Socio-linguistic potential of German-speaking advertising in the process of formation of university students’ foreign language competence

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Socio-linguistic potential of German-speaking advertising in the process of formation of university students' foreign language competence

O.B. Osaulchyk

The article considers the educational possibilities of German-language advertising in the context of its socio-linguistic potential. The method of analysis and synthesis highlights the social information in the advertising content. Advertising is regarded in its close connection to the representation of cultural values as the strengths and advantages of a separate nation. Also, advertising is identified as a powerful socio-linguistic tool that makes it possible to follow both the constant changes in the lexical content of the language, and its cultural and regional features.

Being important for the teaching process advertising style reveals connections with separate grammatical themes (present tense `Prдsens' in the sense of future tense, imperative mood, interrogative sentences `Fragesдtze'). These features of German-language advertising allow us to consider it as a multifunctional language content, which combines the latest language trends (neologisms) and long-known lexical constructions (phraseological units), as well as a powerful socio-cultural potential. The latter is predetermined by the need to support advertising content with the historical achievements and facts. In view of the above mentioned we have come to the conclusion as for the wide educational opportunities of advertising in the process of mastering the German language and as for the need to include it in educational materials during practical classes and some special socio-linguistics training courses. In order to confirm this assumption, we conducted a pedagogical experiment in two student groups: in the control group, where the course on socio-linguistics of German-speaking countries was taught traditionally, and in the experimental group, where specially selected German-language advertising content was used. Special final testing at the end of the experiment revealed effectiveness and greater practical value in the innovative approach.

Key words: German-language advertising, advertising content, socio-linguistic potential of advertising, educational opportunities of advertising, students, institutions of higher education, foreign language competence, special linguistic courses.

Лінгвокраїнознавчий потенціал німецькомовної реклами в процесі формування іншомовної мовленнєвої компетенції у студентів вищої школи

О.Б. Осаульчик

В статті розглянуто навчальні можливості німецькомовної реклами в контексті її лінгвокраїнознавчого потенціалу. Методом аналізу і синтезу виокремлено країнознавчі відомості у рекламному контенті. Було доведено, що рекламне наповнення тісно пов'язане з виявленням культурних цінностей в якості переваг та надбань кожної нації. Рекламу було визначено потужним лінгвістичним засобом, який уможливлює відслідковування як за постійними змінами лексичного наповнення мови, так і за її культурними та країнознавчими особливостями.

Окремо, проте у нерозривній єдності з визначеною тематикою, було визначено зв'язки з окремими граматичними темами (теперішній час Prдsens у значенні майбутнього часу, наказовий спосіб Imperativ, питальні речення Fragesдtze). Зазначені особливості німецькомовної реклами дають змогу розглядати її як багатофункціональний мовний контент, в якому поєднані як новітні тенденції мови (неологізми), так і сталі давно відомі лексичні конструкції (фразеологізми), а також потужний країнознавчий потенціал, що зумовлено необхідністю підкріплення рекламного контенту фактами історичного та соціально-культурного змісту. З огляду на зазначене, було зроблено висновок про широкі навчальні можливості реклами в процесі оволодіння німецькою мовою та про необхідність долучення її до навчальних матеріалів під час практичних занять й окремих спеціальних лінгвокраїнознавчих курсів. З метою підтвердження такого припущення нами було проведено педагогічний експеримент у двох студентських групах: в контрольній, де курс по лінгвокраїнознавству німецькомовних країн викладався традиційно та експериментальній, де було використано спеціально підібраний німецькомовний контент. Контрольні зрізи наприкінці експерименту засвідчили ефективність і більшу практичну спрямованість оновленого підходу.

Ключові слова: німецькомовна реклама, рекламний контент, лінгвокраїнознавчий потенціал реклами, навчальні можливості реклами, студенти, заклади вищої освіти, іншомовна мовленнєва компетенція, лінгвокраїнознавчі спецкурси.

educational german-language advertising

Introduction of the issue

In today's globalized society more and more attention is paid to mastering one or more foreign languages. Among the favorite languages, English and German are the permanent leaders. While English is the language of international communication, German is the leading language of the European community. In the context of European integration, the study of the German language is becoming quite dominant, both among professionals who need language skills for professional implementation, and for ordinary citizens of our country whose aim is to travel easily in Europe. It is worth noting that in today's world, knowledge of a foreign language is an integral attribute of many professions, which allows not only to share professional experience, but also to find successful employment. The latter is a powerful motivating factor for students, an impetus for a stable internal motivation to master several foreign languages [4: 269].

Thus, today German is one of the most widely used languages in Europe and the world. According to available data, German is spoken by almost 185 million people worldwide. For more than 100 million German is the second or native language in communication. This is especially true for residents of German-speaking countries - Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, as well as Luxembourg. However, the German language may differ in different countries, that is due to the linguistic aspect and is often actualized in the emergence of diverse dialects. The latter can be traced in the differences of advertising in various parts of Germanspeaking Europe. In its turn advertising plays serious role in our everyday life and information space. Under these conditions, advertising is becoming a powerful tool in both teaching and learning a foreign language and serves as a platform for obtaining the necessary knowledge for better understanding and communication.

Current state of the issue

Recently, in the scientific and methodological literature, special attention has been paid to the educational opportunities of advertising, in particular in its linguistic aspect. Thus, the study of this issue continues to be the subject of interest for different scientists all over the world: L. Anikieva, Y. Eichhof, W. Ammon, G. Bickel, M. Kirilyuk, O. Morozova, O. Samokhval, B. Sovinski, I. Raifenstein and others. The potential of German-language advertising in the educational environment is studied by L. Volovyk, L. Maevska, R. Padalka, L. Pyshna, O. Ratushna, I. Rudneva along with foreign scholars such as T. Domzal, J. Kernan, J. Hunt, J. Hornix, R. Hoff, and others.

Aim of research includes the following: to reveal the educational potential of German-language advertising as a platform for students to get linguistic and cultural knowledge that belongs to a certain German-speaking country, and also to reveal the possibilities of its practical application in higher education.

Results and discussion

Socio- linguistic knowledge is of paramount importance in mastering a foreign language today, as it allows to understand and feel the studied language deeper and better. It occupies an important place in the system of general human education. In ancient times, the interpretation of philosophical and religious texts was carried out exclusively with the help of culturological commentaries, because it is impossible to know the language without understanding the culture and way of life of its country. Thus, the subject areas of socio-linguistics include history, geography, economics, government, political and cultural life of the country and so on. In other words, sociolinguistics makes it possible to obtain the knowledge of the language through the culture of its people and, on the other hand, the culture through the language. Such knowledge involves the study of a foreign language in a comparative aspect, focusing on the differences and features of the same language in different countries.

In addition to the above mentioned German-speaking countries, German has the legal status of a state or national language in a number of other territories of the European continent and beyond. Thus, German is official in the regions of North Schleswig (Denmark) and South Tyrol (Italy), the regions of Alsace and Lorraine (France), p. Kragule (Slovakia), nine communities of Espmto Santo, Minas Gerais and Santa (Brazil), Opole Voivodeship (Poland), Alto Parana, Boqueron and Guaira and Chaco (Paraguay), etc. German has the national language status in Namibia, certain regions of Romania, Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, etc.

Advertising today is the most common way to attract the attention of any person, who is a potential consumer. Using advertising with commercial purpose made it an integral attribute of every country. In sociolinguistic terms, advertising represents a specific type of mass communication, caused by the expansion of tasks in the field of informing the public about goods and services [6: 206]. At the same time, it is a powerful linguistic arsenal, which makes it possible to follow not only the constant changes in the lexical content of the language, but also its cultural and ethnographic features.

Each of the mentioned Germanspeaking countries uses advertising to emphasize its historical identity. For example, Swiss people emphasize the latter in the advertising of Swiss watches: `Schweizer Uhren kauft man am besten dort, wo auch die Schweizer Uhren kaufen. Seit 1888. '(Zurich) / Swiss watches are best bought where they would buy themselves (figuratively, i.e. in the best stores in Switzerland). Since 1888 (the historical date of the beginning of production is specified). And Germans advertise, for example, certain educational institutions, emphasizing their own success in this sphere in comparison with other countries: 'Kaum ein anderes europresisches Land bietet eine der art vielseitige Hochschullandschaft lands' (Deutschland) / No other European country has such diversity ....

It is worth noting that Germany actually considers the field of education as its priority, so it often highlights its opportunities in advertising content. Today, Germany promotes its own educational opportunities at the level of international cooperation. For the first time, the German Federal Government, in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, has set goals for a more efficient and coordinated approach, which has been agreed with national companies interested in quality training for future professionals. The main tasks outlined in the document as strategic are: to increase the mobility of applicants and researchers; expand cooperation in vocational education with industrialized and developing countries; to support the training of skilled workers by interested German companies abroad; develop a platform for joint learning with European countries; simplify the procedure for recognition of qualifications, which will contribute to the formation of international and European processes; to develop training courses according to the dual system of professional training; increase funding for international comparative research in the field of education [7: 335-336].

Thus, each German-speaking country emphasizes its own identity and independence, using, in particular, advertising content. In this context, the correct name for the national variants of the German language should be considered, Deutschlдndisches Deutsch (German version of German), Цsterreichisches Deutsch, (Austrian German), Schweizerisches Deutsch, (Swiss German), while saying German in Germany, German in Austria or German in Switzerland, according to researchers, people ignore the state-national component [3: 185].

The Austrian statement `Цsterreicher und Deutsche haben eine gemeinsame, aber nicht dieselbe Sprache' (Austrians and Germans have a common but not the same language) reflects their desire for national identification through their language. At the time, before Austria's membership in the European Union on January 1, 1995, in a national referendum in June 1994, the slogan `Erdдpfelsalat bleibt Erdдpfelsalat' (literally, potato salad will remain potato salad - in Austrian) was formulated as a kind of condition. Marmalade will not be named jam, and other words will remain such as: Marille (Austrian) - Apricot; Faschierte (Austrian) - Hackfleisch; Topfen (Austrian) - Quark [2: 166-179].

The above mentioned features are clearly reflected in the field of advertising, in particular in food advertising, which is quite significant, because food is known to be the most important product to sell and buy. In view of this, such linguistic differences in variations of the German language must be considered at practical lessons of German. In our opinion, there also should be a special additional course untroduced for better mastering the German language, such as, for example, `Socio-linguistics of Germanspeaking countries'.

As the biggest differences are observed in the field of food, it requires special emphasis by the teacher during the educational process. However, differences are also observed in other spheres of life. For instance, when it comes to citizenship, a German has a `Personalausweis' for a passport, an Austrian has an `Identitдtsausweis', and a Swiss has an `Identitдtskarte'. National variants are used in the advertising texts of each of these countries.

The study of German is in most cases based on the learned English, which should also be reflected during its study, because the German language has many English words, ones of British and American origin, which are also reflected in German-language advertising texts. Regarding this, N. Voynarovska notes that Anglicisms and Americanisms have irrevocably entered almost every language in the world, but, in the first place are European languages [1: 311]. If it is a very popular American product, it will not be translated in advertising. Such goods are mostly often household appliances and cosmetics. Accordingly, the commonly used English words in German advertisments are `make-up', `sale', `manage', `design', `travel', `party', `service' and so on.

The tendency to use words of foreign origin is considered to be a tendency to neologisms and is an essential feature of special youth vocabulary, as it is young people who give names to everyday things and situations through anglicisms making this way their language original and exotic. Anglicisms in its usage among young people are not specific, they belong to their usual and everyday vocabulary, for example, `hi', `okay', `cool', `cute', `easy', `kids', handy', etc. [5].

To attract the consumer's attention, advertising may contain phraseology, rhetorical questions, lexical and phonetic repetitions, contrast, puns, which is also worth paying attention in the linguistic aspect of a foreign language learning. Such lexical phrases can be written in capital letters in the headline, for example, `Ein Geschenk des Himmels' / God's gift, or Halb umsonst' / For nothing, almost for free. However, the chief role of a headline is to interest, the essence is usually presented in the shortest form in the main text of the advertisement. From this point of view, it is advisable to translate the title only after reading the full advertising text.

According to researches, phraseology can be used in advertising in the literal or figurative sense separately, and in both at once. In this case the language of German advertising serves a purpose - to preserve the national phraseology and at the same time to promote something. Adapted lexical and syntactic forms allow the recipient of the advertising message to understand the advertising content correctly. Each new advertising text should be different from those of competitors, and the use of phraseological expressions in the advertising language should help in this task. The advantage of phraseology lies in the fact that as soon as the connection between the product and the consumer is made, the association between the expression and the advertising product arises again and again [5].

One has also to be prepared for usage of many proper names in advertising slogans in order to maintain the brand reputation and additional reminding about the company itself or its products. Thus, in order to attract and support the consumer's attention, advertising is constantly changing in its linguistic style, using both neologisms and words of international origin, and sources of folk art and fiction. Advertising styles constantly vary: from conversational-casual to highly artistic and exclusively scientific style. According to B. Sovinski, advertising as a way of expressing the proposal is characterized by complexion (combination of linguistic and non- linguistic language means). In this field, the complexity of the means of expression is achieved through the use of a wide range of complex words, professionalisms, terminological vocabulary [8: 20].

Researches of German-language advertising texts show that verbs are used mainly in the present tense, the latter is also used by Germans to mean future action. This way it has a predictive effect on the consumer, as there is a clear belief that written characteristics coincide with the desired ones. Among the most widely used verbs there are, for example: `gibt' - gives, `arbeitet' - works, `hilft' - helps, `heilt' - heals, `schutzt' - protects, `garantiert' - guarantees, `verbessert' - improves. These peculiarities allow to combine learning German grammar with advertising texts, in particular while studying the topic `Futur'. Another grammatical topic that could be associated with advertising is `Imperative' (Imperative mood), with lots of specific verbs used: “Mach!' - Do it! Versuch!' - Try it! `Gewinn!' - Win! `Kauf!' - Buy! German-language advertising is also full of interrogative sentences, including rhetorical ones, aiming at making a consumer think and look for the answer, for example, `Wann leben Sie Zurich? / When did you get to know Zurich?'(Zurich). Such grammatical features emphasize the educational potential of advertising as a multi-vector linguistic content.

Speaking of German-language advertising in general, it must be noted that it differs from advertising in other languages, and that is due to the German mentality. Such national features of German speakers as pedantry, accuracy, clarity and the desire to specify are traced in advertising texts: German advertising is objective, full of specific and various details, and also proven facts. German-language ad- products are described and analyzed in detail: for example, some commercials contain information about the price of the product and the location of the store to buy it, and German-language TV advertising necessarily includes practical experience of using the product with all its possibilities tested online.

In order to prove our assumptions about the socio-linguistic potential of German-language advertising and the possibilities of its practical use at foreign language classes, we organized and conducted a pedagogical experiment of two months in duration, that included ten practical classes with students. At the classes on discipline `Second Foreign Language', we actively and consistently used the advertising content of three German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), that contained cultural and linguistic information specific to each of these countries.

The system of tasks was organized according to the principle of `from simple to complex': beginning with the level of words, hen phrases, supra-phrase unity, sentences, and ending with the level of the texts. Suggested advertising texts were also chosen according to the mentioned above principle: from short and simple texts up to long and complicated ones. Alongside this, at first, we regarded the linguistic content of advertising in Germany, as a central German-speaking country, then of Austria, and later of Switzerland, each country with its cultural and linguistic peculiarities was introduced and studied was to determine taking into consideration the specific linguistic and culturological features of the given advertisment which of the countries it belongs to. Within the experiment, two student groups were chosen, whose level of knowledge was equal.

The first group studied traditionally, while the other experimental group studied with German-language advertising consistently used at every lesson (during ten lessons). It is worth noting that the traditional methodology in this context means teaching mostly theoretical course `Socio-linguistics of German-speaking countries'. In the experimental group, theoretical knowledge of linguistics of German-speaking countries found its practical confirmation in the form of alive language content - German-language separately. At the end of our pedagogical experiment, specially selected tasks based on German-language advertising in a comparative aspect including all identified countries were presented. Thus, one of the tasks advertising. At the end of this period, control tests were given in both groups, the results of which confirmed the effectiveness and necessity of using authentic advertising at foreign language classes in order to obtain and deepen cultural and linguistic knowledge of students.

Thus, at the end of the pedagogical experiment, 9 students (25 %) had a high level, 12 students (34 %) had a medium level, and 14 students (41 %) in the control group had a low level. Students in experimental group had the following results: 18 students had a high level (51 %), 13 students had a medium level (37 %), and 4 students had a low level (12 %). The results of the pedagogical experiment in the comparative aspect are represented in Fig. 1.

Comparative aspect: the traditional method in the form of a mostly theoretical course (control group) and the improved method using German- language advertising (experimental group). Thus, the results of final tests in both groups proved the effectiveness and expediency of using German- language advertising texts while mastering a foreign language. Its strong cultural and linguistic potential according to the results of our research helps to understand students the foreign language better as they can get to know closer its cultural and linguistic peculiarities, and teachers are able to make the classes more practical and actual while using advertising content.

Fig. 1. Comparative analysis of final test results of students' knowledge