Teaching sociological subjects in English to university students: a case study of the Polish university

Abstract

Nowadays, the role of English in teaching sociology has been increasing significantly, as far as the English language is an international medium of academic communication worldwide. Polish universities also follow this global trend. Students are offered not only general English courses but also specialised facultative courses in English. Taking into account the last one, a reflexive qualitative research has been carried out at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw. The objective of four face-to-face expert interviews with the academic teachers was exploring teaching methods and techniques, as well as difficulties in the process of teaching sociology with the use of English as a foreign language. An expert interview was designed starting from the teaching background, followed by teaching reflections on their didactic practice and ending with the academic teachers’ thoughts on the role of English in sociology. The following issues were considered: 1) methods and techniques of incorporating English in teaching sociology to Polish students; 2) strategies of motivating students to use English in sociology; 3) the perception of difficulties; 4) reflections on empowering students.The research results in the field of the sociological facultative English-based courses revealed the dominance of some ways of using the language over others. All experts acknowledged that they aimed to develop sociological English through the communicative and task-based approaches. They engaged students in reading sociological texts and critically discussed them. Some of the academic teachers referred also to watching and listening to native speakers as important ways to activate students during their classes. Moreover, the experts took into account students specific interests and encouraged them to prepare a presentation or to write a short essay. Some experts used also the collaborative methods when students were involved in group projects and group presentations. In general, the experts developed interesting and important topics of social life and research to strengthen the students’ intrinsic motivation. It was noticed that the presence of foreign students becomes a reasonable factor of improving English-based communication among Polish and foreign students in classroom. The experts pointed out that there were various linguistic, psychological and institutional barriers in teaching sociological subjects in English for Polish university students. Nevertheless, they tried to overcome those obstacles whenever it was possible.