Innovation in Language Learning

In semester 4 of the BA study programme ‘German Business Communication’ (GBA) at the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, students with Languages other than German (LOTG) delve into the sociolinguistic concept of linguistic landscapes, especially into the business-related topic of 'productscapes'. Multilingualism is recognized as an asset in the learning process of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) in multilingual and diverse corporate settings where translanguaging (Wei & García, 2022) often occurs while dealing with partners across international borders.

The exploited concept of "'productscape' [involves, JVS & SB] all language use on products, packaging and including the advertising of these commercial goods. This proposal for a new domain in linguistic landscape research highlights the key role of the industry, and particularly of company managers, CEOs and product designers, in determining which languages are visible and which others are silenced" (Ganayim & Mazolli 2023, 294).

GBA students are asked to perform a fieldwork study on the topic of multilingual and intercultural marketing, while also investigating the products, their packaging and advertising campaigns in public and digital spaces in the German context (Shinhee, 2019). The empirical project is accompanied by two courses: Firstly, they work on the theoretical framework in the lecture "Introduction to Multilingualism” focusing on a sociolinguistic understanding of multilingualism (Busch, 2020), on productscapes and on multimodal literacies. Secondly, the course "German Business Communication" provides necessary linguistic structures and adequate vocabulary.

The objective of this project-based learning unit is to understand how to plan a qualitative-empirical study and how to adhere to research ethics standards and confidentiality of data (Sayer, 2020). Finally, students are expected to gain insights into the corporate sector by analysing productscapes, taking into consideration multimodal and multilingual language use in advertising and how it is implemented with the products. Linguistically, students will expand their knowledge in the area of business-related lexico-grammatical and terminological resources. They also gain a deeper understanding of critical language awareness (Krompák, 2018).

In the scope of the talk, we will share the results of the students’ projects and carefully classify the potential for developing German Business skills and cultural learning for GBA students with LOTG.