Bildgrammatik. Gebrauch der Visualisierungen in den Lerner-Grammatiken der deutschen Sprache

This paper analyses the role of visualisations in grammar books for learners of German as a foreign language. It evaluates a sample of grammar books self-labelled as pictorial as well as other grammar books designated for non-native speakers of German. The analysis focuses not only on pictures, but on all the visual means that grammars use to convey grammatical rules. The aim of the study is to provide a better understanding of didactic and cognitive-linguistic aspects of the grammar transmission. In order to do so, it inquires into the usage of visual metaphors and mnemonic devices. Though the benefits of such types of visualisations have repeatedly been proven, they appear only seldom in the analysed grammar books as most of the visualisations depict only the semantics of example sentences. The article presents concrete cases to illustrate both problematic uses of visualisations and examples of good practice that can serve not only as a starting point for further didactic contributions in this field but also as suggestions for teachers of German or authors of teaching materials.