Attitude towards English and ESP acquisition as an L2 or L3 at university

• Autores: José Miguel González Ardeo
• Localización: Ibérica: Revista de la Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos ( AELFE ), ISSN-e 2340-2784, ISSN 1139-7241, Nº. 6, 2003, págs. 109-133
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Dialnet Métricas: 3 Citas
• Resumen
  • español

    A pesar de que bastantes investigadores ya han investigado si conocer más de una lengua ayudará a un estudiante a aprender otras lenguas (Edwards, 1995; Klein, 1995; Cenoz & Genesse, 1998b), una de las áreas no exploradas todavía al considerar la diferencia entre bilingüismo y trilingüismo es el del comportamiento lingüístico referido a adultos (Hoffmann, 1999). Este estudio reflexiona sobre la situación socio-cultural y socio-política en Euskal Herria y su relación con el uso del inglés como L2 o L3. Por eso, se llevó a cabo una investigación poniendo a prueba grupos iguales de estudiantes universitarios monolingües (Ml) (Español) contra bilingües (Bls) (Euskara/Español), que aprenden Inglés para Fines Específicos (IFE) en los siguientes campos: Ingeniería (mecánica), Administración de Empresas y Enfermería. A los participantes se les pusieron pruebas sobre adquisición de vocabulario técnico específico de sus campos de estudio, y se les pidió que cumplimentasen un cuestionario sobre actitudes hacia el inglés. Los Bls en su conjunto superaron ligeramente a los Mls, sugiriendo que los objetivos académicos/inmediatos los consiguen un poco más fácilmente, pero las diferencias no fueron estadísticamente significativas. Por lo que a sus actitudes hacia el inglés se refiere, las diferencias entre Mls y Bls tampoco fueron significativas, mostrando ambos grupos una actitud de conjunto positiva hacia el inglés

  • English

    Although several researchers have already investigated whether knowing more than one language will help students acquire additional languages (Edwards, 1995; Klein, 1995;

    Cenoz & Genesse, 1998b), one of the still unexplored areas when considering the difference between bilingualism and trilingualism is that of linguistic behaviour referred to adults (Hoffmann, 1999). The present study reflects on the socio-cultural and sociopolitical situation in the Basque Country and its relationship with performance in English as L2 or L3. Thus, a research was carried out by testing matched groups of Monolingual (Ml) (Spanish) versus Bilingual (Bl) (Basque/Spanish) university students, acquiring English for Specific Purposes (ESP) within the following fields: Engineering –mechanical branch–, Business Administration, and Nursing. Participants were tested on acquisition of specific technical vocabulary from their fields of study, and they were invited to complete a questionnaire on attitudes towards English. The Bls as a whole outperformed slightly the Mls, suggesting that Bls’ immediate/academic aims are somewhat more easily achieved but the differences were not statistically significant. As far as their attitudes towards English are concerned, the differences between Mls and Bls were not significant either, both groups showing overall positive attitudes towards English

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