Keeping up with ELF: An Analysis of Erasmus Students’ Attitudes

Year 2019, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 239 - 253, 31.07.2019

Nikola Jokic

https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.599244

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to give
an insight into the perspectives of Erasmus students. The focus is on their
experience, in particular, and how and to what degree ELF speakers in the study
became accustomed to a new educational environment, and whether any obstacles materialised
in the process. The goal is to demonstrate the significance of ELF-awareness
and the role of English in this particular speech community. Qualitative
methods were deployed to obtain the research results i.e. semi-structured,
informal ELF conversations between Erasmus exchange students at a university in
Austria were tape-recorded and transcribed accordingly. During the interviews,
students were asked questions about English as spoken at the university, and
were instructed to compare and contrast the experiences gained at a university
in Austria with those at their primary universities of instruction. The
analysis will show the extent to which a new surrounding can influence the
attitudes of Erasmus students. 

Keywords

English as a lingua franca; Erasmus students; language attitudes

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