Seyfarth, Michael

At the heart of my work is the question of how people acquire German as a foreign or second language in diverse teaching and learning contexts – and how teachers, institutions, and curricula can support this process. My areas of interest include empirical research on teaching and learning materials (particularly research on reception and use), research on linguistic and communicative requirements in professional contexts (especially in tourism and nursing), and culture-related learning (understood as enabling participation in discourse in German as a foreign or second language).

• Empirically grounded curriculum development 
• Linguistic and communicative requirements in professional and specialised contexts
• Culture-related learning in foreign/second language learning
• Empirical research on teaching/learning material

• 2007–2012 Studies in German as a Foreign Language, Leipzig University (Germany)
• 2012–2013 DAAD Language Assistant at Novosibirsk State Technical University and Novosibirsk State University (Russia)
• 2013–2014 Research Assistant in the project “Language Awareness in Vocational Training”, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany)
• 2014–2018 DAAD Lecturer at Tomsk State University, Tomsk Polytechnic University, and Tomsk State Pedagogical University (Russia)
• 2014–2019 Doctoral studies at the University of Vienna; Dissertation topic: Linguistic and Communicative Requirements in Tourism-Related Service Occupations in the Context of Empirically Grounded Curriculum Development
• 2018–2020 Research Assistant / Lecturer, Institute of German Philology (German as a Foreign/Second Language), University of Greifswald (Germany)
• 2019–2026 Lecturer, Leipzig University (Germany) / 07–08/2024 DAAD Short-Term Lectureship “Societal Diversity in German as a Foreign Language Teaching: Discursive Approaches to Culture-Related Learning", University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) / 2024–2026 DAAD Lecturer at Marmara University Istanbul (Turkey)
• since July 2026 Tenure-track professorship in German as a Foreign Language, Institute of German Studies, University of Vienna