In this paper a closer look will be taken at the challenges that arise in the field of learning and teaching German (as a foreign) language in times of migration with regards to Germany being one of the desired countries, even the top country in Europe for migrants. As Germany has a long tradition of migration, which has always existed to one degree or another, the paper begins with a short overview of Germany’s history of migration, followed by an exposition on the present migration status in Germany. The subsequent section inter alia points out the importance as well as the challenges for immigrants to learn the German language and therefore acclimatize to customs of their new home country, as this is essential for integration into society as well as school and work environments. Hence, a sufficient number of integration courses for adults must exist as well as intensive courses for children of migrants in schools in order to provide an opportunity to learn the target language as soon as possible. In turn, this results in a higher demand for German (as foreign/second) language teachers. Therefore, the final chapter of this paper focusses on presenting and evaluating the demand for German (as foreign/second) language teachers from 2014 up to the present date and how the Federal Government of Germany responded to the increasing demand in this field. For this purpose, available information on relevant web pages of Federal Agencies (e.g., Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs Federal Office for Migration and Refugees), as well as relevant reports and studies are examined and evaluated. Finally, the conclusion offers a brief summary and critique of the findings and a forecast on future development in this field.

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Svoboda, M. & Zagar-Sostaric, P. (2019). The challenges of learning and teaching German (as a foreign/second) language in times of migration. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 5(1), 20-26. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.20469/ijhss.5.10003-1