Sam Schirm, Ph.D.

Sam Schirm joined Bielefeld University as a research associate for German as a second and foreign language and multilingualism in professional medical contexts in 2021. He is a conversation analyst and interactional linguist interested in the development of interactional skills in L2 German through the lens of linguistic structure. He also investigates particles and discourse markers in German interaction as well as service encounters in German pharmacies.
Sam Schirm completed his Bachelor of Knowledge Integration at the University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2013, and his Joint Masters of Intercultural German Studies at the Universities of Waterloo (Canada) and Mannheim (Germany) in 2015. His dissertation project, a longitudinal conversation analytic study on the use of and development of discourse markers in everyday interaction by German L2 speakers, he completed in 2022.

Research

• Since Oct. 2021 Research associate for German as a second and foreign language and multilingualism in professional medical contexts, Faculty for Linguistics and Literary Studies in cooperation with the Medical Faculty OWL, Bielefeld University
• Feb. 2020 - Dec. 2020 Research assistant in The sommer fonds project, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo. Principal investigator: Prof. Grit Liebscher
• May 2019 - Dec. 2019 Research assistant in project "Clause structure of heritage German" (P5), as part of the project "Emerging grammars in language contact situations" funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Anglistik I, Universität Mannheim. Principal investigator: Prof. Rosemary Tracy
• Feb. 2016 - Jul. 2019 Research assistant in the project "Ruptures in affiliation: An examination of the discursive interactional practices used to damage and repair social bonds between speakers", funded by the Social sciences and humanities research council of Canada (SSHRC), Department of Education, Simon Fraser University. Principal investigator: Prof. Peter Muntigl
• Apr. 2015 - Dec. 2021 Research assistant in the project "Transcultural encounters across programs: The impact of study abroad on students' transcultural learning, on the development of language and identity, and on the curriculum", Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo. Principal investigators: Prof. Emma Betz und Prof. Michael Boehringer
• Apr. 2014 - Mar. 2015 Research assistant in the project "Intercultural encounters: The impact of study abroad on students' transcultural learning, on the development of language and identity, and on the curriculum", Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo. Principal investigators: Prof. Grit Liebscher, Prof. Emma Betz und Prof. Michael Boehringer
• Sep. 2013 - Dec. 2013: Research assistant in the "German oral history project", Waterloo Centre for German Studies, University of Waterloo. Principal investigator: Prof. Mathias Schulze

Teaching

• Since Oct. 2021 Research associate for German as a second and foreign language and multilingualism in professional medical contexts, Faculty for Linguistics and Literary Studies in cooperation with the Medical Faculty OWL, Bielefeld University
• Sep. 2020 - Apr. 2024 Per-course instructor, Department of Modern Language, Literatures, and Cultures, Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Sep. 2023 - Jan. 2025 Sessional instructor, Centre de linguistique appliquée, Université de Neuchâtel
• Sep. 2013 - Jul. 2021 Sessional instructor, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo
• Jan. 2019 - May 2019 Graduate fellow, Writing and Communication Centre, University of Waterloo

Education

• Jan. 2022 Ph.D., German Studies, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, University of Waterloo. Dissertation: L2 discourse markers and the development of interactional competence during study abroad
• Aug. 2015 Master of Arts, Intercultural German Studies, University of Waterloo/Universität Mannheim
• Jun. 2013 Bachelor Knowledge Integration, University of Waterloo

Veröffentlichungen/Publications

• Schirm, S., & Borowski, D. (2026). Sprachlich-interaktionelle Anforderungen bei Verkaufsgesprächen in Apotheken. Erste Ergebnisse aus einer laufenden Studie zu Gesprächen in deutschen Apotheken. Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache, 53(1), 74–85. https://doi.org/10.1515/infodaf-2026-0007
• Schirm, S. (2025). Interaktionsorganisation durch die Anzeige von Nichtwissen: Zum Erwerb von ich weiß nicht und keine Ahnung im L2-Deutschen. DaF-Szene Korea, 61, 49–74.
• Uskokovic, B., & Schirm, S. (2024). Assessment of interactional competence in L2 German integrating an innovative rubric to help language teachers effectively evaluate pragmatics. System, 125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2024.103400
• Schirm, S. (2024). From doing work on your own talk to doing work on others’ talk: The longitudinal development of also ‘so’ in L2 German. Interactional Linguistics, 4(1), 68–96. https://doi.org/10.1075/il.23008.sch
• Schirm, S., Uskokovic, B., & Taleghani-Nikazm, C. (2023). The competence in little words. Response patterns in L2 German. Applied Pragmatics, 5(2), 142–168. https://doi.org/10.1075/ap.00010.sch

Buchrezensionen/Book reviews

• Juillet, M., Fiedler, S., Janin, L., & Schirm, S. (2025). Review of Nguyen & Malabarba (2025): Developing interactional competence at the workplace: Learning English as a foreign language on the shop floor. Language, Interaction and Acquisition, 16(1), 192–198. https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.00029.jui
• Schirm, S. (2024). Book review: Barbara Fox / Lorenza Mondada / Marja-Leena Sorjonen (eds.): Encounters at the counter. The organization of shop interactions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2023. Gesprächsforschung, 25, 250–259.