Globalization, English and the German university classroom : a sociolinguistic profile of students of English at the Freie UniversitaÌt Berlin
This thesis surveys current theories of globalization and then inspects the effects of this phenomenon on the English language. Not only has the English language changed as a result of globalization, but discourse about English has changed. This thesis will thus test the relevance of contemporary theories of English to find if they match the reality of how English is being acquired, used and appropriated in the present age. Since globalization is appropriated differently by the various societies it affects, it is important to consider each individual place with its specific history, culture and politics to evaluate different outcomes. For this reason, this thesis examines of the presence of English in the specific national context of Germany, but focuses on a group who uses the language regularly for a variety of international purposes: students of English at the Freie UniversitĂ€t Berlin. Methods used in this analysis include a qualitative analysis of questionnaires, discourse analysis of ethnographic interviews with students and grammatical and stylistic analyses of student essays and assignments. The results of this study shed light on various student attitudes towards and motivations for learning English
Erling, Elizabeth J.
Globalization, English and the German university classroom : a sociolinguistic profile of students of English at the Freie UniversitaÌt Berlin. This thesis surveys current theories of globalization and then inspects the effects of this phenomenon on the English language. Not only has the English language changed as a result of globalization, but discourse about English has changed. This thesis will thus test the relevance of contemporary theories of English to find if they match the reality of how English is being acquired, used and appropriated in the present age. Since globalization is appropriated differently by the various societies it affects, it is important to consider each individual place with its specific history, culture and politics to evaluate different outcomes. For this reason, this thesis examines of the presence of English in the specific national context of Germany, but focuses on a group who uses the language regularly for a variety of international purposes: students of English at the Freie UniversitĂ€t Berlin. Methods used in this analysis include a qualitative analysis of questionnaires, discourse analysis of ethnographic interviews with students and grammatical and stylistic analyses of student essays and assignments. The results of this study shed light on various student attitudes towards and motivations for learning English
globalization english_german university classroom sociolinguistic profile student english berlin survey current_theory globalization inspect effect phenomenon english_language english_language change globalization discourse english change thus test relevance_contemporary theory english match reality english acquire use appropriate present age since globalization appropriate differently various society affect important consider individual place specific history culture_politics evaluate_different outcome reason examine presence english specific national_context germany focus group use language regularly variety international purpose student english berlin methods use analysis include qualitative_analysis questionnaire discourse_analysis ethnographic interview student grammatical stylistic_analysis student essay assignment study shed_light various student attitude_towards motivation learn_english