Standardsprache im DaF-Unterricht: Normstandard – nationale Standardvarietäten – regionale Standardvarietäten

Abstract

In this article I shall address the following question: which kind of the Standard German should be integrated into the course curriculum of "German as a foreign language"? In order to answer this question, however, it is argued that Standard German is by no means homogenous, rather a distinction must be drawn between national and regional standard varieties. The "standard" variety typically taught in these courses neither exists as an ideal standard variety used in everyday speech, nor does it adequately portray the actual linguistic situation. In this article it is therefore advocated that both the variability of the standard as well as the results of the latest sociolinguistic research be taken into account when designing the curriculum for "German as a foreign language".