Pragmatics of address in the First and Second Language classroom in Germany and Australia

Project Lead:
Prof. Dr. Claudia Maria Riehl

Staff:
Julia Blanco Lopez

Cooperative project between the Internationale Forschungsstelle für Mehrsprachigkeit [International Research Department for Multilingualism](IFM) at the Institute for DaF (Chairholder Prof. Dr. Claudia M. Riehl) and the School of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Melbourne

Since March 2016, Prof. Dr. John Hajek and Dr. Leo Kretzenbacher (University of Melbourne) together with Prof. Dr. Claudia M. Riehl and Julia Blanco Lopez (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) have been working on a joint research project exploring strategies for using forms of address in the university context.

The aim of the study is to explore the use of various forms of address in German, English and other languages. The focus is on interaction in the university context. Possible distinct differences in the use of forms of address between lecturers and students as well as among the staff are identified and described. With the help of these results, a model is being created to show the various practices for utilizing forms of address. It is meant to facilitate the learning of pragmatic structures in the foreign language and to ultimately improve intercultural communication.