A closer look at the similarities and differences between English and German and their significance for teaching English as a Foreign Language in a German-speaking environment
Most of our students speak German as their native language or second language. What impact does this have on our teaching? How can we make the most of the similarities between the two languages to help our students progress quickly? And where can we anticipate possible problems and find ways to get around them? We will consider lexis, grammar, and pronunciation. In the last part of the workshop we will put our findings in the context of the ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) discussion and and address the question: Which key features of the language do English trainers really need to convey to their students in order to help them communicate effectively in today’s international business world?
Stefan Fodor is a native of Munich and a native speaker of German. He majored in English and Spanish translation studies at the University of Mainz-Germersheim (Rheinland-Pfalz), enjoyed a DAAD scholarship to University College Cork (Republic of Ireland), which boosted his English skills while putting an end to any notion of mastering RP, and subsequently attended graduate school in the US states of Illinois and California, where he earned post-graduate degrees in history. Since his return to Munich in the early 1990s he has devoted himself to foreign language teaching. Stefan works as a freelance trainer for German and English and has co-authored German course materials for Klett.
