Deutsch als Zweitsprache: Desiderate und Perspektiven

Abstract

The importance of German as a second language continues to grow in teacher training, school politics, and in discussions across society. The most important points in education have been derived from discussions about migration in the professional education community. Various areas of educational development can be distinguished within the field. First, there is German-as-a-second-language research with people born in Germany, whose parents were born elsewhere. They speak a different language at home, and they first come into intensive contact with the German language when they start school. Secondly, this research also focuses on people who move to Germany as refugees and migrants, who must focus intensely on language acquisition. In particular, the current focus in teacher training is on learning educationally relevant skills for these two groups. The article focuses on „Bildungssprache“ (academic language) as a key element of educational success and outlines areas of research development of the last ten years. It closes by drawing conclusions for the language education of migrants and for teacher training.