Chair of Romance Linguistics (French/Spanish)

Within the spectrum of Romance idioms, the professorship specializes in two of the languages with the largest number of speakers: Spanish and French. Since its foundation, the focus on the interests and tendencies of the other pillars (literary studies, cultural studies, language practice) has played an important role in teaching and research. Literary language is seen as a source and stimulus, but also as a kind of benchmark for the linguistic level aimed for in the degree course. Linguistics can be used to supplement and integrate the training of practical language skills in the various communicative modes (listening, speaking, reading, writing, language mediation). Building bridges to cultural studies forms the second side of the teaching and research commitment, insofar as the development of communicative conditions and practices in society, but also the social, political or economic processes addressed in the target cultural communication are taken into consideration. This orientation has recently played a more important role in the work of the professorship than was previously the case.

The connection between language practice and linguistics, but also literature and linguistics, is based on the potential of a new type of grammar (Integrative-Dynamic Grammar, IDG) proposed by the holder of the professorship. The proximity to cultural studies is to be achieved by consistently using the methodology of discourse linguistics in the sense of Kuße (2012) and Spitzmüller/Warnke (2011).