Anna Noack, geb. Buhbe

Dissertation Topic

Intergroup Contact between Germans and Turkish Immigrants living in Germany: Language learning in tandems as a means to reduce prejudice

Abstract

A fifth of all people residing in Germany have a migration background. The largest number of these are of Turkish origin (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 2011). Germans and Turkish immigrants have rather negative views of each other. This cannot only be seen in current political debates and public discourse, but also in recent studies (Asbrock, 2010; European Agency for Fundamental Rights 2009). Intergroup Contact Theory –claims that relations between social groups can be improved by optimal contact between those groups. This PhD project therefore explores, whether a specific type of encounter in form of a German-Turkish tandem language learning course can contribute to improve relations between German and Turkish participants by reducing prejudice among other factors. In the course, Germans and Turkish immigrants meet weekly over a period of two months and teach each other Turkish or German respectively. This setting should be especially suited because it incorporates those factors that are beneficial to intergroup contact encounters: equal status, cooperation, common goals, support by authorities and friendship potential (Allport 1954; Pettigrew, 1998). Five courses with 41 participants in total (20 German and 21 Turkish) have taken place between October 2009 and February 2011. Participants were questioned in a longitudinal quantitative design answering questionnaires at the beginning and end of the course.

Academic Supervisors

• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kühnen, BIGSSS, Jacobs University Bremen
• Prof. Dr. Klaus Boehnke, BIGSSS, Jacobs University Bremen
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wagner, Philipps-Universität Marburg

Research Interests

• Intergroup Encounters and Relations
• Prejudice and Stereotyping
• Intergroup Conflict and its Resolution