Abstract
Over the past few decades, the notion of World Englishes has achieved much attention among linguists, language teachers, and other professionals. The present study explores the impact these trends have had on university education in the field of English philology and culture, focusing on the study programmes run by the Applied Languages Faculty, the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia. Our research was designed to gain insights into the students’ perception of varieties of English and identify those areas which require more attention in order to provide students with the most relevant content. The research sample contained 130 students of one BA and one MA programme. Our research was based on a questionnaire which provided us with the data on students’ awareness of the studied issues. The data were subsequently processed using combined quantitative and qualitative methods. One part of the data was statistically analysed with regard to the frequency of certain aspects. The second part was analysed focusing on students’ attitudes and evaluative statements. Results of the analysis indicated both the key tendencies in their thought and the orientation of the occasional excentric views. The research outcomes enabled us to establish several important facts, e.g. a relatively insufficient understanding of the relevant terminology and concepts, high awareness of the existence of varieties of English, and, simultaneously, low awareness of the features distinguishing those varieties, etc. The conclusions point out those areas which should be represented more extensively in our curricula to reflect the actual current situation in the English language.
Highlights
The discussion on the internal fragmentation of English at the time of its triumph as a global language started more than 20 years ago
Aim and hypothesis The present study is aimed at exploring the impact that World Englishes have had on university education in the field of English philology and culture, focusing on the study programmes run by the Applied Languages Faculty, the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia
Having become acquainted with the research of Galloway and Numajiri (2019) which concentrated on the examination of Global English element in teacher-training postgraduate programmes, we considered it useful to explore the situation in non-teachertraining programmes run by the Applied Languages Faculty, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia
Summary
The discussion on the internal fragmentation of English at the time of its triumph as a global language started more than 20 years ago. There has been much talk on the relation between the widely acknowledged standard forms of English and the regional varieties as well as on the status of the regional varieties that have recently been steadily gaining in significance These circumstances necessarily pose a question concerning the extent to which the current academic education, in the field of English philology and culture, takes into consideration the new reality of diversification within the English language. Our research was designed to examine the levels of our university students’ awareness of the fact that there exist different varieties of English, spoken and written across the world. It intends to shed light on both the sources of such awareness and the degree of their understanding of this phenomenon’s various aspects. We hoped to collect data that would help us modify the current study programmes and curricula in such a way that they best reflect the actual situation in the English language development and respond to the existing condition of social practice
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