Abstract:

The topic of the paper is pluricentric approach in secondary education in Slovakia, particularly at secondary schools, grammar schools and language schools in Slovakia within the subject of German as a foreign language and subjects aimed at the development of language competences. The theoretical part of the paper provides a brief introduction to the topic of pluricentricism, understanding German as a pluricentric language, and its importance in the field of education.

The research aims to examine the extent to which secondary school learners in Slovakia embrace the pluricentric approach in learning German as a foreign language, exploring their motivation to learn various standard variants of German varieties, with a specific focus on vocabulary. Another research question addresses their ability to distinguish between different standard accents and their features typical for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Additionally, the study investigates the general experience of students with the pluricentric approach from the school environment. The research methodology employed descriptive statistics for data obtained through an electronic questionnaire and test focused on understanding vocabulary and identifying accents typical for various German varieties. Participants in the research were secondary and grammar school students studying German as a foreign language while their German language proficiency was at level B1 – B2 (according to CEFR). After analysing and evaluating the data remarkable results were observed highlighting the significance of the type of secondary school and personal experience with German variants which played an important role as well.

Keywords:

Pluricentric language, education, German as a foreign language, secondary school.