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The annual conference of DACHL-IN is scheduled to be held in Baroda from 28th February to 4th March 2007. To celebrate the 45th year of teaching German at MSU Baroda, this year's International seminar is organized in Baroda (Vadodara).The theme is "German Language or Literature - what does India need in the global context?" The seminar will consist of workshops, general lectures, paper readings and readings from literature. Seminar languages are German and English.
In the globalized world, where English is the sole dominant language, the learning of the other languages is demanded. In emerging markets such as India, Brazil, China and Russia, language oriented service centers like call centers, medical transcription, BPO etc are coming up as supportive units for the fast developing economies. In India, there are more and more language schools coming up and learning of a foreign language is stressed in many areas of IT, business and trade. The universities which teach literature are going through a crisis and are trying to define their roles in the ever changing world. From German to German studies and from German studies to European studies and from European studies to culture studies, they are changing their identities to exist in the competitive world. Out of nine universities in India which offer German at MA and Ph.D. levels, more than 50% do not have students in German at MA. And in a country of a billion plus population, there are hardly 60 students in German literature. Reasons are many, but it is a reality. This hard reality may be depressing on the one hand, but on the other hand there is a steady increase of students in the language courses. Language skills are more required than the literary knowledge. Where does literature stand today? What does one require in the language? How do keep pace with the demands of globalization in our field? These questions are discussed keeping in mind the future of our country and our subject.
What for was German learnt earlier and why and what one should learn in German now will be discussed in the plenary lectures every day. In India, every German teacher, while teaching German, performs different roles like language teacher, landeskunde instructor, literature reader and cultural mediator, but he/ she is basically a teacher who teaches the language of German speaking people through alphabets and sounds.
The seminar will have four advanced training sections or work shops in intensive format (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) on the following topics: 1. Didactics; 2. Translation; 3. Business German and 4. Literature. A team of experts from institutions from the German speaking countries and abroad and Indian institutions will take care of each section and an intensive brain storming will be provided
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