German: F–10 Sequence / Levels 9 and 10 / Understanding / Language variation and change
Content description
Understand the influence of language on people’s actions, values and beliefs, and appreciate the scale and importance of linguistic diversity
Elaborations
examining how language can reinforce stereotypes, such as those related to gender, and how changes in the language occur over time to combat this, for example, die Krankenschwester → der Krankenpfleger, die Krankenpflegerin; die Stewardess → der Flugbegleiter, die Flugbegleiterin
considering how language indicates respect, values and attitudes, and includes and excludes, for example, the use of titles or first names (Herr Doktor Schmidt, Herr Schmidt, Georg), different words for the same entity (foreigner/immigrant/refugee), the gendered nature of professional titles (der Lehrer, die Lehrerin; das Kindermädchen), and access to community information for non-English speakers
reflecting on the impact of language in relation to own and others’ experience, for example, winning an argument or working out the meaning of unfamiliar German words; being locked out of conversations, or being a newcomer or an outsider in a social group
establishing a deeper understanding of diversity and reflecting on own experience of what linguistic and cultural diversity means
