Stephen Smith and Dr. Michelle James, German Department

By way of introduction, I must note that the experience that I had completing this ORCA project was one of the best experiences that I had as an undergraduate. I feel that this whole process stands out in my mind as the type of hands-on experience that every student desires when they step onto the BYU campus.

Brazil was wonderful. My wife—who received a grant to complete her own research—acted as translator for anybody who couldn’t speak English or Portuguese. We met great people, experienced the culture, and came to some fascinating conclusions. The German language and culture were alive and well in this beautiful part of the world. We were there from the middle of May to the middle of June this year. We were in the country for a total of four weeks. As a minor note, we brought our baby boy, who was only six-months old at the time.

For my project I studied the city of Pomerode in southern Brazil to ascertain how the inhabitants view themselves as people of German descent. My analysis is twofold: (1) determine the development of the German language in this area, and (2) establish the degree to which the citizens have kept their cultural identity.

When this project is complete, it will be important because it will: (1) provide information about how German culture has been defined through generations, (2) allow for the commencement of an initial linguistic study of the German language in southern Brazil, and (3) offer clues as to how the language and culture of these people have been developed and cultivated in spite of the Brazilian influences. There is a mountain of data to work through, but when the study is through, this study will act as a precursor to further academic inquiry.

I was able to receive and compile some interesting details. I found, for example, that of the 58 subjects that were interviewed, 84% responded that German was their mother language. Furthermore, we asked each respondent to rate their language ability in the following areas: speaking, reading, understanding, writing, and overall. The results are included in Chart 1, which is below. What this chart basically shows is that the German speakers in Pomerode consider themselves to be much better at speaking and understanding the language. They also consider their ability to read and write in the language to be much lower. This was substantiated by further research, because most of the people with whom I spoke and interviewed commented that linguistic and cultural traditions were learned by communicating and not by reading and writing. Furthermore, there has been no need to use the language in reading and writing because all signage, TV and radio programming is in Portuguese, and most respondents did not respond that they read in German. But most responded that they often spoke in German, specifically with friends and relatives.

There are two main objectives that I hope to achieve: (1) I will submit my findings as an ORCA final report, which this document will fulfill. (2) I have prepared an abstract/proposal to the German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) to present my findings, which are still in progress. Furthermore, I found that when I was in Brazil, there was much more research to be completed, and I intend to return to Brazil to complete the research as a Master’s project and thesis.
Project Timetable (Already Completed):

(1) I contacted the tourism office in Pomerode to verify that German is actually spoken, and I was pleased to discover that the woman spoke German completely understandably although it was somewhat accented.
(2) In preparation for travel to Brazil, I applied for the proper visas. Travel arrangements—flight and hotel—were booked
(3) Surveys were drafted, printed, and translated. Both Portuguese and German versions of the surveys were administered.
(4) While in Brazil, I conducted a survey with two main purposes. The first was designed to determine the proficiency of German speakers. The second purpose was to establish the extent to which these people consider themselves to be German.
(5) While I was in Pomerode, I carried out a series of interviews in accordance with approved IRB policies. These interviews were about German culture and language.
(6) As I visited the settlements, I took pictures of local Germanic cultural aspects such as: architecture, festivals, food, music, cemeteries, German language instruction, and education.

Project Timetable (In Progress):
(1) Review, compile, and compute the quantitative and qualitative data.
(2) Complete conference paper
(3) Present conference paper at the German Linguistics Annual Conference (GLAC) on May 1 – 4, 2008 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.