Is the world en route to becoming a linguistic colony of the United States? Or is this dramatic view an exaggeration, and there is no danger to linguistic diversity at all? The German language is at the center of an intensive debate on this issue. Its position in the world is under increasing pressure due to the growing importance of (American) English as the language of globalization. The articles in this volume deal with the national and international position of German in relation to English, language policies, the future of German as a language of science, German in the USA, and the intellectual and aesthetic dimensions of encountering a foreign language. They present critical assessments addressing the dangers for the future of languages other than English, as well as positions which perceive the growing importance of English as a challenge and resource rather than as a threat.

Andreas Gardt is Professor of German Studies at the University of Kassel, Germany. Bernd Hüppauf is Professor of German Studies at New York University, USA.

ContentsPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ixIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Globalization- Threats and Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Bernd HüppaufGlobalization and Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25The Past, Present, and Future of World English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27David CrystalEnglish as Threat or Resource in Continental Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Robert Phillipson Global English- A New Lingua Franca or a New Imperial Culture? . . . 65Hans Joachim MeyerEnglish Rules the World. What Will Become of German? . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Rudolf HobergLanguage Policies in East and West. National Language Policiesas a Response to the Pressures of Globalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Petra BraselmannThe Impact of English on the Vocabulary andGrammatical Structure of German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119German as an Endangered Language? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Peter EisenbergDoes "Denglish" Dedifferentiate our Perceptions of Nature?The View of a Nature Lover and Language "Fighter" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139Hermann H. DieterInternationalizing Science and Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155German as an International Language of the Sciences -Recent Past and Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Ulrich AmmonThe Future of German and Other Non-English Languagesfor Academic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Konrad EhlichLanguage and Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185The German Language and the Linguistic Diversity of Europe . . . . . . . 187Wolfgang ThierseLanguage and National Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Andreas GardtYiddish and German: An On-Again, Off-Again Relationship -and Some of the More Important Factors Determining the Futureof Yiddish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Joshua A. FishmanThe Past and Future of the Pennsylvania German Language:Many Ways of Speaking German; Many Ways of Being American . . . . 229David L. Valuska and William W. DonnerGerman in the USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243Language Policies of the Goethe-Institut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Nikky Keilholz-Rühle, Stephan Nobbe, and Uwe RauThe Kulturpolitik of German-Speaking Countries in the USA . . . . . . . . 253John Lalande IISelf-Inflicted Wounds? Why German Enrollments are Dropping . . . . . . 265Robert C. ReimerMeeting the Challenge:The Future of German Study in the United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Helene Zimmer-LoewGerman in Wisconsin: Language Change and Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293Peter WagenerLanguage and the Creative Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305The Seductive Aesthetics of Globalization:Semiotic Implications of Anglicisms in German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307Prisca AugustynCritically "Kanak": A Reimagination of German Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Yasemir YildizGlobalization: A Look at the Positive Side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341John M. GrandinSelect Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373