Nigel Reeves (Aston) p.1-15
2000 Issue 1
Abstract
Since the beginning of the last century, the 20th century, German Studies at UK universities has broadened almost unrecognisably to encompass not only literature and historical linguistics but almost all the social sciences, many of which were either just evolving or, like business and management studies, did not exist. After a hundred years of unpredicted and unprecedented violence in Europe, a reunified Germany in an economically powerful and politically stable European Union and European continent, together with an almost 35% 18 year old participation rate at UK universities, German Studies ought to be looking forward to a promising future. But a potent cocktail of adverse factors ranging from the inexorable forward march of English as the international language, through competition with Spanish for the narrowed space for a second foreign language in the National Curriculum for England and Wales and the growing preference of UK, latterly fee-paying, unsupported students for programmes with more obvious lucrative career prospects has led to a rapid and serious decline in applications to German. The paper analyses these largely unpredicted developments that have occurred in the last five, at most ten years and asks if they can be reversed.