Combining different types of data in studying attitudes to English as a Lingua Franca

This paper deals with the attitudes of Croatian speakers to ELF, in particular to its pronunciation. Four methods were combined to reach conclusions about the status of ELF in Croatia: diary study, teacher interviews, a preliminary focus group interview and a survey. Whilst the first three methods revealed that the subjects regularly disfavour ‘bad pronunciation’, the survey showed that when it actually comes to talking to either native or non-native speakers, the subjects turned out to be tolerant to a slight accent. This clearly suggests a case of what is known as linguistic schizophrenia (B.B. Kachru 1977; Seidlhofer 2001). However, there are notable differences among groups of participants depending on variables such as professional profile, gender, degree of ease and success in learning pronunciation, and national pride. In any case, the combination of these methods proved to be a very good way to deal with the topic. The diary study is a valuable method to look into everyday practices and can feed nicely into survey questions. The preliminary survey highlighted the importance of different groups of participants and the need for groups of questions focusing around different factors. The preliminary focus group interview showed that it is crucial to have a single homogenous group of participants, as well as a trained facilitator. Finally, teacher interviews pointed to the possibility of similar attitudes being held by university teachers and the students they teach, which suggests that attitudes may be perpetuated. Overall, triangulation across methods and participants in the way proposed in the present paper provided a wealth of data, allowing a bottom-up view and a top-down view on the state of ELF in Croatia

SPECIAL AND SPOTLESS? LANGUAGE MYTHS IN TOURISM

U radu se razmatraju dva mita o engleskome kao jeziku turizma. Prema jednom, preddiplomski studenti turizma, kao i znatan dio hrvatske populacije, vjeruju da vrlo dobro vladaju engleskim jezikom. Prema drugom mitu, dobro vladanje engleskim jezikom dostatno je za rad u području turizma. Jezik turizma, međutim, ima neka jedinstvena obilježja. Iako na njega utječu brojne znanstvene discipline i možda nema precizno definiran sadržaj i jasne funkcionalne granice (Calvi, 2005), jezik turizma ima sasvim specifičnu svrhu i u skladu s time treba ga proučavati kao jezik koji se razlikuje od općeg engleskog. Jezik turizma ima svoju strukturu, slijedi određena gramatička pravila, ima specijalizirani rječnik, semantički sadržaj i specijalni registar (Dann, 1996). Nadalje, jezik turizma koristi se specijalnim registrom i pripadajućim skupom žanrova kako bi odgovorio na komunikacijske situacije unutar djelatnosti, za komunikaciju sa i između turista i lokalnih zajednica (eng. tourees) ( Dann, 2012). Svijest o postojanju specifi čnoga jezika turizma i njegova vješta uporaba trebali bi uvećati kvalitetu turističkog proizvoda. Kako bi se ispitale jezične vještine studenata turizma i studentska shvaćanja, stavovi i očekivanja, u istraživanju su kombinirani posebno pripremljen ciljani upitnik i pismena provjera studentskih jezičnih kompetencija. Istraženi su studentski stavovi i svijest o potrebi za unaprjeđenjem njihovih jezičnih vještina tijekom preddiplomskih kolegija studija turizma (za engleski i druge jezike). Vjerujemo kako je visoka razina jezične kompetencije nužna za postizanje konačnih ciljeva jezika turizma: treba uvjeriti, primamiti, snubiti i zavesti milijune ljudskih bića te ih tako preobratiti iz potencijalnih u stvarne klijente (Dann, 2003:2).The aim of this paper is to address two myths related to English as the language of tourism. One is that undergraduate students of tourism, similar to a signifi cant part of Croatian population, believe they have a high level of profi ciency in English, and two, that they are with their high level of English, well equipped with the language they need for working in the tourism fi eld. The language of tourism is unique. Although it may not have a well-defi ned content and clear functional boundaries as it is infl uenced by a wide range of disciplines (Calvi, 2005), it has specifi c purposes and should be addressed as such, different from general English. It is structured, it follows certain grammar rules, has a specialised vocabulary and semantic content, and it adopts a special register (Dann, 1996). Furthermore, the language of tourism uses a special register with a corresponding set of genres that are appropriate for particular communication situations within the industry and with and among both tourists and tourees (Dann, 2012). Awareness of the existence of the specifi c language of tourism and its skilful usage should increase the quality of the tourism product. In order to weigh tourism students’ language skills against their perceptions, attitudes and expectations a written assignment designed to demonstrate students’ language competences has been combined with a specially designed targeted questionnaire. The survey will investigate students’ attitudes to and perceptions of the need for improving and refi ning their language skills (both English and other languages) as part of the undergraduate We believe that a high level of language competence is required in order to reach the ultimate aims of the language of tourism: to persuade, lure, woo and seduce millions of human beings and, in so doing, convert them from potential into actual clients (Dann, 2003:2)

Attitudes to English and Motivation to Continue Learning English in a Tertiary Education Setting

This study investigates attitudes toward English, the primary language of international communication, and motivation of intermediate and advanced learners to pursue Business English in a university setting. Moreover, the study aims to establish the correlations between attitudes to English, different types of motivation and invested effort as a criterion related to motivated behaviour. Approximately 700 Croatian students of business and economics responded to a questionnaire based on earlier sociolinguistic and L2 motivation research in the socio-psychological tradition. Descriptive and inferential analyses (factor, correlation and hierarchical multiple regression analyses) of the collected data revealed a positive attitude to English as a lingua franca alongside a preference for native English varieties. The perception of English as a threat was weak among our respondents. As regards motivational dimensions, the sample was characterised by integrative and two types of instrumental motivation, one deriving from expected benefits and the other from experienced benefits. Although a positive attitude to English as a lingua franca positively correlated with invested effort, hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that effort could only be predicted on the basis of integrative motivation and positive experiences with English to date. Despite its high score, the motivation dimension deriving from expected benefits was not a predictor of invested effort. Moreover, its composition (focus on future goals, milieu and vitality of L2 community items) suggested that it reflects extrinsic motivation and resembles Ought-to L2 Self. Our findings provide insights into attitudes and motivation of ESP learners in educational contexts where English is not regularly used for academic and professional purposesEste estudio investiga las actitudes hacia el inglés, el idioma principal de la comunicación internacional, y la motivación de los estudiantes intermedios y avanzados para estudiar inglés de negocios en un entorno universitario. Además, el estudio pretende establecer las correlaciones entre las actitudes hacia el inglés, los diferentes tipos de motivación y el esfuerzo invertido como uno de los criterios relacionados con el comportamiento motivado. Aproximadamente 700 estudiantes croatas de negocios y economía respondieron a un cuestionario basado en investigaciones sociolingüísticas y de motivación en L2 previas, conducidas en la tradición socio-psicológica. Los análisis descriptivos e inferenciales (factorial, de correlación y de regresión múltiple jerárquica) de los datos recopilados revelaron una actitud positiva hacia el inglés como lingua franca junto con una preferencia por las variedades nativas de inglés. La percepción del inglés como una amenaza fue débil entre los encuestados. En cuanto a las dimensiones motivacionales, la muestra se caracterizó por una motivación integrativa y dos tipos de motivación instrumental, una derivada de los beneficios esperados y otra de los beneficios experimentados. Aunque la actitud positiva hacia el inglés como lingua franca correlacionó positivamente con el esfuerzo invertido, el análisis de regresión jerárquica múltiple reveló que el esfuerzo solamente podía predecirse a base de la motivación integradora y las experiencias positivas con el inglés hasta la fecha. A pesar de su alta puntuación, la dimensión de motivación derivada de los beneficios esperados no fue un factor predictivo del esfuerzo invertido. Además, su composición (centrada en los objetivos futuros, el entorno y la vitalidad de los elementos de la comunidad de L2) sugiere que refleja una motivación extrínseca y se asemeja al yo deóntico L2 (Ought-to L2 self). Nuestros hallazgos proporcionan información sobre las actitudes y la motivación de los estudiantes de inglés con fines específicos en contextos educativos donde el inglés no se usa regularmente con fines académicos y profesionales

Combining different types of data in studying attitudes to English as a Lingua Franca

This paper deals with the attitudes of Croatian speakers to ELF, in particular to its pronunciation. Four methods were combined to reach conclusions about the status of ELF in Croatia: diary study, teacher interviews, a preliminary focus group interview and a survey. Whilst the first three methods revealed that the subjects regularly disfavour ‘bad pronunciation’, the survey showed that when it actually comes to talking to either native or non-native speakers, the subjects turned out to be tolerant to a slight accent. This clearly suggests a case of what is known as linguistic schizophrenia (B.B. Kachru 1977; Seidlhofer 2001). However, there are notable differences among groups of participants depending on variables such as professional profile, gender, degree of ease and success in learning pronunciation, and national pride. In any case, the combination of these methods proved to be a very good way to deal with the topic. The diary study is a valuable method to look into everyday practices and can feed nicely into survey questions. The preliminary survey highlighted the importance of different groups of participants and the need for groups of questions focusing around different factors. The preliminary focus group interview showed that it is crucial to have a single homogenous group of participants, as well as a trained facilitator. Finally, teacher interviews pointed to the possibility of similar attitudes being held by university teachers and the students they teach, which suggests that attitudes may be perpetuated. Overall, triangulation across methods and participants in the way proposed in the present paper provided a wealth of data, allowing a bottom-up view and a top-down view on the state of ELF in Croatia