Precarious Relationships: Perceptions of culture and citizenship among teachers of German

Abstract

Teachers of another language, many of whom are bilingual and bicultural, have had to think about relationships with and attitudes towards the country (ies) or communities where the other language is spoken. By constantly interacting with that language and culture they often think and act 'comparatively' without, in most instances, articulating their views in a formal manner. Such notions are particularly complex in the Anglo-German context. The research project described here aimed to find out if native speakers of German have different attitudes towards their own and the other culture than native speakers of English who teach German as a second language. To what extent do personal biographies influence language teaching in the classroom? What does the concept of citizenship mean to them in their personal and professional lives? These are some of the issues the paper sets out to explore.