Prof. Dr. Bernd Meyer

SoCuM Project: “Deutsch ist hier Amtssprache” (“German is the official language here”) – Normative Language Selection and Social Multilingualism
This project examines the communication in German social institutions and government agencies, posing the question of how the use of other languages is regulated and how decisions concerning the use of other languages are reached in institutions. Usability, feasibility and hegemony are all considered in the process. Where an exchange with clients is oriented towards usability and feasibility, hegemony often later seeks to propagate a determined use language (i.e. the use of German) as the norm, and the use of other languages is sanctioned as a violation of this norm.

Research Interests
Communication in Institutions from the aspect of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity, Discourse Analysis, Pragmatics

Academic Background
Bernd Meyer has been Professor of Intercultural Communication and General Cultural Studies in the Department (06) of Translation, Language and Cultural Studies in Germersheim since 2010. He studied General Linguistics and Portuguese in Hamburg and worked in the Multilingualism Collaborative Research Center and the Hamburg Institute for German Studies.

Publications (Top 5)

2012

Ad hoc interpreting for partially language-proficient patients: Participation in multilingual constellations. In: C. Baraldi and L. Gavioli (eds.): Coordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting. Benjamins Translation Library 102. Amsterdam: Benjamins. P. 99-113.

2011

Herkunftssprachen als kommunikative Ressource? In: L. M. Eichinger, A. Plewnia und M. Steinle (ed.): Sprache und Integration. Über Mehrsprachigkeit und Integration. Tübingen: Narr. P. 189- 214.

2010

(with Birgit Apfelbaum, eds.:) Multilingualism at work. Hamburg Studies in Multilingualism 9. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

2009

(with Kristin Bührig:) Gespräche zwischen Patienten und Ärzten – ein- und mehrsprachige Anamnesen im Krankenhaus. In: N. Klusen and A. Meusch (eds.): Informiert und selbstbestimmt. Der mündige Bürger als mündiger Patient. Beiträge zum Gesundheitsmanagement 27. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag. P. 189-205.