| Abstract: |
The speech styles of young German speakers in entertainment and social media employ slang, English, and jargon for current social issues including LGBTQIA+ sexuality: "geil," "krass," "Alter" or "queer," "Yaas Queen," "coming-out" or "gendern," "pansexuell," "nichtbinär." A communicative repertoire + allyship approach involves teaching a wide-ranging communicative repertoire of speech styles (e.g., LGBTQIA+, gender, neurodivergence) and encourages learners of German as an Additional Language to be active stakeholders in expanding their desired speech styles and styleshifting skills to express their identities, relationships, stances, and more. Using the EXposure process adjustable to various proficiencies/contexts, learners build on EXplicit knowledge; EXamine short intense language samples, EXperience longer samples (e.g., extensive listening/reading), EXperiment using newly learned language/concepts, and EXplore social issues of being non-binary and transgender and language usage/culture. Using this approach, learners examine scenes from "Queer Eye Germany" to learn language about life skills (e.g., cooking, grooming) while being exposed to LGBTQIA+ members and language usage. Learners also translate and/or roleplay scenes from English-language LGBTQIA+ shows while adapting their English speech style(s) into German, create an advertising campaign appealing to non-binary and transgender individuals, conduct guest speaker interviews, answer surveys on (desired) identity and language usage (e.g., preferred pronouns, gendered nouns), and other activities. The final outcome is that learners are generally more aware of the forms and functions of various speech styles, in particular non-binary and transgender styles, and potential issues surrounding their (non)usage. |