Un análisis de las actitudes del inglés como lengua extranjera por medio de grupos de discusión

Abstract

This research study aims to examine, by means of the so-called “discussion group” methodology, the attitudes towards English harboured by a group of 41 university students. The analysis of their attitudes will be carried out through a taxonomy which includes linguistic, cultural, sociological, economic, afective, political and imposition arguments. The results show that, English being a foreign language whose teaching is very widespread in the Basque Autonomous Community (one of the seventeen autonomous communities which make up Spain), the sociological, imposition and linguistic arguments happen to be more recurrent than the rest. Conversely, the cultural arguments (desire to get closer to anglophone society through its culture) turn out to be the least supported. The article finally puts forward the pedagogical implications derived from these results.