Transcript Folie 1
Regino-Gymnasium Prüm The Image of the United States of America in Germany
Maria Braus Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 1
Questionnaire for the German students
Subject: The image of the Unites States of America in Germany
1) What do you associate with USA? (Name 5 words!) ________________________________________________________________________ 2) Who is the President of the USA?
________________________________________________________________________ 3) Would you like to visit the USA?
________________________________________________________________________ 4) Name 2 cities! What are they famous for?
________________________________________________________________________ 5) What do you know about the American school system?
________________________________________________________________________ 6) Do you know German companies that produce in the US?
________________________________________________________________________ 7) Which American products do you know?
________________________________________________________________________ 8) What do you think is the USA very good at?
________________________________________________________________________ 9) Do you know American people personally?
________________________________________________________________________ Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 2
Results of the questionnaire given to students of the Regino Gymnasium Prüm
http://www.regino-gym.de
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 3
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 4
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 5
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 6
40 students of the following grades were consulted • grade 8 (aged 13 to 14) • grade 10 (aged 15 – 16) and • grade 12 (18 years old) All students of the three grades have responded willingly and accurately to the questions. Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 7
First of all the students were asked about 5 terms and definitions which they connect spontaneously to the USA: 1. Hollywood - mentioned 22 times 2. New York - 18 x 3. Fast food - 13 x 4. Obama - 10 x 5. nature (desert, mountains, beach) – 8 x 6. big buildings – 7 x 7. Statue of Liberty – 7 x 8. Golden Gate Bridge – 6 x Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 8
Further things which were mentioned: • • • • • • • • • football celebreties White House Independance Police of the World 50 states American Dream Stars and Stripes Global Player But also: • abuse of weapons • economic crisis • offensive foreign policy • earthquakes • Ground Zero Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 9
All students know Barak Obama They were also asked about further current American politicians:
• Mitt Romney was mentioned 19 times • Hilary Clinton was mentioned 12 times and Michelle Obama is well-known as First Lady Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 10
• Just 2 of the polled students have been to the USA up to now • Altogether 9 students have relatives in the USA • 7 more students have acquaintances there and they communicate regularly • 7 students have e-mail and facebook contacts to students of the same age Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 11
In contrast to the last decades of the 20th century when a lot of Americans were still on bases in Germany (especially in our region – Prüm, Bitburg, Spangdahlem, Baumholder, Ramstein …) just 2 students communicate with American citizens in their village.
TV, films, internet, commercials and school teaching are the most important sources of information.
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 12
36 of 40 students ( = 90%) would be pleased to visit the USA they are interested in: 1. in the big cities (New York, Los Angeles with Hollywood) – mentioned 16 times 2. in American culture – 10 x 3. in nature – 6 x 4. in visiting friends and relatives – 5 x 5. in learning the language – 2 x Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 13
Cities
• • • • • • • • • • We asked the students to mention 5 cities with their special features: New York with its different sights and shopping facilities (31 x) Los Angeles with Hollywood (29 x) San Francisco (23 x), Golden Gate Bridge Las Vegas (22 x), casinos, desert town Washington DC (15 x), the Nation‘s Capital, seat of government Miami (13 x), beach, tornadoes Chicago (10 x) cine film series, baseball, basketball Houston (2 x), space travel Dallas (1 x) Capital of Texas, basketball-teams Seattle (1 x) mountains Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 14
What do you know about the American school system?
The students know the basic terms (from nursery to university), while the categorization of the different (school)levels is not always accurate.
• • • • • • • • • • • Further information: Well-known is the marking system (A – F) sport teams are important all-day school canteen school uniforms boards in every corridor candy vendors in school buildings students walk together to their class room students are allowed to make use of their notes in exams yellow school bus exclusion from instruction up to 10 days is possible often mentioned Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 15
Presence of American companies/products in Germany
1. market leader Mc Donalds (25 x) 2. followed by Apple (18 x) 3. Coca-Cola (11 x) Restaurant Chains: • • • Burger King (13x) Subway (7x) Starbucks (6x) • KFC (2x) IT – Branch: • • Google (9x) Microsoft (6x) • • Yahoo Amazon Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm Fashion: • Hollister (9x) • Converse (3x) • Nike (3x) • skatebordbrands (2x) • Hilfiger (2x) März 2013 Folie 16
Presence of American companies/products in Germany
American automobile companies: mentioned 8 times Additional products which were mentioned: • cookies (12 x) • hot dogs (11 x) • peanut-butter (5 x) • barbecue-sauce (1 x) • energy drinks (1 x) 1 student mentioned: military equipment Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 17
Presence of American companies/products in Germany
Here you can draw the conclusion that the students‘ knowledge of American products and companies refer almost completely to consumer goods.
Please note that some fashion brands like H & M, New Yorker and Lush and especially some luxury brands like Armani, Gucci, Prada, Lacoste, Rolex … were misleadingly percepted as American brands.
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 18
Presence of German companies in the USA
The presence of German companies in the USA is of course less known to the students.
They mentioned: • German automobile companies (22 x) • Adidas (11 x) • BASF (1 x) • Siemens (1 x) • SAP (1 x) Local companies acting on the global market were also mentioned: • Streif • Stihl • Bitburger • Gerolsteiner • Grohmann Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 19
What do you think is the USA very good at?
Without parameters we got the following ranking: 1. making movies and games (21 x) 2. playing American football (20 x) 3. celebreties (13 x) – singing, dancing, acting 4. other sports: baseball (10 x), basketball (7 x), rugby (5 x), golf (3 x) 5. developping software and hardware (8 x) 6. cheerleading (7 x) 7. handling firearms (6 x) 8. merchandising goods (6 x) Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 20
What do you think is the USA very good at?
9. designing fashion (2 x) 10. building muscle cars (2 x) 11. building great towns (2 x) There were also on the lists: • • • fighting out election campaigns excessive Christmas decorations baking • und 4 x American amicability and cheerfulness Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 21
Other pictures of the “Regino”
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm
Cloister
März 2013 Folie 22
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 23
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 24
Questions?
Maria Braus Regino Gymnasium Prüm März 2013 Folie 25