49th DaFZ Annual Conference: Language as the Key to Integration

Around 500 participants are expected to attend the 49th Annual Conference on German as a Foreign and Second Language. This is the world's largest annual scientific conference on this topic. The conference is organized by the Department of German as a Foreign and Second Language at the University of Kassel under the direction of Prof. Dr. Karin Aguado, the Fachverband Deutsch als Fremd- und Zweitsprache e. V. (FaDaF), based at the University of Göttingen, and the Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg.

The topic of refugee-related immigration and migration, which has already been highly relevant for several years and has been further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, will run like a thread through the conference. This begins with the opening lecture, which asks how the subject can react to crises, continues with workshops on language support in linguistically heterogeneous courses, and extends to discursive exchange formats and exchange exchanges for relevant teaching materials. Under the motto "Kassel - mittenrin in DaF/DaZ", the conference offers five sections with more than 30 lectures on various aspects of teaching German in Germany and abroad, a book fair with the latest textbooks from the fields of DaF and DaZ, various consulting services, and a practice day on September 3, 2022 with more than 20 workshops for DaFZ teachers.

The conference has been accredited as in-service training by the Hessian Teachers' Academy. "Teachers have the opportunity here to inform themselves fundamentally about orientations, possibilities and requirements of German as a foreign and second language. This is definitely an opportunity, because unfortunately there are no compulsory modules for DaF/DaZ in the teacher training program in Hesse so far," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Karin Aguado and adds: "Prospective teachers, although they teach more and more students with a migration background and refugee experience, mostly go into this linguistically difficult teaching situation completely unprepared." From February to mid-July, he said, around 1 million people from Ukraine alone fled to Germany. The key to the success of children and young people in school, to the integration of adults into working life, and to the social participation of all refugees is the language - its teaching is therefore a central task, Aguado continued.

The annual DaF/DaZ conference was first held in Erlangen in 1973 and has since been held at numerous universities and colleges throughout Germany. In Hesse, it was held for the first time in 2020 in Marburg, but digitally due to the Corona pandemic. The 49th annual conference in Kassel is the first to be held in presence again since the beginning of the pandemic.

Immediately before the start of the conference, there will be a young researchers' conference on August 31, 2022 on the topic of "Pandemic-related challenges and opportunities of changed research conditions in teaching and learning contexts in German as a foreign and second language". The conference is open to all young researchers who are interested in this topic and would like to exchange ideas.

The opening lecture by Prof. Dr. Olaf Bärenfänger (University of Leipzig and FaDaF Advisory Board) "Expect the Unexpected: How can the subject respond to crises?" (September 1, 2022, 10-11 a.m.), the plenary lecture by Prof. Dr. Nicole Marx (University of Cologne) "Where does the didactics of writing in DaF teaching lead?" (September 2, 2022, 9-10 a.m.) as well as the panel discussion "Educational, technical, scientific, professional language" (September 2, 2022, 4:15-5:15 p.m.) will take place in public (Campus Center, Lecture Hall 6). Anyone interested is welcome to attend! In addition, these three events will be streamed (see links here:

https://www.uni-kassel.de/fb02/institute/deutsch-als-fremd-und-zweitsprache/herzlich-willkommen

Link with information about the 49th Annual DaF/DaZ Conference:

http://www.daf-daz-jahrestagung.de/index.php

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Karin Aguado
Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies
Institute of German Studies
Department of German as a Foreign and Second Language
Fon: 0561-804-3309
Email: karin.aguado[at]uni-kassel[dot]de