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The main focus of the article is intercultural jokes as carriers of stereotypes. After discussing the meaning of humour in a foreign language lesson, the concepts of joke and intercultural joke will be explained. Then, an attempt will be made to answer the following questions: Are intercultural jokes in a foreign language lesson a difficult topic that should be avoided, or do they open up an interesting opportunity to consider ethnic and national stereotypes? How can they be incorporated into the teaching and learning process of foreign languages?

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Versuch gewagt, sich mit Auto- und Heterostereotypen vor einem theoretischen und empirischen Hintergrund auseinanderzusetzen. Zunächst werden unterschiedliche Auslegungen des Begriffes Stereotyp einer kritischen Analyse unterzogen. Im nächsten Schritt wird auf die Termini Auto- und Heterostereotyp eingegangen. Im Anschluss daran wird ein polnisch-deutsches E-Tandem-Projekt präsentiert, zu dessen Schwerpunkten die Diskussion um das Polen- und Deutschlandbild auf beiden Seiten der Oder und Neiße gehörte. Am Beispiel des Projekts wird gezeigt, wie man Fremdsprachenlernende zur Reflexion über das Eigene einerseits und das Fremde andererseits verleiten kann.

The onset of schizophrenia symptoms usually occurs in early youth. As a result, the parents of these patients usually become their caregivers. The role of a caregiver for a person with schizophrenia is a considerable mental and physical burden. Therefore, an interesting issue is what motivates these people to take up this challenge. It is probable that, apart from the moral imperative or kinship, the factor determining this decision is the personality structure of the caregiver. The aim of our study was to compare the structure of temperament (according to the model of temperament as formal characteristics of behavior developed by Jan Strelau) in caregivers of young adults (age 18–25 years) with schizophrenia with the structure of temperament of parents of healthy young adults still living in the family home under their care. The study group consisted of 64 people (51 women), who were taking care of young adults (aged 18–25 years) with schizophrenia, while the control group (53 people, 42 women) consisted of parents of healthy adults still living in the family home. Both groups were asked to complete a questionnaire of the authors’ own design on their demographic data as well as The Formal Characteristics of Behavior—Temperament Inventory to assess the temperament traits. The results were given in the number of points obtained on average in each dimension. Both groups did not differ in terms of size and age, with women predominating. Caregivers of young adults with schizophrenia had higher values of briskness (43.22 ± 4.45 vs. 42.90 ± 3.98, p = 0.032), emotional reactivity (46.02 ± 4.39 vs. 41.01 ± 3.12, p = 0.012) and activity level (44.01.89 ± 4.15 vs. 37.59 ± 4.77, p = 0.022) compared to the control group. The remaining dimensions of temperament: perseverance, sensory sensitivity, rhythmicity, and endurance did not differentiate between the two groups. The temperament structure of caregivers of young people with schizophrenia differs from the temperament structure of caregivers of healthy adults. Caregivers of sick people have higher values of briskness, emotional reactivity, and activity level compared to the control group.

Although in the age of media writing is experiencing a kind of renaissance, and young people cannot imagine everyday life without texts, e-mails, online discussion forums or virtual instant messaging, writing as part of institutionalized teaching evokes rather negative associations among many learners. Therefore, based on the example of the Polish-German online tandem-tridem project, an attempt will be made in this article to answer the following questions: How can one draw on the positive, out-of-school experiences of learners with (foreign) writing in foreign language classes? How can they be used in the institutionalized process of teaching and learning foreign languages while developing writing skills? What advantages and dangers are associated with the mentioned activities?

The article attempts to approach stereotypes from both the theoretical and empirical perspectives. First, it endeavours to explain the term “stereotype”, looks into its characteristics and functions and then presents selected aspects of the Polish-German tandem project devoted to stereotypical thinking

Inflammation plays a role in the pathomechanism of depressive disorder. Cytokines interact with iodothyronine deiodinases (DIOs) that are involved in thyroid hormone (TH) metabolism. DIOs are known as modifiers of the inflammatory response. RANTES is a chemokine that has been detected in a wide range of inflammatory disorders, but is less studied in depression. We aimed to investigate the concentration of RANTES in patients with recurrent depressive disorder (rDD) and examine any potential correlation with other molecules, such as interleukins (ILs) and DIOs.The levels of RANTES and other molecules associated with depressive disorder, including deiodinase type 1 (DIO1), interleukin (IL)1β, and IL-6, were measured by enzymatic immune assay (ELISA) in the serum of 43 patients with depressive disorder and 36 controls.RANTES levels were higher in depressed patients than in controls. The level of RANTES was negatively correlated with the deiodinase type 1 (DIO1) level in women diagnosed with rDD. IL-1β and IL-6 levels were significantly higher in depressed patients than in controls. IL-1β was positively correlated with deiodinase type 3 (DIO3). A negative correlation between DIO1 and the number of depressive episodes in women with rDD was observed.With the observed elevated RANTES levels, increases in ILs concentrations, and a possible link between immune aspects and DIOa in patients with rDD, our study contributes to the current pool of knowledge about the complex aetiology of depression and suggests future studies focus on precision mechanisms that explain the link between TH-related molecules and immune molecules.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Beitrag wird ein Schreibprojekt für angehende DaF-Lehrkräfte in Deutschland und Studierende der Auslandsgermanistik in Polen vorgestellt. Nach einer Darstellung der Rolle des Schreibens im Fremdsprachenunterricht und in der Fremdsprachenlehrerausbildung wird auf ausgewählte Online-Projekte eingegangen. Im nächsten Schritt werden die Ziele und der Ablauf des bereits erwähnten Projekts beschrieben. Im Anschluss daran wird das Projekt aus der Sicht der Lehrenden und Studierenden ausgewertet. Ziel dieses Beitrags ist es vor allem, zur Durchführung ähnlicher Projekte mit angehenden DaF-Lehrenden in den deutschsprachigen Ländern und internationalen DaF-Lernenden/-Studierenden – z. B. in der Auslandsgermanistik und in Studiengängen der Übersetzung – zu ermuntern.