“weil der schmeckt so gut!” The Learner as Linguist

“weil – das ist eben doch richtig so” Teaching variant types of weil‐ and obwohl‐structures in German

“… Researchers have observed that in spoken German, the conjunctions weil and obwohl commonly occur with verb‐second ( V 2) instead of verb‐final (V f ) word order (Gaumann, ; Gänthner, , ; Uhmann, ). Current findings document that this syntactic variant of weil/obwohl‐structures has an alternative interactional meaning and function, namely expressing different causalities (Vandergriff, ). Based on the results of interactional linguistic research, we will outline why it is important for foreign language learners of German to be aware of the weil/obwohl +V 2 structure.…”

“…Linguists have shown that the variation in usage of weil ‐ and obwohl‐clauses is language change in progress (Vandergriff, ; Günthner, , ). Given that language is not a rigid construction, but rather undergoing a constant process of change, the exploration of evidence of variation and change provides a prime opportunity for students to explore the target language as a living organism and flexible medium for communication.…”

“…It was not until 1995 that the increasing use of this structure in spoken colloquial language was documented (Duden, ). In teaching grammars, the V 2 ‐variant is rarely mentioned, and if it is, it is labeled non‐standard (Watzinger‐Tharp, ; Vandergriff, ). As early as 1983, Gaumann investigated the use of weil and obwohl with V 2 and observed that in some of her data samples, utterances with this structure express a meaning that is different from the causality expressed with V f ‐structures (Gaumann, ).…”

“…In the beginning foreign language classroom, the teaching of pragmatics is often limited due to presumed complexity or an emphasis on standard (written) language use. Many teachers perceive the teaching of variation in spoken language to be less relevant and too time‐consuming, and therefore abstain from including pragmatic aspects in their lessons (Vandergriff, , p. 61). However, ignoring language variation in foreign language teaching may lead to misunderstandings once students encounter authentic native speech and interaction.…”

German Weil‐Clauses: Current Research and Its Implications for the L2 Classroom

“…This section will examine syntactic differences between V 2 and V f weil-clauses, and the section that follows will turn to current research into discourse-pragmatic conditions. The subsequent empirical data analysis will ascertain the distribution of V 2 and V f weil-clauses in spoken German, and test the claim that V 2 is strongly preferred in a particular type (Günthner 1993;1996;Keller;Pasch;Vandergriff).…”