Phonetische Merkmale einer hörerorientierten Sprechweise und ihre Vermittlung im DaF-Unterricht

Abstract

The virtual dialogicity of spoken rhetoric infers the concept of speech as the virtual-dialogic intention of the speaker to make themselves understood. This brings into focus the relevance of listener orientation. In speech-as-virtual-dialogue, just as in a conversation, the speaker must approach the questions and the position of the listener in a purposeful manner. The question-answer pattern basic to the shaping of speech is particularly valid in cases in which speaking to others is considered as a cooperative, rather than a competitive, practice. Listener orientation is certainly a complex category in rhetoric – ideally, perspective taking begins in the conceptional phase of speaking (in the areas of thinking logic, argumentation and language) and is then expressed on the level of performance, for example in a listener- focused presentation. In rhetorical practice the category of listener orientation is often adopted as a category for the evaluation or observation of spoken performance. This paper aims to highlight specific phonetic characteristics of a listener-oriented mode of speech in German as a foreign language. It will then outline some concrete didactic consequences, which have important implications for the teach- ing of German. Proceeding from the basic dialogic understanding of social interaction, the complex category of listener orientation deserves particular attention in the training of rhetorical competence in a foreign language. From a methodological perspective, the helpful interweaving of phonetics and rhetoric should be noted. After all, when speaking, lecturing and presenting the most important thing is the achievement of desired effects and, hence, of communicational intentions.

Keywords

• listener orientation
• phonetic characteristics
• mode of speech
• the teaching of german