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Linguistic characteristics of the German letter of recommendation (diachronic aspect)

Popova Larisa Georgievna

ORCID: 0000-0001-5721-9378

Doctor of Philology

Professor of the Department of Germanistics and Linguodidactics, Institute of Foreign Languages, Moscow City Pedagogical University

105064, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Malyi Kazennyi Per., 5B, of. 511

larageorg5@gmail.com
Other publications by this author
 

 
Shatilova Lyubov' Mikhailovna

ORCID: 0000-0001-6250-0957

Doctor of Philology

Professor, the department of Germanic Studies and Linguodidactics, Moscow City Pedagogical University

142611, Russia, Moscow, st. Maly Kazenny Lane, 5 B

shatilova-79@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 
Khukhuni Georgii Teimurazovich

ORCID: 0000-0002-7423-5393

Doctor of Philology

Professor, Department of Language Theory, English and Applied Linguistics, State Educational Institution of Higher Education of the Moscow Region "Moscow State Regional University"

141014, Russia, g. Mytishchi, ul. Ul. Very Voloshinoi, 24

khukhuni@mail.ru
Krasnikova Anastasiya Dmitrievna

Master's degree, Department , Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Russian State University for the Humanities"

125047, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Miusskaya Ploshchad', 6

nastasy-98@mail.ru

DOI:

10.25136/2409-8698.2022.3.37379

Received:

23-01-2022


Published:

17-03-2022


Abstract: This article discusses the features of letters of recommendation: types, structure and criteria for evaluating work certificates. The relevance of the work lies in the fact that letters of recommendation have been around for a long time and are an integral part of the business sphere in Germany. Given the lack of workbooks in Germany, providing a letter of recommendation for consideration by a potential employer is a prerequisite. This speech genre requires detailed attention and consideration from the point of view of linguistic and structural features. The object of research is the speech genre "recommendation letter". The subject of the study are structural and substantive features, types of letters of recommendation. The purpose of the work is to consider the types and features of letters of recommendation in the German language in a diachronic aspect. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the types and linguistic characteristics of the German-language recommendation letter are studied from the standpoint of diachrony. The research material was a German website containing archives of old letters of recommendation: Arbeitszeugnis-forum.de.In the course of the study, it was found out that the most preferable is a qualified letter of recommendation containing a detailed description of the employee and opening him a wider range of further career opportunities. Qualified recommendation letters in German have the following features: 1) a letter of recommendation must comply with the principles of truth and benevolence, therefore it must be written positively; 2) a qualified letter contains information about the work performed, various qualities and achievements of the employee, about his behavior among colleagues and clients, as well as thanks and wishes for the future. The analysis of letters of recommendation showed that until 1900, there were mainly simple working certificates in use in Germany. The letter of recommendation did not have a clear structure. The qualified certificate has received great relevance and has been supplemented with characteristics, approximately, since the 1940s.


Keywords:

letter of recommendation, worker, employer, German language, linguistic characteristics, qualified certificate, the secret language, labor characteristics, secret code, place of work

This article is automatically translated.

In the fields of science, culture, office work, in political spheres, as well as in the media, the language finds its application in different ways. Each sphere implies the use of a certain type of language and knowledge of the features of business communication, a distinctive number of language levels, such as lexical, syntactic and grammatical. The topic of business communication acquires particular importance at the linguistic level [6]. The problems of intercultural communication and business etiquette have been studied for a long time [4, 5, 9, 11, 13]. However, interest in this topic of official business style in other cultures is growing, modern society is changing along with the linguistic and genre component. A letter of recommendation as a speech genre belongs to the sphere of business communication [2]. At this level, the genre discourse "letter of recommendation" in Germany becomes the most interesting and relevant topic in the peculiarities of German business writing, communication and expression of the mentality of the German people.

The relevance of this work lies in the fact that letters of recommendation have been around for a long time and are an integral part of the business sphere in Germany. Given the lack of workbooks in Germany, providing a letter of recommendation for consideration by a potential employer is a prerequisite. This speech genre requires detailed attention and consideration from the point of view of linguistic and structural features.

The object of research is the speech genre "recommendation letter". The subject of the study are structural and substantive features, types of letters of recommendation.

The purpose of this work is to consider the types and features of letters of recommendation in the German language in a diachronic aspect.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time the types and linguistic characteristics of the German-language recommendation letter are studied from the standpoint of diachrony. The research material was a German website containing archives of old letters of recommendation: Arbeitszeugnis-forum.de.

There are several types of letters of recommendation in Germany [14, 16].  The first is a simple letter of recommendation (Einfaches Zeugnis). Simple evidence only confirms the nature of the employment relationship and its duration. They do not include characteristics about the effectiveness and leadership qualities of the employee. As a rule, the first and last name of the employee must be indicated; the address and date of birth in the certificates are recorded only with the consent of the employee. The nature of the work should be described in full and accurate so that a third party can get an idea of the employee. General information is not enough if the employee was carrying out special assignments. As employment, the legal duration of the employment relationship is indicated until the employee is dismissed or leaves. A simple certificate does not specify short breaks such as vacation, illness, etc. 

The second type is a qualified letter of recommendation (Qualifiziertes Zeugnis). It contains information about the nature and duration of the employment relationship, about the leadership qualities and effectiveness of the employee. Leadership and effectiveness should be evaluated throughout the entire period of the employment relationship. The employee has the right to choose whether to receive a simple or qualified certificate. If a qualified certificate was issued in accordance with the employee's requirement, then he will no longer be able to request a simple certificate. Conversely, when obtaining a simple certificate, it will not be possible to require a qualified one. 

As a rule, an "advanced", that is, a qualified certificate, is preferred. If the question is about confirming the previous place of work, then minimal information is sufficient and a qualified certificate is not required. But since a simple certificate meets only the minimum requirements, it is not suitable for all purposes and, therefore, has the character of a certificate or certificate, not a certificate. A simple certificate looks like this:

“ Herr Hans Meister, geboren am 11. November 1969, ist seit 1. Juli 1999 als Bote und Fahrer bei uns besch?ftigt. Seine Aufgaben sind im wesentlichen das Verteilen der Post und Kurier- und Botendienste mit dem PKW. In der Urlaubszeit hat er auch Dienst als Pf?rtner gemacht. Herr Meister verl?sst heute das Unternehmen auf eigenen Wunsch. Wir danken ihm f?r seine Mitarbeit und w?nschen ihm f?r seine Zukunft alles Gute” [8].  

That is, based on the example, we can note the following: if this employee needed a qualified certificate, it would be expanded and would include leadership qualities, work efficiency and achievements. Leadership is understood as social behavior or according to Section 109 of the Industrial Code "behavior in labor relations". Efficiency means not only the performance of work and its result, but also professional and social competence. Managers, in addition, should evaluate managerial skills, leadership qualities.

The third type of recommendation letters is an intermediate certificate (Zwischenzeugnis). The intermediate certificate corresponds in content to the final final certificate. The only difference is that the employment relationship continues to exist. For example, an employee may have a special legitimate interest in obtaining an interim certificate when transferring to another position, during professional development, or when changing a manager. The employer is prohibited from deviating from his assessment in the interim certificate when drawing up the final certificate, if after drawing up the interim certificate there were no circumstances that could affect the assessment. 

There are some details that are important to know. For example, a certificate issued by an employment agency is not a certificate from the place of work. In principle, every employee has the right to receive a certificate. Even part-time workers or part-time workers may require a certificate from their place of work. According to Section109 of the Industrial Code, employees may be eligible for a certificate, even if the employment relationship was short [12]. However, this does not apply to a qualified work certificate. It is issued only if the work has been going on for a certain period of time.

Since the HR manager usually receives a large number of applications with the same or similar qualifications, a certificate from the place of work is regularly used as a decisive criterion for choosing a suitable candidate. The certificate of employment is also the only document that allows the manager to assess the operational behavior of the candidate [10].  

But the actual problem is that many do not even receive an invitation to an interview, despite their, from the first unprofessional glance, a friendly letter of recommendation.  HR managers still use typical suggestions to positively evaluate employees, but they actually hide negative things behind them. However, anyone who knows the special secret language of employers will be warned about the quality of this candidate's work. Bad reviews can lead to the fact that the further path of the employee will be significantly difficult, and he will be unemployed for a long time. For this reason, the method of issuing certificates is becoming increasingly important, workers often complain about the labor certificates provided to them and declare their alleged claims to correct the certificate even before the workers' courts [15].

As a rule, a letter of recommendation must comply with the principles of truth and goodwill, as legally established. That is, the tasks of the employee must be described correctly, the assessment of efficiency and the assessment of social behavior must be correct, but positive. And according to §109 paragraph 2 of the Industrial Code, employees have the right to a voluntarily formulated certificate of employment [12]. Back in 1963, the Federal Labor Court ruled that employees were entitled to this legal requirement, so they would no longer be hindered from finding a new job.

If there are errors in the job description, they are easy to fix, because it is easy to prove that the employee really did his job. A more complex and frequent subject of dispute is the assessment of work and the assessment of social behavior of an employee. Employees have the right to demand adjustments from the employer, and he is obliged to correct incorrect information. But what does an error mean when it comes to a high subjective assessment; in many professions, the result of work and its quality do not lend themselves to an objective assessment. It is this question that often causes controversy. For example, when an employee believes that he earned 1 or 2 as an assessment, but the employer believes that 3 is enough [15].  

In November 2014, the Federal Labor Court (BAG) ruled that employees should be satisfied with a positive rating, but cannot ask for a good or very good rating [15].   

Therefore, it should be noted that a qualified labor certificate with an assessment of the employee's productivity, efficiency and behavior plays a crucial role for his future career, because letters of recommendation are the only proof of the employee's achievements in past labor relations. The importance of letters of recommendation increases depending on the requirements for work and for the labor certificate.

Unique working certificates from 1800 show how the current positive ratings were used 220 years ago. Letters of recommendation of that time are only positive evaluation. However, these letters are a clear example of how the language of labor certificates has changed, replenished over the years with various characteristics and evaluation criteria. There is no general structure of letters, as it began to develop only towards the end of the 20th century. 

The employee's letter of recommendation from 1803, rather, can be attributed to a simple letter of recommendation. It specifies the minimum supporting information, namely: the identification of the employee, his first and last name, place of residence, years of service and a recommendation from the employer about honest and satisfying service.

«… dieses Herr Johann David Bartenstein aus K?nigsberg Sich ?ber seine Lehrzeit nemlich von Primo Aug 1802 bis medio January 1803 als Commis in meiner Tuch und Schnitthandlung sich aufgehalten und w?hrend dieser Zeit sich redlich, tre? und rechtschaffen betragen, mithin seiner Dienste wegen vollkommen zufrieden gewesen bin» [7].

The letter also presents interesting lexical and spelling features of that time. For example, the employee in this letter is Commis. According to the Duden dictionary, this word came from the French language, whose use is obsolete. Or, for example, the employer is completely satisfied with the employee's service, the German word "Dienst" in the 21st century is used, rather, in the context of someone's provided services, service or in the context of military service. The German word "Arbeit" is used to denote work, hence the modern name of letters of recommendation or, in another way, recommendations from a previous place of work – "Arbeitszeugniss".

In the recommendation letter of the brewer from 1868, the identification of the employee is also observed (Herr Georg Henzaus Betzenweiler war vom 16. Novbr. 1865. Bis heute als Braumeisterin meinen Diensten). Based on this letter, it can be noted that since the beginning of the 1800s, a simple letter of recommendation has expanded: it was filled with thanks and wishes for the future.

«Ich gebe ihm daher gerne das Zeugniss meiner vollsten Zufriedenheit und w?nsche ihm zu seinem ferneren Fortkommen alles Gl?ck» [7].

Until 1900, work certificates were written by the employer personally by hand; according to the history of the creation of typewriters, until 1877 typewriters were not relevant because of the high cost, therefore, they acquired a higher demand in the early 1900s. In addition to the employee's data and personal qualities, the recommendation for the 20th century is supplemented with positive characteristics and contains the employee's attitude to work and his merits in additional work. It is these characteristics that are emphasized by the particularly important words ganz besonders, thereby emphasizing the value of the employee:

«Ganz besonders verdient seine zielbewusste und energische Arbeit bei den Abschlussarbeiten und dem Einbringen der Aussenst?nde lobend erw?hnt zu werden».

Letter of recommendation from the warehouse manager, 1945:

«Herr [NAME], geb. am [DATUM] in Stettin, war in der Zeit vom 1. Oktober 1943 bis 19. August 1944 bei unserer Aussenstelle Frankreich als Lagerverwalter in Paris besch?ftigt. Herrn [NAME] wurde die kaufm?nnische und technische Leitung eines grossen franz?sischen Mineral?l-Tanklagers ?bertragen. Er hatte w?hrend seiner T?tigkeit rd. 200 franz?sische Arbeiter und Angestellte zu betreuen. Herr [NAME] hat mit Fleiss und Interesse seinen Posten zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit ausgef?llt. Wir k?nnen ihm best?tigen, dass er in der Lage ist, selbst?ndig und gewissenhaft zu arbeiten.

Wir w?nschen ihm f?r sein ferneres Leben alles Gute und empfehlen ihn jeder Firma als brauchbaren Mitarbeiter» [7].

This letter can be attributed to a qualified certificate, since it contains: information about the nature and duration of the employment relationship, details the duties that the employee performed; leadership qualities and efficiency of the employee are indicated, gratitude and wishes for the future are expressed.

There is the use of superlatives, which indicates that the employee was really a professional in his field and the employer was satisfied

«Herr *** hat mit Fleiss und Interesse seinen Posten zu unserer vollsten Zufriedenheit ausgef?llt» [7].

Thus, letters of recommendation of the 20th century are gradually expanding, acquiring a special clearer structure, similar to letters of the 21st century. Employers are starting to use a lot of adjectives, superlatives, to focus on the merits of the employee. However, the secret language in the letters of recommendation of the 18th-20th century was not discovered, which allows us to conclude that secret codes did not exist yet. Labor characteristics before 1970 are replenished only with positive characteristics.

Since simple letters of recommendation carry minimal information, the secret language of employers cannot prevail in them. Qualified writing is becoming increasingly in demand and developed at the beginning of the 20th century, which subsequently affects the creation of a special secret language of labor certificates. It is advisable to turn to the quantitative calculation of the simple and qualified certificates used, starting from 1850 and ending in 1950. Quantitative calculation showed the following results, which can be presented in the form of diagrams:

Figure 1

 

Figure 2

A review of the German archives showed the demand for simple letters from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, which are on a par with qualified letters, as well as a sharp increase in demand for qualified certificates after 1951. 

From this we can conclude that in the 19th century, a simple certificate confirming information about the previous place of work was enough for employees. Qualified letters are only gaining popularity and, although they do not yet have a clear structure in the 19th century, the characteristics are gradually replenished and gaining demand. Since the middle of the 20th century, a simple letter of recommendation has become less relevant, and employees want to receive a full qualified letter with a detailed description of merits and qualities. This allows a qualified labor certificate to acquire a clear structure of characteristics. Subsequently, this has an impact on the creation of a special secret language of employers at the end of the 20th century.

References
1. Kaneeva T.R. Mesto rechevogo zhanra «rekomendatel`noe pis`mo» v delovom obshhenii // Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriya: Lingvistika. 2010. ¹ 3. S. 77-80.
2. Kaneeva T.R. Rechevoj zhanr «rekomendatel`noe pis`mo»: xarakteristika i tipy`: na materiale russkogo, anglijskogo i franczuzskogo yazy`kov. Avtoref. dis. … kand. filol. nauk. Volgograd, 2011. 24 s.
3. Osnovy` mezhkul`turnoj kommunikacii. Gosudarstvenny`e i nacional`no-kul`turny`e simvoly`: ucheb. posobie / pod red. L.G. Vikulovoj i E.F. Serebrennikovoj. 2-e izd. ster. Moskva: FLINTA, 2019. 277 s.
4. Xramchenko D. S. Funkcional`no-pragmaticheskaya e`volyuciya anglijskogo delovogo diskursa: dis. ... d-ra filol. nauk. M., 2014. 448 s.
5. Chernousova Yu. A. Yazy`k biznes-kontraktov: kompozicionno-strukturny`e, leksiko-semanticheskie i lingvo-pragmaticheskie osobennosti: avtoref. dis. ... kand. filol. nauk. Pyatigorsk, 2012. 26 s. URL : cheloveknauka. com/yazyk-biznes-kontraktov-kompozitsionno-strukturnye-leksiko-semanticheskie-i-lingvo-pragmaticheskie-osobennosti
6. Shiryaeva T.A.Frejmovaya struktura delovogo diskursa (na materiale anglijskogo yazy`ka) / T.A. Shiryaeva // Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: «Filologiya. Teoriya yazy`ka. Yazy`kovoe obrazovanie». 2011. ¹ 2 (8) 2011. S. 32–39.
7. Arbeitszeugnis-forum.de. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.arbeitszeugnis-forum.de/historische-zeugnisse.html(date of the application: 10.12.21).
8. Backinjob.de. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.backinjob.de/index.php?page=az_einfach-quali (date of the application: 10.12.20).
9. Briinner G. Wirtschaftskommunikation / G. Briinner. Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2000. 330 S.
10. Duden. Briefe gut und richtig schreiben, Ratgeber für richtiges und moderns Schreiben / 4., überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Bearbeitet von der Dudenredaktion: Bibliographisches Institut&F.A.Brockhaus AG, Mannheim, 2006. 949s.
11. Eismann V. Erfolgreich in Präsentationen. Berlin: Goethe Verlag, 2006. 76 S.
12. Gewerbeordnung. § 109 Zeugnis. https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gewo/__109.html (date of the application: 10.12.21).
13. Goffman E. Techniken der Imagepflege // Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Sternenfels: Verlag Wissenschaft&Praxis, 2003. S. 103-111.
14. Huber G.L. Das Arbeitszeugnis in Recht und Praxis, Rechtliche Grundlagen, Musterzeugnisse, Textbausteine, Zeugnisanalyse, 11. Auflage: Rudolf Haufe Verlag GmbH & Co. KG München: 2006. 255s.
15. Zeit.de. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.zeit.de/karriere/bewerbung/2017-03/arbeitszeugnis-code-formulierungen-bedeutung (date of the application: 10.12.21).
16. Zeugniscode URL: http://anwalt-im-netz.de/arbeitsrecht/zeugniscode.html und http://www.mobbingberatung-sachsen.de/download/Zeugniscode.pdf

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The relevance of the reviewed article "Linguistic characteristics of letters of recommendation since 1800 (based on the material of the German language)" is beyond doubt. The topic chosen by the author is certainly of great interest for modern linguistic research, is completely relevant to the chosen journal and will be of interest to a wide range of readers. The object of the peer-reviewed study was the speech genre "letter of recommendation". The subject of the study is its structural features, characteristics and types; communication strategies and evaluation methods in the above genre. The stated purpose of the study is to consider the specifics of the lexico-semantic and pragmatic features of the business German language based on the material of letters of recommendation. In this regard, I believe that the subject and purpose of the study are not completely correlated with each other. The subject of the study indicated by the author contains the tasks set, but their solution will not contribute to achieving the stated goal. On this basis, it is necessary to adjust the wording of the goal. According to the author, "the scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the lexical and pragmatic formation of the secret language of the German-language recommendation letter was studied for the first time," while the secret language is mentioned only 5 times in the following contexts: 1) "anyone who knows the special secret language of employers will be warned about the quality of this candidate's work"; 2) "the secret language in the letters of recommendation of the 18th and 20th century was not discovered, which allows us to conclude that secret codes did not exist yet", 3) "since simple letters of recommendation carry minimal information, the secret language of employers cannot prevail in them"; 4) "qualified writing is becoming increasingly in demand and developing at the beginning of the 20th century, which subsequently affects the creation of a special secret language of labor certificates"; 5) "subsequently, this affects the creation of a special secret language of employers at the end of the 20th century." Unfortunately, these proposals do not reflect at all any lexical and pragmatic formation of the secret language of the German-language recommendation letter and do not allow the reader to understand what kind of special secret language the author of the study is talking about. It is also necessary to unify some concepts in the work, obviously used as synonyms: 1) "simple letter of recommendation", "simple certificate", "simple certificate"; 2) "qualified letter of recommendation", "qualified certificate", "qualified labor certificate". In his research, the author also resorts to a quantitative calculation of the simple and qualified certificates used, starting in 1850 and ending in 1950, the research material was a German website containing archives of old letters of recommendation: Arbeitszeugnis-forum.de. The calculation results are presented in diagrams, which allows the author to visualize the data obtained, however, these results do not give absolutely any idea about the amount of material studied, only percentages are presented. Unfortunately, the conclusions contained in the conclusion do not reflect either the subject of the study or its purpose. Based on all the above, it can be concluded that the chosen topic is relevant, relevant to the goals and readership of the selected journal, however, the author needs to think over the purpose of the study, formulate it in such a way that it is relevant to the topic indicated in the title, the subject of the study and the content of the article. At this stage, the content of the article is not a linguistic characteristic of letters of recommendation. In addition, it is necessary to expand the theoretical basis of the study and the list of references, which should include at least 15 titles. I recommend the editorial board of the magazine "Litera" to send the article for careful revision.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The article submitted for consideration "Linguistic characteristics of letters of recommendation since 1800 (based on the material of the German language)", proposed for publication in the journal "Litera", is undoubtedly relevant. Currently, the topic of business communication is of particular importance at the linguistic level, despite the fact that the problems of intercultural communication and etiquette have been studied for a long time. However, interest in this topic of official business style in other cultures is growing, modern society is changing along with the linguistic and genre component. At this level, the genre discourse "letter of recommendation" in Germany becomes the most interesting and relevant topic in the peculiarities of German business writing, communication and expression of the mentality of the German people. The author's comments on the social role of a business letter of recommendation in Germany, as opposed to that in our country, are important. The relevance of this work lies in the fact that letters of recommendation have been around for a long time and are an integral part of the business sphere in Germany. Given the lack of workbooks in Germany, providing a letter of recommendation for consideration by a potential employer is a prerequisite. This speech genre requires detailed attention and consideration in terms of linguistic and structural features. The purpose of this work is to consider the types and features of letters of recommendation in the German language. However, it is worth noting that, contrary to the established canon of scientific research, the author does not cite in the introduction various points of view on the problem under consideration in order to highlight the scientific lacuna of research. It is unclear by whom and when this linguistic problem was investigated, or is the author's work original and innovative in this field? Based on what the classification of letters of recommendation is given: is this a common division or an observation of the author himself? The postulated by the author is illustrated by practical material in German. However, the question arises, what is the sample size of German-language texts for analysis? What is the time period of these texts? Is there a difference in letters of recommendation in different areas of Germany or letters prepared by large global corporations and small companies? The title states the date of the beginning of the 19th century, but in the text of the article there are no distinctions in the analysis of business letters and highlighting the features inherent in the genre of the 19th, 20th, 21st centuries. The bibliography of the work consists of 7 units, among which links to foreign sites dominate. Unfortunately, there is no appeal to fundamental works in foreign languages, which is important for the inclusion of the work in the global scientific paradigm, especially when considering the stated topic. Moreover, there are no references to fundamental works in Russian - monographs, PhD and doctoral dissertations, monographs of which a sufficient number have been defended on this and related issues. The lack of scientific sources makes the article rather descriptive, stating the author's observations, rather than scientific. The article will undoubtedly be useful to a wide range of people, philologists, literary critics, translators, undergraduates and graduate students of specialized universities. In general, it should be noted that the work can be recommended for publication in a scientific journal from the list of the Higher Attestation Commission only after strengthening the scientific component, appealing to more sources and specifying the actual research material.

Third Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research of the reviewed article is the structural and substantive features, as well as the types of letters of recommendation of the business sector in Germany. The choice of this topic is quite justified, because given the lack of workbooks in Germany, providing a letter of recommendation for consideration by a potential employer is a prerequisite. This speech genre requires detailed attention and consideration in terms of linguistic and structural features. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the article for the first time studied the types of letters of recommendation, gave their linguistic characteristics from the standpoint of diachrony. The work has a well-defined structure, the material is logically formed, and the author's position is quite convincing. In general, the text contains a full outline of the main types of letters of recommendation: a simple letter, "simple evidence only confirms the nature of the employment relationship and its duration. They do not include characteristics about the effectiveness and leadership qualities of the employee. As a rule, the first and last name of the employee must be indicated; the address and date of birth are recorded in certificates only with the consent of the employee. The nature of the work should be described in full and accurate so that a third party can get an idea of the employee", a qualification letter of recommendation, "it contains information about the nature and duration of the employment relationship, about the leadership qualities and effectiveness of the employee. Leadership and effectiveness should be evaluated throughout the entire period of the employment relationship. The employee has the right to choose whether to receive a simple or qualified certificate. If a qualified certificate was issued in accordance with the employee's requirement, then he will no longer be able to request a simple certificate. Conversely, when obtaining a simple certificate, it will not be possible to require a qualified "intermediate certificate," the certificate corresponds in content to the final final certificate. The only difference is that the employment relationship continues to exist. For example, an employee may have a special legitimate interest in obtaining an interim certificate when transferring to another position, during professional development, or when changing a supervisor. The employer is prohibited from deviating from his assessment in the interim certificate when drawing up the final certificate, if after drawing up the interim certificate there were no circumstances that could affect the assessment." The style of work fully corresponds to the scientific type, terms and concepts are introduced into the text without actual violations. Judgments are accurate and legitimate: for example, "it should be noted that a qualified labor certificate with an assessment of an employee's productivity, efficiency and behavior plays a crucial role for his future career, because letters of recommendation are the only proof of an employee's achievements in past employment relationships. The importance of letters of recommendation increases depending on the requirements for work and for an employment certificate," or "letters of recommendation of the 20th century are gradually expanding, acquiring a special clearer structure, similar to letters of the 21st century. Employers are starting to use a lot of adjectives, superlatives, to focus on the merits of the employee. However, the secret language in the letters of recommendation of the 18th and 20th centuries was not discovered, which leads to the conclusion that secret codes did not yet exist. Labor characteristics before 1970 are replenished only with positive characteristics," etc. To confirm the compiled data, the author uses diagrams, they allow to determine the quantitative calculation of data. The conclusions in the final correlate with the main block, no contradictions were revealed. The bibliography of the work is fully displayed in the references and citations. The material can be useful in compiling comparative characteristics of the official business style of different countries. The article "Linguistic characteristics of the German letter of recommendation (diachronic aspect)" is recommended for publication in the journal "Litera".