We welcome Dr Simon Smith as a visiting fellow in the Department of English Studies. 

Simon Smith, FSA, is Associate Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. His research focuses on early modern theatre, music and sensory culture.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/shakespeare/smith-simon

• Together with Professor Susanne Scholz, he will lead the block seminar Shakespeare's Audiences, which will take place on the weekends of 11–12 July and 18–19 July 2025.
  
  
• Dr Simon Smith will give the Wednesday Lecture (Forschungszentrum Historische Geisteswissenschaften, FZHG) on 16 July 2025, titled “Twelfth Night" Reconsidered: Identity, Song and Performativity.
  

The following course has been added to the IEAS course program. Registration is still open for it.

Linguistics and science communication: Sharing linguistic research with the world

Instructor: Manfred Sailer
Monday, 12.15-13.45,  starting 4.11.2024
Room: IG 3.201
Modules:

• L3 FW 3.1, FW 4.2
• BA ES 3.4.2 /
• BA EmpSprachw En5
• MALing LING-INT-ARC, LING-CORE-ARC B
• MA EmpSprachw MA-ES-EN-B

Course description

There is a growing interest in and a growing need for accessible and available presentation of scientific research and insights. According
to linguistic-TikToker Simon Meier-Vieracker (Dresden), linguistics is in an ideal situation for science communication: (i) Everyone uses
language and has some opinion on language and language use. This makes it easy for most people to relate to linguistic topics. (ii) There are many freely accessible tools and resources that make it possible to put interesting content together quite easily, and to empower the
audience to start their own linguistic exploration.

The aim of this class is to produce material for various science communication scenarios (such as short videos for platforms like
youtube, material for projects in a secondary school classroom, or material for information talks addressing adults).

In the course, participants will get some theoretical background on science communication. We will evaluate existing science communication material and initiatives on linguistic topics – including TED talks, Science Slam contributions, popular science books and others. We will identify possible science communication settings, as well as topics on which the course praticipants have some background from previous linguistics courses or that seem to be of interest for the intended target group.

In addition to the regular weekly meetings of the whole course from November 4 on, groups are expected to have individual meetings with the instructor to discuss their projects.

Course reading

among others:
Wagner, Laura & Cecile McKee. 2023. How to talk language science with everybody. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Available
electronically at the UB)

Prerequisites

Introduction to Linguistics

To register, write an e-mail message to Manfred Sailer
(sailer@em.uni-frankfurt.de) and enroll in the course’s OLAT class and its learning group:
https://olat-ce.server.uni-frankfurt.de/olat/auth/RepositoryEntry/22786834434

The password for the Olat course is: Sailer-WiSe2425

Leistungsnachweis

Assignments, in-class presentation, term paper

In order to promote a discussion between formal and constructional approaches to grammar, Nurit Melnik & Manfred Sailer edited a special issue of the Journal of Language Modelling devoted to “Constructional approaches in formal grammar”.

The issue consists of a brief introduction and three papers – by Jamie Findlay, Frank van Eynde, and Nurit Melnik. In the introduction, Nurit & Manfred identify three key ways of understanding “constructional” and they show how each of the contributions in the issue relates to these.

Links

• Access the issue at: https://jlm.ipipan.waw.pl/index.php/JLM/issue/view/30
• Frank van Eynde’s homepage: https://www.arts.kuleuven.be/english/our-staff/emeritus-professors/frankvaneynde
• Jamie Findlay’s homepage: https://jyfindlay.com/
• Nurit Melnik’s homepage: https://www.openu.ac.il/en/personalsites/nuritmelnik.aspx
• Homepage of the Journal of Language Modelling: https://jlm.ipipan.waw.pl/index.php/JLM/index

The proceedings of this year’s HPSG conference are now available! The volume includes a contribution by Manfred Sailer & Nicolas Lamoure on “Superlative ever in Dutch, French, German, and Spanish.”

The paper examines borrowed instances of emphatic superlative ever (ES-ever) into two Germanic languages (Dutch and German) and two Romance languages (French and Spanish). Manfred & Nicolas extracted naturally occurring instances of ES-ever and modeled the data in three stages:

• Stage-1: constructional borrowing (el coolest job ever ‘the coolest job ever’),
• Stage-2: diaconstruction (la  mejor canción ever ‘the best song ever’),
• Stage-3: lexical borrowing (las portadas más photoshopeadas ever ‘the most photoshoped portals ever’).

In their formalization, they extend the HPSG approach to social meaning taken in Asadpour et al. 2022 to borrowing.

Manfred & Nicolas had presented part of this work earlier in a more informal way at the workshop on “Coexistence, Competion, and Change” at DGfS 2023. This work is also related to the initiative on the Dynamics of Asymmetric Language Contact (DALC).

References

Asadpour, Hiwa, Shene Hassan & Manfred Sailer. 2022. Non-wh relatives in English and Kurdish: Constraints on grammar and use. In Stefan Müller & Elodie Winckel (eds.), Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, Online (Nagoya/Tokyo), 6–26. Frankfurt/Main: Uni-
versity Library. (doi:10.21248/hpsg.2022.1)

Sailer, Manfred & Lamoure, Nicolas. 2023. Superlative ever in Dutch, French, German, and Spanish. In Stefan Müller & Elodie Winckel (eds):  Proceedings of the 30th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar 80–100. Frankfurt/Main: University Library. (doi:10.21248/hpsg.2023.5)

Links

• HPSG 2023 conference page: https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~fabiolah/hpsg23/index.html
• HPSG 2023 proceedings page: https://proceedings.hpsg.xyz/issue/view/47
• Nicolas Lamoure’s page at Goethe University: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/68891709/Nicolas_Lamoure
• Dynamics of Asymmetric Language Contact (DALC): https://blog.studiumdigitale.uni-frankfurt.de/dalc/

Die nächste Sitzung des ELE Reading Circles findet am 21.01.2026 um12:15-13:45 Uhr in NG 2.701 statt. Als Textgrundlage fungiert der Orientierungsrahmen Globale Entwicklung – Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung in der gymnasialen Oberstufe. Alle interessierten Personen sind willkommen – eine Anmeldung ist nicht notwendig.

Shannon Sauro (University of Maryland, Baltimore County):
“Let's Play: Introducing Fanfiction to the Language Classroom" 

When: September 23rd, 11:00

Where: Westend campus, IG 251 

Registration is not necessary – but a quick email to buendgens-kosten@em.uni-frankfurt.de ensures you will get an email with room information.

Registration for Language Classes Level I

Registration for Level I courses is administered online. Lecturers may not sign up students for courses. All classes will be strictly limited to 30 participants. Students may choose three classes, one of which they will be allocated to when registration closes. Note that all students need to take Integrated Language Skills (Level I) first after which they then may proceed to take Writing Skills (Level I).

Online registration will only be possible during the given timeframe
in the Vorlesungsverzeichnis. Please refer to QIS/LSF.

Please note:
Level I classes start the second week of semester.
Please bring your entrance-test results or Abiturzeugnis to the first day of class. 
Writing Skills (Level I): Please provide proof of having passed your ILS Level I class (screenshot of electronic transcript or Schein) to the first class session.

__________________________________________

Registration for Language Classes Level II and Level III

Registration for Level II and III courses is administered online. Lecturers may not sign up students for courses. All classes will be strictly limited to 30 participants.

Online registration will only be possible during the given timeframe
in the Vorlesungsverzeichnis. Please refer to QIS/LSF.

Please note:
All Level II and III classes start the first week of semester.
Level II: Students may only register for a Level II course if they have passed a Level I course, unless they are WiPäd students.
Please provide proof of having passed your Level I class (screenshot of electronic transcript or Schein) to the first class session.
Level III: Level III classes are designed for masters students only. Undergraduates may take a Level III course if they have completed their required "Sprachpraxis" modules (Level I and Level II).

What foibles are forgivable?

In An Ideal Husband, celebrated Irish playwright Oscar Wilde explores issues of far-reaching consequence:  Is putting people on a pedestal advisable, especially when love is involved?  Do we compromise ourselves when we covet power?  For what errors in judgement can we pardon those we love; and how should the public judge such missteps?  In the play, Evelyn and Gertrude Chiltern are confronted with these questions when the manipulative Mrs. Cheveley threatens to reveal to the press to what and to whom they really owe their wealth and standing in society. 

Just as we debate the veracity of “Cancel Culture” as well as the moral decency of those with power, Oscar Wilde’s characters often occupy a grey zone.  In An Ideal Husband, these perennial subject matters provoke not only thought and response but also provide a vehicle to entertain an audience.

Experienced cast and crew ready to take on the task

Under the direction of James Fisk, the Chaincourt Theatre Company has adapted the 1894 Victorian comedy to the here-and-now.  Both on and off stage, the theatre group is made up of students from various university faculties as well as from alumni of the English department.  Although most of the cast and crew are returning members, a number of fresh faces are also making their début.  All have taken it upon themselves to deliver the audience an engaging evening of entertainment.  Performances are in English and will take place in the “Nebengebäude” next to the Main Building on Campus Westend.

Performances:  Opening night on 11 July; additional showings on 12, 17, 18, and 19 July.  Curtain is 7:30 p.m.

Tickets:  10€/5€ (reduced); available one hour before curtain (no advanced sales or reservations)

Location:  Goethe University, Campus Westend, IG Farbenhaus-Nebengebäude, room NG 1.741

Contact:  James Fisk (Managing Artistic Director) fisk@em.uni-frankfurt.de

The IEAS Literary Journal is composed of a team of IEAS student editors (BA, Lehramt, and MA) who select, edit, and develop at least one annual issue of English-language creative writing by our students. IEAS BA/Lehramt students can apply to be an editor starting in their third semester; MA students are welcome to apply at any time.

Becoming a Journal Editor – Why You Should Do It, and How:

BA AS and ES students may receive up to three extracurricular credit points in total for their participation (2 CPs as an editor/3 CPs as an editor-in-chief; please consult your study plan for further information). Lehramt students do not receive credit points for participation, but they gain valuable experience in developing and managing student-based writing publications.

Applicants do not need prior editorial experience, just the desire to develop different types of texts, work with student authors, and support the editorial team in creating a publication. As an editor you must be able attending meetings, communicate in a clear and professional manner, and engage in detailed discussions about editorial matters.

Ideal applicants love writing, writers, and learning more about how words create narratives; they are also open to discussion and differences in perspective, manage deadlines responsibly, and can work independently as well as in a team.

Note: As an editor, you agree to be part of the editing team for an entire volume; this in a one-year commitment).

Editorial applications are accepted annually from October 1st to March 1st.

To apply, send an email to ieasliteraryjournal@gmail.com with a brief cover letter explaining who you are and specifically why you are interested in joining the editorial team.