The implementation of assumed cultural standards in texts and media, directly and indirectly conveyed paternalistic attitudes, and Othering have been shown to reinforce the reproduction of social marginalization as well as exclusionary tendencies (e.g. Göttel/Hornscheidt 2009). Exclusionary processes can thus be identified in the context of linguistic education, which manifest especially in text- and studybooks, but also in teaching discourses. In the context of language education, these processes are usually directed towards linguistic and/or cultural minorities (e.g., Bücken et al. 2020, Dirim/Mecheril 2018).

This may happen, for example, through an ethnocentric perception of attributed cultural traits emphasizing an exemplary cultural majority, a recourse to confrontational or stereotype representations of apparent or actual cultural specifics, attributions to group affiliations, and the use of linguistic images and phrasing referring to a power imbalance between learners and teachers, or learners and first language speakers (Wegner 2018, Dirim/Wegner 2016).

The project follows a comparative approach to answer the following questions: How prevalent is the problematic of ethnocentric and/or culturally overwhelming contents in language education and the educational discourse of foreign/second language teaching? How can the influence of the educational system on such cultural dynamics be measured? And are there differences in the approach to cultural education in language classes or the used classroom material between German as a Foreign/Second Language (DaF/DaZ) classes in Germany and French as a Foreign Language (FLE) classes in France when it comes to culturally overwhelming practices like the ones mentioned above?

Starting from basic considerations on the presence of marginalizing, culturally comparative evaluating and/or discriminating language and content in DaZ/DaF lessons, examples are examined and hypotheses on cultural concepts and dysfunctional (inter-)cultural approaches in textbooks and teaching discourses are elaborated and will be then compared to FLE practices.

The methodology developed is a plural qualitative methodology, presenting several distinct and complementary methodological categories: 1. Qualitative content analysis: Educational material such as textbooks and additional material is used to collect and analyse data via qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2010) on where and how examples of culture dominance are prevalent and visible in texts and graphics. 2. The interview methodology is worked on through individual interviews (Fenneteau 2015) and collective interviews (Duchesne & Haegel, 2004) with language teachers and professionals of teacher training and higher education for language didactics. The aim is to scrutinize the awareness for discriminatory and culture dominant mechanics in language teaching. 3. In situ observation: Real time observation of teaching sequences and classroom discussions. The objectification of data requires subjective distancing from the role of an observer and both preparing a grid listing several variables and completing them in the light of the field (Braun 2018), immersing oneself in educational situations while testing this grid. The observations will be carried out using the frameworks of ethnographic and perceptive practice (Laplantine 1996).

The aim of the overall project is to identify discriminatory and overwhelming narratives and forms of action in language teaching and to explore the extent to which academic discourse and, as a result, teacher training promote culturally dominant views and actions. It will be questioned to what extent unconscious linguistically discriminatory content can be found in teaching materials and classrooms - which can be assumed according to current studies (e.g. Mahmoud 2018) - and how teachers deal with it in class, whether a corresponding self-reflection takes place at all. From the perspective of cultural studies and didactics research, the comparison of German and French cases aims at the question of a general prevalence of culturally dominant contents in language teaching, respectively national differences in the teaching cultures for second language teaching in the surrounding educational systems in both countries. This presentation will focus on a first critical analysis of exemplary contributions from textbooks, study materials, and the academic discourse around German as a Foreign/Second language. The focus is on the identification of stereotypical content, othering and reproductions of cultural attributions hidden in the content or in the way learners are addressed through these contents. These interim results led to the formation of hypotheses for the second part of the study on FLE teaching.

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