Anglicisms in German radio media: A comparative study of the public service and private broadcasting sector

Abstract

This thesis investigates the usage of anglicisms as mobile linguistic resources in both public service and private radio media in Germany. In previous research on anglicisms not much attention has been given to the medium and how it shapes the language used by journalists. By means of undertaking a quantitative and qualitative linguistic analysis of a self-compiled radio corpus as well as a qualitative cultural analysis of semi-structured interviews with 19 journalists, this study therefore sets out to examine why and how anglicisms are used on air and whether competition amongst broadcasting sectors and radio stations has an impact on the frequency of anglicisms used by German radio journalists. In order to answer these research questions, the study investigates possible influencing factors on German adult-contemporary radio language such as individual, organisational, societal and cultural factors. This includes an examination of various centres of authority that determine orders of indexicality. These centres of authority may stem from the individual journalist, the station, the media system as well as the global/cultural background and impact language on air and therefore anglicism usage. The results of this study highlight the importance of incorporating the cultural as well as societal background and therefore acknowledging the medialect when the usage of anglicisms in media texts is investigated.