Research
My current research analyzes how migration is metaphorically framed in contemporary news discourse in Spanish and German. It asks how metaphorical representations vary across ideological orientations (left- vs. right-leaning newspaper), time periods (refugee crisis, pandemic, and post-pandemic), and languages (Spanish vs. German). To do so, I’m using corpus and computational linguistic mehtods. Additionally, I plan to analyze how these metaphors are used and acquired by second generation Spanish-German bilingual heritage speakers.
Publications (peer-reviewed)
Aichberger, A. (forthcoming, 2026). Multilingualism with Purpose: Reimagining European Language Instruction through Heritage Tracks, Professional Pathways, and Language Certification. In M. Lettieri & S. Andersen (Eds.), The Downfall of Language Education: The Decline and (possible) Revival of European Language Programs in North American Universities. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Aichberger, A. (2025). Revitalizing Palenquero: Testing ChatGPT’s Capabilities and Limitations to Assist Language Teaching. Volume 1 2025 sobre las lenguas, literaturas y culturas del Caribe. University of Curaçao. Curaçao/Puerto Rico.
Aichberger, A. (2024). Comparación morfosintáctica y semántica del futuro perifrástico en alemán y español puertorriqueño a través del análisis de corpus. Volume 2 2024 sobre las lenguas, literaturas y culturas del Caribe. University of Curaçao. Curaçao/Puerto Rico.
Presentations
Conferences: Linguistic and Cultural Revitalization in the German Diaspora: Lessons from Alemán Coloniero and Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German). 8th Forging Linguistic Identities Conference. Towson University, Baltimore, MD, USA. April 02-04, 2025.
Colonial Echoes in Puerto Rico: Spanish Persistence and Identity in San Juan’s Bilingual Linguistic Landscape. Tri-University Graduate Conference - Hemispheric Dialogues: Advancing Research in the Americas. Organized by UM, FIU, and FAU. University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA. March 28, 2025.
Inteligencia Artificial y Lenguas Criollas del Caribe: Ética, Riesgos y Oportunidades. El Caribe Plurilingüe XXI, Graduate Conference, Conferencias Caribeñas (online). University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, San Juan, PR. April 26, 2024.
Capabilities and Constraints of ChatGPT-3.5 to Develop L2 Teaching Materials for Creole Languages: Papiamentu and Palenquero as Case Studies. Caribbean Without Borders 2024: 10th Graduate Conference. University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, San Juan, PR. March 14-15, 2024.
Posters: Spanisch und Deutsch im Kontrast: Ein korpusbasierter Rahmen für den Spracherwerb und Unterricht. ZuKoKo Summer School 2025. University of Zurich, Switzerland. August 25–29, 2025.