Search the digital library catalog

Abstract: English is the most widely spread language of today's world. Its functions exceed the ones of a lingua franca, as it is not used only for the purpose of international communication, but is also more and more widely used within non-English-speaking countries in different domains. Thus English exerts a great influence on other languages, their lexis, syntax, orthography and cultural aspect. All this brings up certain attitudes towards the language. Language attitudes are opinions, ways of thinking, feeling and reacting toward a language or its speakers, and can significantly affect people’s behaviour. The purpose of this paper was to research the attitudes of three different age groups of Slovene speakers toward English. In the theoretical part the theory behind language attitudes, the current status of English and its presence in Slovenia are presented. In the empirical part the results of the questionnaire, which was filled out by four different groups – the 8th grade pupils, the students of English, the students of other study programmes and the adult learners of English – three age groups in total, are analysed and interpreted.
Keywords: the English language, language attitudes, lingua franca, World English, World Englishes
Published in DKUM: 05.09.2011; Views: 2391; Downloads: 155
Full text (1,08 MB)