English Medium Instruction: a way towards linguistically better prepared professionals in the Basque Autonomous Community?

Karin van der Worp ^[1]
1. [1] Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
  
  Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
  
  Leioa, España
Localización: International journal of multilingualism, ISSN 1479-0718, Vol. 14, Nº. 1, 2017 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Adult Multilingualism: Processes and Practices Guest Editor: Jasone Cenoz), págs. 53-68
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- In the Basque Autonomous Community, besides the official languages Spanish and Basque, English is considered an important third language for internationally operating companies. However, employees are not believed to be linguistically well enough prepared, due to shortcomings in English language learning in the Basque educational system. The introduction of English Medium Instruction (EMI) might improve the situation. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the relation between the experience of future professionals with EMI at one point in their educational career and their experience as language learners, their self-reported proficiency and competencies in English, the exposure to English in their daily lives, and their expectations about English in their future workplace. A quantitative approach was adopted, by means of questionnaires among 194 students of Business Administration at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The data reveal that students who have taken EMI classes report higher skills in English (especially in oral skills and at higher level tasks), have generally more exposure to English and would feel more comfortable using English in their future job. The results suggest that EMI might help to prepare the future professionals linguistically better in this third language.