Ideologies of Learner Subjectivity in the German Integration Course
Publisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
This dissertation contributes to the fields of (German) second language teaching and applied linguistics by critically examining ideologies of culture learning that manifest in the German integration course, a language/culture program established by the state for arriving refugees, asylum seekers, and third-country nationals (nationals from countries outside the European Union). I critically analyze the state-approved curriculum and sanctioned textbooks to examine how the potential course participants’ subjectivities are shaped by these official teaching materials. In conceiving language textbooks as meaning-making multimodal resources that construct different cultural worlds, learner subjectivity is construed in this dissertation in relation to two dimensions of meaning, i.e., meaning as representation and meaning as inter/action. The former refers to the ways textbook representations shape learners' (imaginative) potential to design their social futures within German sociocultural life, while the latter considers how learners are invited – through existing pedagogical tasks – to share their idiosyncratic subject positions, ideas, criticisms, epistemologies, etc. since their use of language textbooks is considerably mediated (Gray, 2013; Weninger, 2021). Findings indicate that intercultural knowledge tends to be framed using nation-state ideologies and that minoritized racial and religious social actors are considerably tokenized, erased, and afforded particular (non)agentive roles within German socio-cultural life. This positioning constrains transnational and transcultural views about Germany and limits the ways in which arriving immigrants (particularly refugee-background adults) might design their futures within Germany. Implications for this research remain relevant for educators who consider using critical pedagogies when teaching culture in different contexts, since language textbooks largely remain the preferred pedagogical materials for teaching language/culture.Type
textElectronic Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.Degree Level
doctoralDegree Program
Graduate CollegeGerman Studies