Issues in German primary foreign language policy. A perspective from different stakeholders

This talk will address three current issues in German primary foreign language policy: 1) an early vs. late start in primary foreign language education, 2) the transition from primary to secondary education and 3) primary foreign language teacher education. First, the general context and history of German primary foreign language education will be introduced (see e.g. Wilden & Porsch, 2016). Second, the three current issues of primary foreign language policy in the German context will be critically discussed (Enever, 2018; Piske, 2017). In doing so the perspectives of different stakeholders (Porsch & Wilden, 2017) will be considered, such as policy makers, education administrators, primary and secondary teachers, pupils as well as unions (e.g. GEW, 2018). A special focus will be on empirical findings relevant to these three issues. The talk will conclude by discussing implications for the implementation of primary foreign language education as well as language policy-making in Germany and beyond.