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Anna Gloria Ritter's work contributes to a better understanding of the socially highly relevant phenomenon of multilingualism. The doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kürschner, holder of the Chair of German Linguistics at the KU. The second supervisor was Prof. Dr. Björn Hansen, holder of the Chair of Slavic Linguistics at the University of Regensburg.
Using the example of ten families with a Russian-speaking background, Ritter researched their language habits and condensed her findings into "socio-linguistic family portraits", which can be used to identify different types of multilingual communication within the family. Multilingualism unfolds not only in the individual competence of the participants, but also in various conversational constellations, which can be characterized differently, from monolingualism to language changes to language mixtures. A decisive factor is who is involved in the conversation – and which generation this person belongs to and when they emigrated. For children and young people, attending kindergarten or school is an important factor influencing the use of multilingual repertoires – which in turn influences the overall language policy within the family.
Anna Gloria Ritter combined a questionnaire-based survey with the qualitative analysis of real conversations. The researcher analyzed almost 600 hours of interview material. She took an innovative approach to the survey: In order to make the context as authentic as possible, she was not present as a researcher when the interview data was recorded. Her doctoral supervisor Sebastian Kürschner praises: "Ms. Ritter's work makes a strong contribution to the further development of linguistic research in methodological and theoretical terms." Her findings are not only of linguistic relevance, but also of broader social interest. They could help to objectify political discussions on the role of multilingualism based on data and provide input for the development of multilingual didactics for schools.
After successfully completing her doctorate at the KU in July 2023, Anna Gloria Ritter is now employed at the University of Koblenz as a lecturer (Akademische Rätin) at the Institute of German Studies in the field of German as a second and foreign language. In addition to her teaching activities, she continues to focus on research projects in the field of multilingualism. She is delighted to receive the Bavarian Cultural Prize: "I was absolutely surprised because I didn't know that I had been nominated for this award – so I was all the more delighted!"
The award ceremony takes place on November 14 at the Showpalast in Munich. The event traditionally combines the honoring of artists and researchers. The Bavarian Minister of Science and the Arts, Markus Blume, emphasizes: "Science and art are closely linked – they are the elixir of life in a liberal society. It is right and important that we recognize young talents from our universities for their ideas and courage in the science category of the Bavarian Cultural Prize." Dr. Egon Leo Westphal, CEO of Bayernwerk AG, sees science as the basis for the reality of tomorrow: "Science shows us what is necessary and what is possible. This year's prizewinners from the academic world get to the bottom of important social issues and provide valuable impetus for the reality of today and tomorrow with their work."
On the Bavarian Cultural Prize:
The cultural award ceremony will be broadcast live on November 14 from 7 p.m. at https://bayernwerk-live.de/kulturpreis-bayern/ and various regional stations such as Ingolstadt TV. All prizewinners receive the bronze statue "Gedankenblitz" (flash of inspiration) sculpted by Schwandorf sculptor Peter Mayer. While an expert jury selects the five art prize winners, the Bavarian state colleges, art colleges and universities nominate their best graduates and doctoral students.