This paper deals with the use and importance of varieties, in this case, Low German, nowadays in the German language. To find out about this, a survey was conducted, where people of different ages were asked about their ability to understand and produce Low German, but also about their opinion on the importance of Low German in consideration of their ancestry, origin, social contacts, and others to find out how present the variety of Low German is. The results show that Low German is losing importance from generation to generation. This predicts that Low German will become extinct in the next years.
Low German is a variety of German that used to be common in the northern and eastern parts of Germany for thousands of years. Being born in the 1990s or later, today's youth is not able to understand their grandparents properly when they start talking Low German or they even do not have any contact with this variety at all. In comparison, a few years ago, almost everyone in that named area of Germany spoke or at least was able to understand Low German properly. Clearly, the use of the German language and its varieties is undergoing a change right now. This paper is not just an apparent time study of Low German in the 21st century, but also looking at the different reasons this change may be caused by. This research is inspired by a German study about the language in the city of Hanover by Hana Ikenaga from Leibniz University Hanover, which will be explained in more detail later on.
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. PREVIOUS WORK
2.2 Theoretical Background
2.3 Criteria
2.4 Questionnaire
2.5 Results
3. DATA AND METHOD
4. RESULTS
5. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the usage, knowledge, and social perception of the Low German variety in contemporary society, investigating its decline across different generations and the potential causes for this shift. The study aims to determine whether Low German faces extinction due to the increasing prioritization of Standard German.
- Analysis of generational differences in active and passive Low German proficiency.
- Impact of sociodemographic factors, including age, gender, and migration background, on language maintenance.
- Evaluation of language attitudes and the role of social contacts in variety preservation.
- Comparison between immigrant backgrounds (first- vs. second-generation) and dialect acquisition.
- Investigation of the influence of globalization and English on traditional language varieties.
Excerpt from the Book
3. DATA AND METHOD
For our topic, we chose to investigate the position of Low German in everyday language use and peoples’ attitudes towards it, especially concerning changes between different generations. The idea came to us through our own experiences, where we discovered that our grand- and grand- grand-parents (people over 60) still speak Low German, but young adults, such as us ourselves do not. We began to wonder why and what might be reasons for that. We then looked for similar studies and found the study about the Hanover city language from Hana Ikenaga (2018), Leibniz Universität Hannover. We took this study and the suggestions in the Leitfaden as guidelines for the design of our survey. In order to gather information on our topic, we decided to use questionnaires. In our case, we wanted questionnaires for different reasons. First, we wanted to provide anonymity to avoid any form of bias, such as the social desirability bias (Oppenheim 1992:139).
Second, we wanted the interviewed people to answer completely voluntarily, honest and through it being anonymous, increasing the number of participants. We distributed those through social networks, mainly WhatsApp, through sharing the online link. The main goal was to compare three main age groups or generations, under thirty, over thirty to sixty and over sixty. These groups appeal to at least three generations of most families. Considering the older generation, we wanted to have a look on, we needed to visit them in person with our computers because none of them had access to the internet. That means we had to slightly change the anonymous questionnaire to a supervised questionnaire, for those who were not able to completely read the questions or work with a computer. This could be more endangered to cause bias but was the only possible method to interview people beyond the age of 60 who were ready to take part.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Outlines the research focus on the fading use of Low German and establishes the thesis that the variety is losing importance across generations.
2. PREVIOUS WORK: Reviews Hana Ikenaga’s sociolinguistic study on the Hanover city dialect, providing a theoretical framework and comparative criteria for the current research.
3. DATA AND METHOD: Describes the methodology, including the usage of questionnaires and the recruitment process for different generational age groups.
4. RESULTS: Presents the findings of the translation tasks, demonstrating a clear decline in Low German proficiency linked to age and family background.
5. CONCLUSION: Confirms that Low German is losing influence and notes that societal trends favor Standard German over regional varieties.
Keywords
Low German, Sociolinguistics, Language Variety, Generational Change, Language Extinction, Questionnaire, Standard German, Migration Background, Language Proficiency, Dialect, Language Attitude, Hanover Study, Cultural Heritage, Language Shift, Globalization.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental objective of this research?
The paper aims to investigate the current status of Low German, specifically looking at how its usage and importance have shifted across different generations in modern German society.
Which central topics are addressed in the study?
The study covers the active and passive knowledge of Low German, the impact of migration on dialect acquisition, and how societal pressures and globalization influence the preference for Standard German.
What is the primary research question?
The research seeks to determine whether Low German is losing its relevance to the point of future extinction due to generational decline and changing societal needs.
Which scientific methods were employed?
The authors utilized a survey-based approach, involving questionnaires and interviews across three age groups, drawing on comparative sociolinguistic methods established by researchers like Hana Ikenaga and William Labov.
What does the main part of the paper cover?
The main body focuses on the design of the survey, the classification of generational data, and the detailed analysis of translation tasks that test participant knowledge of Low German words and phrases.
Which keywords best characterize this study?
Key terms include Low German, language variety, generational change, language extinction, sociolinguistics, and dialect acquisition.
Why did the group under 30 perform better than the group between 30 and 60?
The authors suggest this is because the 30-60 age group consisted largely of first-generation immigrants with no prior contact with Low German, while the younger participants, though second-generation immigrants, had more exposure to native speakers in their social environment.
How does the study define the influence of the English language?
The study notes that globalization has increased the necessity for learning English, which, along with the focus on Standard German, reduces the perceived utility of traditional local varieties.
What role does the "Twee Künnigeskinner" poem play?
It serves as a testing instrument to gauge participants' translation accuracy, providing empirical data to compare Low German comprehension across different age demographics.
- Citar trabajo
- Anonym (Autor), 2019, Low German Varieties. Its Use and its Importance, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/992467
