Replace parameter doesnt work

I have the following in my commandtext but it doesnt seem to replace the LanguageColumnName variable:

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("SELECT'+@.LanguageColumnName+' FROM tblSports a INNER JOIN tblUsersAndSports b ON a.SportID=b.SportID " & _
"WHEREb.UserCode=@.UserCode", MyConnection)
cmd.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("@.UserCode", UserCode))
cmd.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("@.LanguageColumnName", LanguageColumnName))

I have tried'+@.LanguageColumnName+' and also just @.LanguageColumnName but this variable isnt replaced for some reason.

The value of LanguageColumnName is "de"...the funny thing is that when I just type my command like the following it DOES work..:

SELECTde FROM tblSports a INNER JOIN tblUsersAndSports b ON a.SportID=b.SportID " & _
"WHEREb.UserCode=@.UserCode

What am I doing wrong?

Take a look at your SqlCommand, it looks like:

"SELECT'de' FROM tblSports a INNER JOIN tblUsersAndSports b ON a.SportID=b.SportID " & _
"WHEREb.UserCode=@.UserCode"

So you will get a set of 'de' strings. You're on the right direction, but not yet the proper way of using dynamic SQL. You can use EXECUTE command to execute dynamic built SQL statement, for example:

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand("EXEC('SELECT'+@.LanguageColumnName+' FROM tblSports a INNER JOIN tblUsersAndSports b ON a.SportID=b.SportID " & _
"WHEREb.UserCode=@.UserCode')", MyConnection)
cmd.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("@.UserCode", UserCode))
cmd.Parameters.Add(New SqlParameter("@.LanguageColumnName", LanguageColumnName))