Local identities, global connections: affinities to English among students at the Freie Universität Berlin

Abstract

This paper examines a specific group of English users in Germany: students studying English at the Freie Universität Berlin. The first section outlines the various domains in which these students encounter English in their daily lives, both within and outside university, as they make and maintain intercultural connections. This analysis suggests that, at least among these university students, EnglishGerman bilingualism seems to be the norm. The second section of this paper shows how students' proficiency in English plays a role in their creation, or re-creation, of local, national, European and global identities. What is more, in this small community of students, it seems that the ability to use English is intricately tied in with the (re)definition of what it means to be German, or at least an educated, urban German. Although they constitute a small community, these students' uses of and attitudes towards English highlight some general trends of globalization and provide some insights into the evolving role of English in Europe.

Non-conformity to ENL norms: a perspective from Chinese English users

“…In Ranta's (2010) study, Finnish students are likely to aspire for native-like English at the macro-level, and simultaneously they tend to accept their own Englishes at the micro-level. A similar conclusion is drawn in Erling's (2007) study on university students from Germany. With the focus on English-teaching professionals, Jenkins (2007) has discussed possible factors that feed into ELF attitudes, such as accent-related experience, native speaker ideology, and gatekeeping.…”

Setting the Catherine wheel in motion

“…Positive attitudinal factors in favour of English in the HE system further strengthen its impact. Studies conducted with university-level students show an obvious lack of any positive national identity, and indeed a rejection of such identity (Erling 2007) -a trend mirrored in 2011 in the data arising from the author's comparative multi-site empirical study, mentioned above, in which this lack of national identity in most cases filtered through in the form of apathy or negative attitudes towards the German language on the part of both students and lecturers. In fact, McArthur (2003:160) has categorised Germany as a "moot nation" in which the role of English in certain domains such as business and technology goes uncontested and is in fact favoured, while its impinging on other domains, for example the superfluous use of Anglicisms in everyday language, is met with considerable opposition.…”

Awareness in Action

“…As Kontra and Csizer (2011, p. 136) report, the two main lines of enquiry of ELF concentrate on (a) investigating its characteristic features and use (e.g., Breiteneder 2009;House 2003;Jenkins , 2005aLouhiala-Salminen 2007, 2010;Mauranen 2003;Meierkord 2000;Murray 2012;Pitzl, Breiteneder, and Klimpfinger 2008;Seidlhofer 2003;Seidlhofer, Breiteneder, and Pitzl 2006) and (b) on exploring attitudes of language users, including teachers and learners, towards the concept as such (e.g., Ehrling 2007;Hynninen 2010;Timmis 2002).…”

“…The second main line of enquiry that ELF has inspired are investigations revolving around students,' teachers' and language users' attitudes towards the notion of ELF (e.g., Ehrling 2007;Hynninen 2010;Timmis 2002). For example, in the study conducted by Timmis (2002) teachers and students coming from different ethnic backgrounds were enquired about using NS norms while teaching and learning English.…”

“…Much in the same vein were the results obtained by Sifakis and Sougari (2005) who reported that Greek learners of English also equaled native-like pronunciation with high levels of achievement. The German participants of the study carried out by Ehrling (2007), described as ELF users due to the demands of the context within which they dwelled, associated English with either the United Kingdom or the United States. Only a small number of them perceived English as a means of communication with speakers from countries where English functions as a lingua franca.…”