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Language, Cul u e and Cu iculum
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A i udes and anxie ies o business and educa ion
s uden s owa ds English: some da a om he
Basque Coun y
Alai z San os, Jasone Cenoz & Du k Go e
To ci e his a icle: Alai z San os, Jasone Cenoz & Du k Go e (2018) A i udes and anxie ies
o business and educa ion s uden s owa ds English: some da a om he Basque Coun y,
Language, Cul u e and Cu iculum, 31:1, 94-110, DOI: 10.1080/07908318.2017.1350189
To link o his a icle: h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/07908318.2017.1350189
© 2017 The Au ho (s). Published by In o ma
UK Limi ed, ading as Taylo & F ancis
G oup
Published online: 16 Jul 2017.
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A i udes and anxie ies o business and educa ion s uden s
owa ds English: some da a om he Basque Coun y
Alai z San os
a
, Jasone Cenoz
a
and Du k Go e
a,b
a
Facul y o Educa ion, Philosophy and An h opology, Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y (UPV/EHU), Donos ia-
San Sebas ián, Spain;
b
Ike basque, Basque Founda ion o Science, Bilbao, Spain
ABSTRACT
The aim o his a icle is o ocus on uni e si y s uden s’a i udes
owa ds English and hei anxie ies conce ning he use o English
in he Basque Coun y, a mul ilingual con ex whe e exposu e o
English is limi ed bu in e na ionalisa ion is an impo an aim.
Pa icipan s we e 360 unde g adua e uni e si y s uden s o
business (N= 180) and educa ion (N= 180) a he Uni e si y o he
Basque Coun y. The esul s o he ques ionnai es indica e ha
business s uden s had a mo e posi i e a i ude(s) owa ds English
han educa ion s uden s. The indings also indica e ha emale
business s uden s ha e a ela i ely posi i e a i ude in compa ison
o male business s uden s bu also a highe le el o anxie y. The
esul s a e discussed as ela ed o he si ua ion o English-medium
ins uc ion in Sou he n Eu opean bilingual a eas and p e ious
s udies on gende , a i udes and anxie y.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Recei ed 30 Ma ch 2017
Accep ed 27 June 2017
KEYWORDS
Highe educa ion; English;
a i udes; anxie y; gende
In oduc ion
The use o English as a lingua anca has sp ead all o e he wo ld as a esul o globalisa-
ion (Alcón & Micha ila, 2012; Coleman, 2006). Howe e , he sp ead o English is no
uni o m and ha is e lec ed in he di e ences in le els o p o iciency. The English p o i-
ciency (EF) anking, compiled using da a om o e 900,000 adul s om 70 coun ies,
iden i ies Sweden, he Ne he lands, Denma k, No way and Finland as he coun ies
whe e he highes sco es in English a e ob ained (Educa ion Fi s , 2015). In some Eu opean
Coun ies such as F ance, I aly and Spain he sco es a e below Eu opean Union a e ages.
The Eu oba ome e (2012) poin ed ou ha only 22% o he Spanish popula ion was able
o ha e a con e sa ion in English, a e y low a e compa ed o o he Eu opean coun ies
such as he Ne he lands, Sweden and Denma k whe e app oxima ely 90% o he pa ici-
pan s epo ed ha hey could ha e a con e sa ion in English.
Uni e si ies ha e been in luenced by in e na ionalisa ion policies which lead o an
inc ease o o eign s uden s, exchange p og ammes and s a mobili y. In e na ionalisa ion
has become a p io i y o many uni e si ies in Eu ope and he use o English is p omo ed
o a ac in e na ional s uden s and esea che s om o he coun ies (Ai ey, Lau idsen,
© 2017 The Au ho (s). Published by In o ma UK Limi ed, ading as Taylo & F ancis G oup
This is an Open Access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion-NonComme cial-NoDe i a i es License
(h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which pe mi s non-comme cial e-use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any
medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly ci ed, and is no al e ed, ans o med, o buil upon in any way.
CONTACT Alai z San os [email p o ec ed]s, [email p o ec ed]
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND CURRICULUM, 2018
VOL. 31, NO. 1, 94–110
h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/07908318.2017.1350189
Räsänen, Salö, & Schwach, 2015). As English is he main language o science and echnol-
ogy as well as he global lingua anca o academia, i s use as he medium o ins uc ion is
becoming inc easingly mo e common all o e he wo ld (see e.g. Dimo a, Hul g en, &
Jensen, 2015; Hu & Lei, 2014; Mau anen, Hynninen, & Ran a, 2010; To es-Ola e, 2012).
In Eu ope, he sp ead o English as a Medium o Ins uc ion (EMI) has been ein o ced
by he inc eased mobili y associa ed wi h he de elopmen o he Eu opean Highe Edu-
ca ion A ea. A ecen s udy by he Academic Coope a ion Associa ion (ACA) on EMI in
Eu ope lis s he ollowing main easons o jus i y EMI (Wäch e & Maiwo m, 2014):
.Need o aise he in e na ional p o ile o he ins i u ion
.Aboli ion o language obs acles o he en olmen o o eign s uden s
.Imp o emen in he in e na ional compe ences o domes ic s uden s
.Compensa ion o inancial sho alls by inc easing en olmen and income
.B ain gain by ec ui ing in e na ional academic s a
.Al uis ic mo i e(s) in con ibu ing o de elopmen
An addi ional eason ha is mo e o en exp essed by uni e si ies in Sou he n Eu ope is he
impo ance o imp o ing s uden s’English language p oficiency (Cenoz, 2009; Cos a &
Coleman, 2013; Fo ane , 2013). This s udy aims a explo ing he a i udes and anxie ies
o business and educa ion s uden s owa ds English in he Basque Coun y, a mul ilingual
con ex whe e exposu e o English is limi ed bu in e na ionalisa ion is an impo an aim o
he uni e si y.
Backg ound o he s udy
Simila ends and di e en a es in EMI
EMI in highe educa ion is sp eading all o e Eu ope bu he e a e impo an di e ences
when No he n Eu ope and Sou he n Eu ope a e compa ed and he e a e also ema kable
di e ences ac oss disciplines. Wäch e and Maiwo m (2014) use h ee indica o s o es i-
ma e he di e ences in EMI in highe educa ion: he pe cen age o ins i u ions o e ing
EMI, he p opo ion o p og ammes p o ided in English and he numbe o s uden s
en olled in EMI p og ammes. The ankings o he coun ies wi h he mos and he leas
p o ision o EMI based on he combina ion o he h ee indica o s can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Ranking o coun ies acco ding o EMI in Eu opean highe educa ion.
Coun ies high in he ankings Coun ies low in he ankings
Ne he lands 1 Poland 18
Denma k 2 Slo ak Republic 18
Sweden 3 I aly 20
Finland 4 F ance 21
Cyp us 5 Tu key 21
Swi ze land 6 Spain 23
Li huania 7 Po ugal 24
La ia 8 Romania 25
Aus ia 9 G eece 26
No way 9 Bulga ia 27
C oa ia 28
Sou ce: Adap ed om Wäch e and Maiwo m (2014, p. 47).
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND CURRICULUM 95
The highes and lowes sco es in he anking p o ide an indica ion o he di e ences
among coun ies in Eu ope. The da a on he pe cen age o ins i u ions o e ing EMI in
di e en coun ies a e also ema kable. Hal o mo e o he ins i u ions o e EMI in
coun ies such as Finland, Sweden, he Ne he lands and Iceland, he pe cen age eaching
80% in he i s wo. The p opo ion o ins i u ions o e ing EMI is a ound 20% o lowe in
coun ies such as Spain, G eece, F ance, Bulga ia, I aly, C oa ia and Po ugal (see Wäch e &
Maiwo m, 2014).
Simila di e ences ha e also been poin ed ou by Hul g en, Jensen, and Dimo a (2015)
when looking a mas e ’s p og ammes en i ely o pa ly in English: ‘The e is a a he s iking
no h–sou h di ide wi h he No dic and Bal ic s a es ha ing a highe p opo ion o English-
medium mas e ’s p og ammes pe 100,000 inhabi an s han Sou he n Eu ope’(p. 3). Com-
pa ing 11 Eu opean coun ies, Hul g en e al. (2015, p. 4) epo ha he e a e nine mas e ’s
p og ammes in English pe 100,000 inhabi an s in Iceland, 7.9 in Sweden and 6.5 in
Denma k, ye he a e age is less han 1 in Ge many, Spain, I aly, Tu key and C oa ia.
The sp ead o EMI in Eu ope has been he subjec o some deba e. Ku ee a and Ai ey
(2014) discuss he need o p ese e he use o Swedish in academic con ex s, because
English is widely used in Scandina ian uni e si ies. Mo ensen (2014) e e s o he ea
o ‘domain loss’de i ed om he inc eased use o English in highe educa ion in
Denma k. The idea ha some languages will be excluded om high le el academic
domains a he expense o English is discussed in coun ies whe e he na ional languages
a e no e y s ong in demog aphic e ms and also in some bilingual and mul ilingual
egions whe e mino i y languages a e spoken.
Ano he cha ac e is ic o EMI is ha i is no sp ead in a uni o m way ac oss disciplines.
The di e ences ac oss disciplines can be obse ed in he dis ibu ion o English- augh
mas e ’s deg ees in Eu ope (B enn-Whi e & Fae he, 2013).Twen y-eigh pe cen o he
mas e ’s p og ammes in business and economics a e augh h ough he medium o
English while he pe cen ages a e much lowe in applied sciences, p o essions and a s
(7%) and humani ies and a (8%). Bol on and Ku ee a (2012) epo ed he esul s o a
su ey conduc ed a S ockholm Uni e si y. Pa icipan s we e a o al o 4524 s uden s,
3277 unde g adua es and 1247 mas e ’s deg ee s uden s. They ound ha EMI was
mo e widesp ead in science and social sciences han in humani ies and law. EMI was
used mo e a he mas e ’s le el han a he unde g adua e le el. Ku ee a and Ai ey
(2014) also epo ed he di e ences in he numbe o PhD heses in English ac oss disci-
plines in Sweden. The highes pe cen ages can be ound in science, medicine, echnology,
philosophy and economics, and he lowes in educa ion, a s, eligion and his o y. The
di e ences among disciplines can also be ound in o he uni e si ies such as he Uni e si y
o he Basque Coun y, whe e he s udy epo ed he e was conduc ed.
A i udes owa ds EMI, anxie y and gende
The di e ences ac oss disciplines also a ec a i udes owa ds EMI. Fo example, Bol on
and Ku ee a (2012) epo ed in he su ey conduc ed a S ockholm Uni e si y ha s u-
den s gene ally suppo ed English-medium cou ses, al hough he esul s we e mo e
mixed o humani ies. Ai ey e al. (2015) conside ed he esul s o se e al s udies on lec-
u e and s uden a i udes in highe educa ion and concluded ha he e a e impo an
di e ences ac oss disciplines.
96 A. SANTOS ET AL.
The e a e mixed eelings ega ding he implemen a ion o EMI in Sou he n Eu ope,
whe e i is usually op ional. Campagna and Pulcini (2014) discuss he si ua ion in I aly
whe e he use o EMI in some ins i u ions is s ongly con es ed. One o he main chal-
lenges is he le el o English language p o iciency held by eaching s a and s uden s
in coun ies such as I aly and Spain. Cos a and Coleman (2013) epo ed on he esul s
o a su ey conduc ed in 38 I alian uni e si ies. Thei indings indica e ha he acul ies
whe e EMI is mos widesp ead a e Economics and Enginee ing and ha he expe ience
o eaching h ough he medium o English is posi i e.
An addi ional challenge is ha English is a hi d language in some bilingual a eas, such
as Ca alonia, Valencia and he Basque Coun y in Spain. In hese egions, he challenge o
implemen ing EMI is e en g ea e . Fi s ly, he le el o EF is mo e limi ed han in No he n
Eu ope and wha is mo e, English can po en ially be seen as g owing a he expense o he
mino i y language. The o icial use o he mino i y language in highe educa ion has been
p omo ed by language policies de eloped since he 1980. These policies ha e encou aged
he use o Basque and Ca alan o eaching and esea ch a all le els o highe educa ion.
Sole -Ca bonell and Gallego-Balsà (2016) epo ed how Ca alan is he main language o
ins uc ion a he Uni e si y o Lleida in Ca alonia a he unde g adua e le el, bu ha
English is becoming s onge a he g adua e le el. The main language o doc o al disse -
a ions is Spanish (60.2%) while he pe cen ages o heses w i en in English (18%) and
Ca alan (20.7%) a e simila . Block (2016, p. 108) concluded ha ‘i is English, and no
Spanish, which poses he mos se ious long- e m h ea o e o s o make Ca alan he
dominan ehicula language in he uppe echelons o HE ( he w i ing o MA disse a ions
and PhD heses)’.
Llu da, Co s, and A mengol (2013, p. 218) conduc ed a s udy on s uden s who pa ici-
pa ed in an EMI p og amme a a Ca alan uni e si y and epo ed hei posi i e a i udes
bu poin ed ou ha hese a i udes a e no necessa ily ‘ ep esen a i e o he o e all
s uden body, which would p obably be mo e c i ical o any policy a emp ing o inc ease
he p esence o English in he academic con ex ’. Ano he in e es ing poin is ha s uden s
expec ed o be able o choose he language o he cou se, so aking some cou ses in
English was no compulso y. They wan ed cou ses o e ed in English o also be a ailable
in Ca alan and/o Spanish. S uden s ga e as hei main eason o choosing a cou se
augh in English he possibili y o imp o e hei language skills. Rega ding he impli-
ca ions o in e na ionalisa ion o Ca alan, Ga e and Gallego Balsà (2014, p. 371) epo ed
mixed a i udes on pa o 150 local s uden s a he Uni e si y o Lleida. The wo y abou
he using Ca alan less o en can be seen in he ollowing commen :
C ec que el ca alà po so i pe judica . Si énen es udian s de o a segu amen sab an anglès i
ambé cas ellà, pe ò no el ca alà. Això a que s’hagi de can ia el ca alà pel cas ellà i pe an
el ca a là s’usa mol menys. [I hink Ca alan could be damaged. I o eign s uden s come,
hey will p obably know bo h English and Spanish, bu no Ca alan. This means ha we
ha e o swi ch o Spanish, and he e o e, Ca alan is used much less.] (2014, p. 371)
Fo ane (2013) conduc ed a s udy a he Uni e si y Jaume I o Cas elló in he egion o
Valencia. She epo ed some nega i e a i udes owa ds EMI bu also owa ds Spanish
and Ca alan by some s uden s. Simila ly, Doiz, Lasagabas e , and Sie a (2013) ound
ha a numbe o s uden s do no ha e a posi i e a i ude owa ds EMI in he Basque
Coun y whe e English is also a hi d language. They ga e wo di e en easons o
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND CURRICULUM 97
hese a i udes: he lack o confidence abou hei p oficiency in English and he nega i e
e ec ha he inc easing p esence o English can ha e on Basque. La inaga and Amu io
(2015) conduc ed a s udy among academic s a and epo ed ha EMI can cause conce n
and mis us because o ‘ he possible educ ion and dissolu ion o he eaching space won
o he mino i y language’(p. 165) bu o he pa icipan s did no see EMI as a h ea . The
po en ial e ec o English on Basque can also be el in online discussions. Zabala Unzalu
(2015) explains ha he e a e posi i e aspec s in in e na ionalisa ion and using English in
doc o al heses bu she also exp esses he wo y abou i s implica ions o he Basque
language:
Joe a ho ek ondo ioak di u euska a en e egis o akademiko-p o esionalen ga apen e a inkape-
nean …..Bes e hizkun zen e egis o espezializa uen gale a edo ga apen eza da ingelesak komu-
nikazio akademiko-p o esionalean duen lingua anca moduko e abile a en albo-kal ee ako ba .
[This end has consequences o he de elopmen and consolida ion o he academic-p o-
essional egis e in Basque …. The loss o poo de elopmen o specialized egis e s o
o he languages is colla e al damage esul ing om he use o English as a lingua anca in
academic-p o essional communica ion.]
In spi e o he wo ies abou mino i y languages, a i udes owa ds EMI a e qui e posi i e in
many coun ies in Sou he n Eu ope whe e EMI is usually op ional. Howe e , as he le el o
p o iciency in English is lowe han in No he n Eu opean coun ies, EMI could po en ially
imply a highe le el o anxie y han in coun ies whe e he e is mo e exposu e and mo e
oppo uni ies o use English. Fo eign language anxie y is a complex mul idimensional con-
s uc ha can in luence he p ocess o lea ning a o eign language. Ho wi z, Ho wi z, and
Cope (1986, p. 128) de ined o eign language anxie y as ‘a dis inc complex o sel -pe cep-
ions, belie s, eelings, and beha iou s ela ed o class oom language lea ning a ising om
he uniqueness o he language lea ning p ocess’. Dewaele and MacIn y e (2014) ound ha
s uden s wi h a highe compe ence le el in he o eign language ha e lowe le els o
o eign language class oom anxie y and highe le els o o eign language enjoymen .
San os, Cenoz, and Go e (2015) also epo ed signi ican di e ences in communica i e
anxie y be ween pa icipan s who ha e di e en le els o p o iciency in English among
young adul s in he Basque Coun y. These esul s con i m p e ious s udies ha ha e associ-
a ed English language p o iciency wi h highe le els o anxie y in o he con ex s (see, e.g.
Liu, 2006; Thompson & Lee, 2013).
Ano he in e es ing ac o when analysing EMI in highe educa ion is gende because o
i s po en ial e ec on a i udes and anxie y. In gene al e ms, emale lea ne s’a i udes
owa ds o eign language lea ning a e mo e posi i e han male lea ne s’a i udes
(Jiménez Ca alán, 2003) bu hei le el o anxie y is highe (Cheng, 2002; Dewaele, MacIn-
y e, Boud eau, & Dewaele, 2016; Lien, 2011;Öz ü k & Gü büz, 2013; Pa k & F ench, 2013;
Thompson, 2015). Mo e posi i e a i udes owa ds o eign language lea ning ha e been
associa ed wi h emale s uden s. Koul, Roy, Kaewkuekool, and Ploisawaschai (2009)
ca ied ou a s udy a wo uni e si ies and a oca ional college in Thailand. They ound
ha emales no only had highe le els o ins umen al mo i a ion and language p o i-
ciency bu ha hey also ‘had signi ican ly highe le els o pe cei ed o eign language
anxie y han males al hough p e ious esea ch has no ed ha males a e less likely o
admi anxie y han emales’(p. 685). Pa k and F ench (2013) conduc ed a s udy on uni e -
si y s uden s aking an English con e sa ion cou se in Ko ea and ound ha emale
98 A. SANTOS ET AL.
s uden s sel - epo ed highe le els o anxie y han male s uden s. Öz ü k and Gü büz
(2013) ca ied ou a s udy among uni e si y s uden s in Tu key and epo ed ha bo h
emale and male uni e si y s uden s expe ience communica i e anxie y, wi h emale s u-
den s being mo e mo i a ed bu also mo e anxious han male s uden s when communi-
ca ing in English. Dewaele e al. (2016) ound ha emales el mo e wo ied abou e o s
and less con iden when using he o eign language bu hey also showed mo e in e es
and enjoymen in he o eign language class oom. The s udy conduc ed by Ga galianou,
Muehl eld, U big, and Van Wi eloos uijn (2015) in a business school a a Du ch uni e si y
discusses he highe le el o anxie y p esen ed by emale s uden s by explaining he
complex ela ionship be ween anxie y and pe sonali y and also he di e ences be ween
males and emales in willingness o admi o anxie y.
EMI a he Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y
The Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y is he la ges uni e si y in he Basque Au onomous
Communi y and i s o icial languages a e Basque and Spanish. This implies he igh o use
ei he o hose languages o each and lea n in Basque o Spanish, and o publish and
conduc esea ch in ei he o he wo languages (Cenoz, 2012). Nowadays app oxima ely
hal o he unde g adua e s uden s ha e Basque as he language o ins uc ion and he
o he hal Spanish. The Mul ilingualism Plan app o ed in 2005 added he possibili y o
using a o eign language as well (Cenoz & Go e , 2012). The plan aims o imp o e s u-
den s’p o iciency in a o eign language (mainly English) in o de o ha e access o aca-
demic in o ma ion, mobili y and be e wo k/ca ee p ospec s. I also aims a a ac ing
o eign s uden s and academic s a .
The sp ead o EMI is qui e modes when compa ed o uni e si ies in No he n Eu ope.
In he yea 2015/2016 he e we e 277 cou ses being augh in English a unde g adua e
le el, which is a e y small numbe compa ed o he o al numbe o cou ses a he uni-
e si y. In 2014–2015, ou o 33,085 unde g adua e s uden s, a o al o 4200 (12.7%)
we e en olled in he mul ilingualism p og amme bu he e a e subs an ial di e ences
ac oss disciplines. Business s udies and economics o e a o al o 79 cou ses in English
while educa ion o e s only eigh subjec s apa om he speci ic cou ses o specialise
as an English language eache . Se en een o he 100 mas e ’s p og ammes o e ed by
he uni e si y a e ei he pa ially o comple ely augh h ough he medium o English.
In he yea 2015 o e hal o he PhD heses we e in Spanish (61%) bu he pe cen age
o heses in English is inc easing (30.9%) while he pe cen age in Basque is lowe han
in he o he wo languages (8.1%). The di e ences ac oss disciplines a e also ema kable:
91.2% o he heses in English we e in science, enginee ing and echnology and heal h
science while only 8.8% we e in social science and humani ies.
I is di icul o know o wha ex en EMI will sp ead in he u u e in con ex s such as he
Basque Coun y due o he con luence o se e al elemen s. P o iciency and exposu e o
he English language a e limi ed in compa ison o coun ies in No he n Eu ope bu he
di e ences be ween disciplines a e also p ominen . These elemen s, oge he wi h he
use o wo o he languages, Basque and Spanish in highe educa ion, may con ibu e o
he de elopmen o speci ic a i udes owa ds English and could po en ially esul in
high le els o anxie y conce ning i s use. This s udy aims a explo ing he a i udes and
anxie ies o business and educa ion s uden s owa ds English. These wo disciplines
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND CURRICULUM 99
we e chosen because hey co espond o he bigges di e ences in he implemen a ion o
EMI a he Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y. The s udy also looks a he di e ences
be ween male and emale s uden s. The esea ch ques ions a e he ollowing:
RQ1. Do uni e si y s uden s majo ing in business and uni e si y s uden s majo ing in edu-
ca ion ha e di e en a i udes owa ds English?
RQ2. Do uni e si y s uden s majo ing in business and uni e si y s uden s majo ing in edu-
ca ion ha e di e ences in communica i e anxie y?
RQ3. A e he e di e ences in a i udes and anxie y be ween male and emale s uden s?
Me hodology
Pa icipan s
This s udy includes 360 pa icipan s, 214 emale (59.4%) and 146 male (40.6%). The mean
age o he pa icipan s was 20.3 yea s (SD = 2.7). Hal o he pa icipan s (N= 180) we e
uni e si y s uden s majo ing in business (50.6% male and 49.4% emale) and he o he
hal (N= 180) we e uni e si y s uden s majo ing in educa ion (30.6% male and 69.4%
emale). Bo h g oups we e unde g adua e s uden s in hei second o hi d yea a he
Uni e si y o he Basque Coun y. Business s uden s we e aking pa in he Mul ilingual
Plan and ook one o mo e subjec s h ough he medium o English.
Wi h ega d o he linguis ic epe oi e o he pa icipan s, 60.3% (n= 217) lis ed
Spanish as hei mo he ongue, while 39.7% (n= 143) indica ed Basque as hei i s
language. The a e age age a which hese pa icipan s s a ed lea ning English was
5.7 (SD = 1.78). Bo h g oups sel - a ed hei language p o iciency in Basque, Spanish and
English on a scale om 1 o 10 o lis ening, speaking, eading and w i ing. The a e age
sco es o he h ee languages can be seen in Table 2.
Sel - a ings o p o iciency in he h ee languages indica ed ha pa icipan s we e highly
p o icien in Spanish and Basque. The lowes sco es we e gi en o hei hi d language,
English. The e we e no s a is ically signi ican di e ences be ween business and educa ion
s uden s in any o he languages.
Ins umen s
The ins umen s used o collec he da a we e he ollowing:
Backg ound ques ionnai e: The backg ound ques ions we e designed o ob ain demo-
g aphic, academic and linguis ic da a abou he pa icipan s. This ques ionnai e included
he sel - a ings o p o iciency in Basque, Spanish and English.
A i ude ques ionnai e: The a i ude ques ionnai e was based on Ga dne ’s(2004) A i-
ude/Mo i a ion Tes Ba e y and consis ed o 19 closed i ems. Pa icipan s we e asked
Table 2. P o iciency in Basque, Spanish and English.
Business s uden s Educa ion s uden s
Mean SD Mean SD
Basque 35.46 6.02 34.45 6.41
Spanish 37.40 3.99 37.00 3.78
English 25.38 5.50 24.41 6.03
100 A. SANTOS ET AL.
o a e s a emen s on a 7-poin Like scale anging om (1) ‘s ongly disag ee’ o (7)
‘s ongly ag ee’. Two i ems o he ques ionnai e had a nega i e alue and hey we e
e e sed when coding. In e nal consis ency o his scale was measu ed and a C onbach’s
alpha o 0.89 was ob ained. The a i ude ques ionnai e was in Basque and Spanish, so pa -
icipan s could choose he e sion which hey el mo e com o able wi h.
Anxie y ques ionnai e: This ques ionnai e was an adap a ion o he Fo eign
Language Class oom Anxie y Scale ques ionnai e de eloped by Ho wi z e al. (1986),
which is one o he mos ex ensi ely used scales o e alua e o eign language
anxie y in he ields o second language acquisi ion, psychology and educa ion. As
pa icipan s in ou s udy we e no aking English language classes, he ques ionnai e
was adap ed by selec ing he i ems ha we e no linked o language classes and also
ook in o accoun he ques ionnai e used by Rubio Alcalá (2004) o aSpanishcon ex .
The anxie y ques ionnai e consis ed o 13 closed i ems. Pa icipan s we e asked o a e
s a emen s on a 7-poin Like scale anging om (1) ‘s ongly disag ee’ o (7) ‘s ongly
ag ee’. One i em o he ques ionnai e had a nega i e alue which was e e sed when
coding. In e nal consis ency o his scale was measu ed and a C onbach’salphao
0.81 was ob ained. As be o e, pa icipan s could choose o ill in he ques ionnai e
ei he in Basque o Spanish.
P ocedu e
Pa icipan s signed a consen o m allowing he da a o be used o he pu poses o he
esea ch s udy. The da a we e collec ed du ing he s uden s’classes in he sp ing o
2015 and we e analysed wi h he SPSS p og am.
Resul s
Business and educa ion s uden s’a i udes owa ds English
The i s esea ch ques ion aims a analysing business and educa ion s uden s’a i udes
owa ds he use o English. In o de o answe his ques ion, we i s conduc ed an explo a-
o y ac o analysis (EFA) o examine he unde lying dimensions o he a i ude ques ion-
nai e. Then an analysis o a iance (ANOVA) was ca ied ou o es ablish he di e ences in
a i udes be ween s uden s in business and educa ion.
The esul o he a imax o a ed ac o analysis was a wo- ac o solu ion wi h he 19
i ems. The i s ac o was labelled as ‘Posi i e a i udes’, and indica ed pa icipan s’eage -
ness and in e es when lea ning English. This ac o accoun ed o 35.58% o he o al a -
iance and included 11 i ems (1–11). The second ac o , labelled as ‘Pe sonal commi men
and mo i a ion o lea n English’, which indica ed pa icipan s’e o , accoun ed o 8.86%
o he o al a iance and comp omised 8 i ems (12–19). The loadings esul s a e summa -
ised in Table 3.
Once he ac o analysis was ca ied ou and wo ac o s we e ob ained, he i ems
belonging o each ac o we e a e aged so as o use hese a e aged sco es as dependen
a iables. Pa icipan s in his s udy we e di ided in o g oups acco ding o hei academic
ield and hen a one-way ANOVA was conduc ed o explo e he di e ences be ween
business and educa ion s uden s’a i udes on he wo ac o s. The esul s indica ed ha
he a i udes owa ds English seemed in gene al a he posi i e bu he e we e also
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND CURRICULUM 101
been epo ed in o he s udies (Dewaele e al., 2016; Koul e al., 2009; Llu da, Doiz, & Sie a,
2015). Female pa icipan s ha e signi ican ly highe le els o anxie y han male pa ici-
pan s, which is also a common inding in o he s udies (see e.g. Dewaele e al., 2016;
Öz ü k & Gü büz, 2013; Pa k & F ench, 2013). The mos in e es ing inding, howe e , is
ha while emale business s uden s ha e a mo e posi i e a i ude, hey a e he ones
who su e mo e anxie y. I seems ha emale s uden s aking pa in an EMI p og amme
and acing he challenge o s udying h ough he medium o English, ake mo e espon-
sibili y bu hey also pay he p ice in e ms o conce n abou hei own pe o mance. Ga -
galianou e al. (2015) sugges ha male speake s could be less likely o epo anxie ies
han emale s uden s bu i would be in e es ing o see o wha ex en his emale
acknowledgemen o anxie y is e lec ed in na u al con e sa ions in English.
This s udy ocuses on EMI bu i is limi ed o he compa ison o business and educa ion
s udies in one uni e si y. The s udy has examined a i udes held by uni e si y s uden s
owa ds English and hei anxie y abou he use o English in he Basque Coun y. In
his con ex , whe e a mino i y language is spoken and English is a hi d language, he e
is a slow de elopmen o EMI which is linked o limi ed p o iciency in English, cu en a i-
udes and le els o anxie y. The s udy shows some impo an di e ences no only be ween
business and educa ion s uden s bu also be ween gende s.
Disclosu e s a emen
No po en ial con lic o in e es was epo ed by he au ho s.
Funding
This wo k was suppo ed by he MINECO/FEDER [g an numbe EDU2015-63967-R]; he Basque
Go e nmen [g an numbe DREAM IT-714-13].
ORCID
Alai z San os h p://o cid.o g/0000-0002-6620-5266
Jasone Cenoz h p://o cid.o g/0000-0001-9000-7510
Du k Go e h p://o cid.o g/0000-0001-8379-558X
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