Megaphone
Prize for language education and language support for adolescents and young adults
We honor exemplary language education and language support projects for adolescents and young adults in Germany. The aim is to enable young people to realize their potential in education and work, to develop their own identity and to participate in a democratic society in a self-determined way.
More than just language education
Around one fifth of all school leavers in Germany have considerable weaknesses in the use of German as an educational language. These young adults have difficulty reading, understanding and writing simple texts. As a result, their opportunities for social participation and the choice of their individual educational and career paths are significantly limited.
With the Megafon Award, we support projects for adolescents and young adults in secondary schools, during training, and in transitional systems - such as vocational preparation classes. Since 2021, we have awarded annual prizes to innovative initiatives whose offerings go beyond pure German lessons according to the curriculum and integrate aspects such as career orientation and training, learning strategies or creative expression.
Application
Who can apply?
Non-profit or public project sponsors from all over Germany can apply. The project can take place in a school or non-school context, but must not be part of regular teaching. It should be designed with the target group in mind and be based on current findings in language didactics.
We also attach great importance to practical implementation that directly benefits the target group of the project - primarily scientific projects are not awarded.
We award the prize in two categories:
- Projects for young people aged 10 - 16
- Projects for young adults aged 17 - 25
In both award categories, a main prize of 25,000 euros and a sponsorship prize of 10,000 euros are presented.
The application phase for the third call has already ended.
Contact
Why language education and language promotion are important
A confident and self-assured use of language is important for a self-determined life and participation in our society. Conversely, language deficits have an impact on performance at school and represent a hurdle in vocational training. Low-literate people are often denied opportunities for professional and social advancement. With the Megafon Award for Language Education and Language Support for Adolescents and Young Adults, we want to support projects that break down these barriers.
Jury 2022
- Anant Agarwala, Die ZEIT, Hamburg
- Prof. Dr. Simone Ehmig, Institute for Reading and Media Research of Stiftung Lesen, Mainz
- Julia Freienberg, among others, Junges Literaturhaus, Hamburg
- Dr. des. Aylin Karabulut, University of Duisburg-Essen and Employers for Equality GmbH, Mering
- Anja Kittlitz, SchlaU Workshop for Migration Education gGmbH, Munich
- Karin Küßner, AlphaDekade Coordination Office at the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn
- Anna Meister, ZuBaKa gGmbH, Frankfurt a.M.
- Prof. Dr. Astrid Neumann, Chair of German Language Teaching, Leuphana University, Lüneburg
- Philip Oprong' Spenner, teacher and author, Hamburg
- Martina Reynders, Center for Language Education, Berlin
- Ralf Schweikart, Working Group for Youth Literature e.V., Munich
- Dr. Trang Schwenke-Lam, Schotstek gGmbH, Hamburg