Caroline L. Rieger

Caroline L. Rieger is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, within the Faculty of Arts. Her expertise lies in applied linguistics, cultural studies, and intercultural communication. She holds an M.A. from the Universität Essen (1992) and a PhD from the University of Alberta (2000). Rieger’s research focuses on language in use, particularly pragmatics, sociolinguistics, and language pedagogy, with notable contributions to intercultural competence and politeness studies.

Her teaching spans German language courses (all levels), applied linguistics, and graduate seminars on second language acquisition. Rieger emphasizes constructivist learning, fostering curiosity and critical thinking in students. She has authored over 30 publications, including works on translation pedagogy, discourse analysis, and sign language perceptions in medical education.

Current research projects include politeness studies, translation, and political discourse analysis. She has presented at international conferences such as the International Pragmatics Conference and the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German. Her work bridges theoretical insights with practical applications in language education and cross-cultural communication.