VON MÜNCHOW PATRICIA

ADOLESCENT DISCOURSE IN FRENCH AND GERMAN FIRST LANGUAGE READING SCHOOLBOOKS

 

This study examines different representations of adolescents conveyed by adolescent discourse in French and German first language reading books. It is based on a comparison of 12 ninth grade schoolbooks by means of an approach called » comparative discourse linguistics ». The results of the investigation show that whereas French schoolbooks represent the adolescent as a (future) citizen of an intergenerational well-read community, German reading books convey an image of the adolescent trying to construct him/herself, defining him/herself by his/her age group, in conflict with adults.

Mots clés
Schoolbook, Discourse analysis, Adolescent discourse, Comparison.