Textbook
That’s a class
More and more people in Sub-Saharan Africa want to learn German with African-European textbooks which are not full of cliches and are up to date from a methodology and didactic point of view. “Und jetzt WIR” makes that possible.
By Arthur Rapp
German is booming. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1.1 million school pupils are currently learning German. On the one hand, Germany enjoys a very good reputation despite its colonial history which still needs to be processed and, on the other hand, lots of people see opportunities for themselves in Germany due to the shortage of skilled workers. In West and Central Africa, German is firmly anchored in curricula as a subject.
The German as a Foreign Language teaching at the region is supported by 8000 teachers, which is a low number in a global comparison. Like almost everywhere in the world, there is a shortage of German teachers. In order to counteract this shortage, we have implemented a one-year talent programme, which has already enabled us to train over 100 teachers in the last five years. This is nowhere near enough, however, to keep up with growing demand for German courses and examinations. Accordingly, teachers often have very large class sizes, sometimes with up to 100 students. The textbooks which are used therefore also need to be designed for teaching large groups.
Specifically for German teaching in West Africa, in 1999, the Goethe-Institut developed the textbook series “Ihr und Wir”, which was most recently updated by Hueber Verlag about ten years ago. The textbook is no longer up to date as it no longer adequately reflects international social and political change. Thanks to special funding from the Federal Foreign Office in the amount of one million euros, the textbook can now be completely overhauled in terms of content and brought up to the latest professional standards in teaching. It will be published with the title “Und jetzt WIR”.
African and European authors are working closely together on the project. Not least, a modern design and digital additional offerings are intended to create enthusiasm for learning. This is because lots of schools in Africa too switched to digital lessons during the pandemic, which led to a real innovation boost that we need to make the most of.
“Und jetzt WIR” sensitively deals with the realities of life for learners in over 15 African countries, promotes multilingual skills and covers current social and environmental developments. The series encourages controversial engagement with critical topics, strengthens communication skills and primarily takes into account the latest findings in the methodology and teaching of German as a foreign language as a subject. In terms of content, the textbook covers current local issues in the individual countries, as well as global questions relating to sustainability. Particular importance is also given to the topics of diversity, feminism, migration, anti-racism and empowerment.
"Und jetzt WIR” is a cooperation with the Hueber Verlag publishing house, and received funding from the Federal Foreign Office. The following individuals were instrumental in reworking the textbook: Dr Léonel Nanga-Me-Abengmoni, Project Coordinator for the Goethe-Institut, Arthur Rapp, Director of Language Work for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Ilka Seltmann, Director of Language Work at the Goethe-Institut in Yaoundé (Cameroon), Sylvia Tobias, Director of Sales, Marketing and PR at the Hueber Verlag, and Nina Seidel-Apelt, International Sales Manager at the Hueber Verlag.