How German language textbooks address the digital transformation of lexicography
Ganslmayer C, Nied Curcio M (2026)
Publication Language: English
Publication Type: Conference contribution, Original article
Publication year: 2026
Publisher: Austrian Academy of Sciences
City/Town: Vienna
Pages Range: 661–675
Conference Proceedings Title: Lexicography in the Age of AI
Event location: Wien
ISBN: 978-3-7001-5137-1
URI: https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/5137-1
DOI: 10.1553/978OEAW51371
Open Access Link: https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/5137-1
Abstract
The digital transformation of lexicography has fundamentally changed lexicographic resources available for language learning and teaching. However, their integration into German language teaching – both as a first language (GL1) and as a foreign language (GFL) – remains limited. This paper investigates how the digital transformation of lexicography is reflected in contemporary German language textbooks through a qualitative and quantitative analysis (GFL: 2011–2024; GL1: 2003–2021). Drawing on a comparative textbook corpus, the study combines quantitative frequency analysis with qualitative content analysis of textbook tasks and their didactic functions. The findings show that lexicographic resources are underrepresented, predominantly conceptualised in traditional (print-based) ways, and rarely embedded in meaningful communicative or strategy-oriented tasks. Online lexicographic information systems, hybrid resources, and AI-supported language tools are almost entirely absent from the analysed textbooks. Furthermore, the development of lexicographic competence and media literacy is largely neglected. The paper argues that textbooks do not adequately reflect the digital transformation of lexicography and calls for a reconceptualisation of dictionary didactics that systematically integrates contemporary lexicographic information systems while also preparing learners to use AI-supported language tools critically and appropriately. In doing so, it contributes to current discussions on the digital transformation of lexicography and its implications for language education.
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APA:
Ganslmayer, C., & Nied Curcio, M. (2026). How German language textbooks address the digital transformation of lexicography. In Stöckle, Philipp, Wolfgang Koppensteiner, Katharina Korecky-Kröll, Maria Luisa Krapp & Tanja Wissik (Eds.), Lexicography in the Age of AI (pp. 661–675). Wien, AT: Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
MLA:
Ganslmayer, Christine, and Martina Nied Curcio. "How German language textbooks address the digital transformation of lexicography." Proceedings of the XXII EuraLex International Congress 2026, Wien Ed. Stöckle, Philipp, Wolfgang Koppensteiner, Katharina Korecky-Kröll, Maria Luisa Krapp & Tanja Wissik, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, 2026. 661–675.
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