On 17 October Bldg. XI hosted the opening of the Interuniversity Research Conference titled the German Language in the Saratov Region: Theoretical and Practical Aspects. The forum guests became Head of the Office of Culture of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Jan Kantorczyk and Director of the DAAD Regional Office Moscow Andreas Hoeschen.

At the beginning of the conference the audience was welcomed by Head of the Priority Projects and Programmes, Professor Elena G. Yelina. She underlined that the event is organised when the university celebrates its anniversary and commented on the history of the Saratov and the Volga German Region.

‘There are a few reasons proving that we value everything connected with Germany. Firstly, our homeland had very strong bonds with Germans. Many artists, musicians, and researchers who were born and have lived in Saratov are of German ancestry. Secondly, it is significant that the German Language is one of the main foreign languages studied in Saratov. There are two educational institutions in our university where students learn German – the Institute of Philology and Journalism and Faculty of Foreign Languages and Language Teaching Methods.’

Mr. Kantorczyk reminded Alexander von Humboldt had visited Saratov 190 years ago.

‘Alexander von Humboldt and modern researchers have something in common – they desire to discover the world. His journey strengthened the research cooperation between Russia and Germany. And it is very important for the cross-year of Science and Culture in Russian and Germany, therefore, today we analyse it. And the conference is a part of these events.’

Mr. Kantorczyk highlighted the conference is the first event within the Days of Germany in our city.

‘Days of the Germanic Culture in Saratov have become traditional, we always prepare a lot of interesting events. Notably, the research aspect is harmonically included into our programme. In fact, it is a new way to organise the events like that in Saratov.’

Also he marked how important it is for both countries that, annually, SSU researchers take part in the Dais of Germany Festival.

Director of the DAAD Regional Office Moscow Andreas Hoeschen reminded that the German Academic Exchange Service is the organisation of all German universities which helps universities from different countries to cooperate with each other.

‘The goal of our DAAD Regional Office Moscow is to support the coordination with Russian universities using grants and global projects. The Russian-German relationship depends on the opportunities of Russian and German researchers. I am glad that students, postgraduates, and scientists of Saratov University actively participate in DAAD programmes and come to Germany. This conference, which is devoted to the German language, shows the high level of cooperation between Russian and Germany within the international work of Saratov University.’

Vice-Rector for Research Work, Professor Aleksei A. Koronovskii delivered the report on the research development in SSU and cooperation with German partners. He noted Saratov University closely cooperates with German universities and research institutes by conducting mutual research and publishing papers in high-rated research journals. For the last five years there have been published 190 research papers in Web of Science journals.

Besides, the vice-rector commented on the successful research projects implemented by the scientific groups of the Institute of Chemistry, the Faculty of Biology, the Faculty of Physics, the Education and Research Institute of Nanostructures and Biosystems and their German colleagues, particularly with the researchers from the Technical University of Berlin and the University of Potsdam. The German scientists Eckehard Schöll and Jürgen Kurz are honoured professors of Saratov University, and in the 2017/2018 academic year Dr. Kurz worked as Professor of the Department of Human and Animal Physiology (the Faculty of Biology).

Annually, SSU young scientists have internships in German universities within the Michael Lomonosov Stipendium (DAAD). For the last five years they have conducted research in Technical University of Dresden, the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, the University of Regensburg, and the University of Potsdam.

Associate Professor of the Department of German Language and its Teaching Methods Alexander Ya. Minor delivered the report titled the Background and Development Tendencies to Study the German Language in the Saratov Region. He marked that for 200 years the German dialects in the Volga Region mixed and the differences between them tended to disappear. As the result, new language variants appeared, and they would later become in the focus of the linguistic study. Before the Great Patriotic War the dialect researchers mainly analysed the history of Russian borrowings in the Volga German dialects and described those dialects. After the war the linguists investigated the general theory issues of the German language, including the current tendencies of the modern German language and its teaching methods at school.

Alexander Minor commented that in the 1990s the university German professors regularly started having internships in Germany. Due to the agreement between SSU and the University of Duisburg-Essen the students and members of the academic staff of the Department of German Philology studies in Essen for ten years within the German studies programme.

It should be noted that Alexander Minor published the unique 2-Vol. Dictionary of the Volga Germans Marxshtadt Dialect and this dictionary is displayed in the German National Library in Leipzig. Moreover, it was sent to the Leibniz-Institute for the German Language in Mannheim. Besides, the SSU researchers have written three monographies about the pre-war dialects, and these books are also notable in terms of research and teaching.

Associate Professor of the Department of German Language and its Teaching Methods Elena V. Leonova spoke about the Saratov model of bilingual and multicultural education. At the end of the Plenary Session Associate Professor of the Department of Romance and Germanic Languages and Translation Studies Nadezhda N. Grishko delivered the report titled Personality of Teachers of the German Language in the Modern Education Environment.

Then the conference members participated in the section devoted to theory and practice aspects of learning German, which took place on 17 October in Bldg. XVI. On 18 October in Bldg. XVI the second section was held, and young researchers presented their reports on language teaching methods of German.

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