Master of Arts in German Linguistics

The aim of the MA course in German Linguistics is to enable students to conduct an empirically based scientific examination of the forms and functions of linguistic communication in German. Subjects of the course are:

• the familiarity with linguistic problems and theories,
• expertise in various methods of empirical linguistics,
• the form and function-related research of spoken and written German in various areas of social practice and
• the ability to relate the acquired specialist knowledge to the needs and requirements of linguistic and communicative professional fields.

Technical focus

While on the one hand the course can be studied as a general linguistics master's degree, on the other hand it is also possible to form one of the following specialist areas, which is shown in the certificate.

1. Focus on German as a foreign language and second language:

The goals of the focus on German as a foreign language and second language are in-depth theoretical and methodical skills and thematic knowledge of the connection between language and culture, of individual and social multilingualism, interculturality and language contact as well as foreign, second and multilingual characteristics of language use.

2. Focus on Low German:

The aim of the focus on Low Germanis the acquisition of regional cultural competence. This includes in-depth knowledge of the linguistic situation in Northern Germany and its range of varieties between (Low German) dialects and the standard language, as well as familiarity with the regional language history and insights into the use of regional language forms in cultural and media contexts. This involves imparting contact and variation linguistic, dialectological and sociolinguistic skills.

3. Focus on Digital Linguistics (from WS 2019/20):

The aim of the new focus on Digital Linguisticsis the acquisition of specialist knowledge and skills in the digitization of language communication and linguistic research. This includes, on the one hand, form and function-oriented research into digital language use in contemporary German, and on the other hand, expertise in new methods of digital collection, annotation, evaluation and visualization of language data and the use of digital language corpora and text databases.

Prerequisite for the formation of a focus and its certification in the MA certificate is proof of at least 10 CPin courses of the respective focus area. As a rule, the focus is formed by attending two relevant seminars, which are to be completed with a term paper. It can also be done by attending corresponding courses in the elective area. In addition, the Master's thesis must be prepared on a topic from the subject area of ​​the major.