"Bei Tische halte ich mich unter". Language play in literary texts and using it in teaching German as a foreign language

Abstract

Language is not only a vehicle for transporting information, emotions or opinions, it is also a source for discoveries and experiments. Using literary texts including language play in foreign language teaching we can reach different goals: it develops the sensibility of the learners to the foreign language they are learning, it encourages them to use their creativity and fantasy in their own oral and written production, it helps them when learning specific language areas, e. g. phonetics, grammar, orthography; and it also brings fun and variety into the lesson.

The most important function of using language play is to make the learners think about the language they speak as the material they can also play with, it means, to accustom them to conscious analyses. Literature is full of language play; several lyrical, epic and dramatic texts build a varied assortment where every teacher can find something suitable for his/her lesson. Playing with language arouses interest in the foreign language and it is the best prerequisite for learning it well.