practical and professional value of research to language teachers. Throughout the course, the students will create their own research project, collect data during their internship and present the results as part of their portfolio.

Credits: regular attendance and active participation; creation, presentation and written documentation of research project