Vol. 1 (2021)

We would like to take the occasion of the first issue of the Journal for Language and Literature Learning and Didactics of German (Zeitschrift für Sprachlich-Literarisches Lernen und Deutschdidaktik, SLLD-Z) to let three prominent representatives of the field have their say. Their individual reflections and perspectives touch on questions of publishing, the perception of international findings, and the chosen research directions within German didactics. All three papers are based on keynote presentations given in May 2020 at the opening conference of the new open access publishing format SLLD. All of them critically reflect on the established research paths as well as the publication practices within the discipline and they invite researchers in German didactics to further sharpen the self-image of their discipline.

Reinold Funke's remarks shed light on the context and production conditions of scholar publishing activities in German didactics and invite self-reflection on the subject– including its opportunities and risks for publishing. Iris Winkler's contribution argues for a stronger consideration of international research within German language studies in literature education. Using the example of literary conversation as well as the interplay of reader- and text-oriented approaches, her reflections show how the inclusion of international research findings can broaden perspectives and help to cross-check results. With a focus on language learning, Michael Becker-Mrotzek aims at positioning German didactics in the current field of educational research and argues for the necessity of more empirical research in the core areas of language and literature.

The contributions provide reflections on what research and publishing in German didactics and related disciplines might look like now and in the future. We look forward to further perspectives and insights into current research to be presented in SLLD-Z in the future.

The first edition also contains a research article by Birgit Mesch and Sandra Pappert on "Nominal Composites and Complex Nominal Phrases in Reading Acquisition".

We wish you insightful and interesting reading!