Der Untersuchungsgegenstand ist der Einfluss des Lebens und Arbeitens im Ausland auf die Identität von wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern und Lehrkräften – Muttersprachlern. In Anlehnung an Block (2009), Hall (2012) sowie Pavlenko und Blackledge (2004) wird angenommen, dass die Identität dynamisch und vielfältig ist, wobei unterschiedliche Identitäten derselben Person mehr oder weniger relevant in einem bestimmten Kontext sein können (Hall, 2012, S. 33). Darüber hinaus können Identitäten in Zeiten der Globalisierung hybrid (Marotta, 2011) und im Fall der Migration bikulturell sein (Comănaru, Noels & Dewaele, 2017). Die Identität jeder bikulturellen Person variiert allerdings, wie Comănaru et al. (2017, S. 539) betonen, in Abhängigkeit von ihrer Lebensgeschichte, ihren Sprachkenntnissen, ihren psychologischen Merkmalen usw. Außerdem gibt es Hinweise darauf, dass die Mehrsprachigkeit die kognitive Empathie (Dewaele & Li, 2012) und die Aufgeschlossenheit des Geistes erhöht (Włosowicz, 2019), so dass man davon ausgehen kann, dass die Probanden ihre hybriden Identitäten eher als Bereicherung und nicht als Bedrohung für ihre einheimischen Identitäten betrachten, obwohl die Identifikation mit ihrer Muttersprache und Kultur, mit ihrer Familie usw. ein wichtiger Teil ihrer Identität bleibt. Das Forschungsinstrument war ein Fragebogen, der von vierzig wissenschaftlichen Mitarbeitern und Lehrkräften – im Ausland lebenden Muttersprachlern – ausgefüllt wurde. Wie die Forschungsergebnisse beweisen, sind die Identitäten der Befragten in der Tat sehr komplex, hybrid und werden durch viele Faktoren beeinflusst. Muttersprache und Familie bleiben jedoch, z.B. im Gegensatz zum Beruf, sehr wichtige Komponenten der Identität. Die Probanden gaben auch zu, dass die Fremdsprachenkenntnisse sie kulturell, intellektuell und emotional bereichert hatten.
EN
The study investigates the influence of living and working abroad on the identities of researchers and native speaker teachers. Following Block (2009), Hall (2012) and Pavlenko and Blackledge (2004), identity is assumed here to be dynamic and multiple, where the different identities of a person can be more or less relevant in a given context (Hall, 2012, p. 33). Moreover, identities at the time of globalisation tend to be hybrid (Marotta, 2011) and, in the case of migration, they can be bicultural (Comănaru, Noels & Dewaele, 2017), but as Comănaru et al. (2017, p. 539) observe, each bicultural person’s identity is different, depending on his or her life history, language proficiency, psychological traits, etc. Simultaneously, there is evidence that multilingualism increases cognitive empathy (Dewaele & Wei, 2012) and makes people more open-minded (Wlosowicz, 2019), so it could be assumed that the participants would recognise their hybrid identities as an enrichment rather than a threat to their native identities, even though identification with their native languages and cultures, with their families, etc. would remain an important part of their identity. The research tool used in the present study was a questionnaire completed by forty native speaker teachers and researchers living abroad. As the results show, the participants’ identities are indeed highly complex, hybrid and influenced by different factors, however, the native language and the family remain very important components of identity, unlike, for example, one’s profession. Still, they also admitted that foreign language knowledge enriched them culturally, intellectually and emotionally.
The study investigates the linguistic and cultural experiences of Erasmus+ students from Portugal at the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Special attention is paid to the chal- lenges encountered by the students in both communication and coping with cultural differences, as well as to their language needs, ways of communicating, attitudes towards the Czech culture, and the role of English in communication. The research tool was a questionnaire covering a number of questions related to the purpose of the study. As the results show, while the intercultural experience was generally enriching and the participants appreciated some interesting aspects of the Czech culture, they were particularly disappointed by the limited number of Czechs able to speak English and some of the academic teachers’ low levels of language proficiency in English. In fact, this is not limited to the lack of language skills, as communication problems can also lead to the perception of the interlocutor as unpleasant and unhelpful.
The study investigates the relationship between English Philology students’ motivation for studying Business English and their actual knowledge of business terminology, some underlying economic concepts and basic rules of business correspondence. It is hypothesized that students who have higher motivation also possess more extensive knowledge of Business English, yet motivation alone is not enough but must be accompanied by a real effort put in studying the language. The study consisted of a test focusing on business terminology, the correction of errors in a business letter, and a test of selected economic concepts, followed by a questionnaire. As the results show, both the students’ motivation and knowledge of Business English are varied. In particular, their knowledge varies between years of studies and areas of terminology or skills. In fact, some of the terms proved difficult even for relatively advanced students. Thus, even though motivation does play a role, its role does not seem to be decisive, as Business English is a complex field whose mastery requires extensive study and a lot of sustained effort. However, their awareness of their language needs is quite high, so they are likely to remain motivated and to attain a high level of competence in Business English.
The purpose of the study has been an analysis of Polish students’ cued translation of Polish (L1) and English or French (L2) sentences into Portuguese (third or additional language in De Angelis’s (2007) terminology). In particular, the study investigates cross-linguistic interaction (Herdina and Jessner’s (2002) term) in multilingual processing involved in L3 production. In fact, translation constitutes a special case of production because, on the one hand, the content is already contained in the L1 or L2 source sentences, but at the same time, this is not necessarily a facilitation, as the cues may require the use of words or structures the participants might not use in free production.The article is based on two studies carried out with thirty and forty-two students of Portuguese philology respectively. As the results show, cross-linguistic interaction in various directions was observed, not only from L2 (English or French), L3 (in those participants for whom Portuguese was an L4 and their L3 was Spanish or Italian), L4, etc. or, intralingually, from Portuguese, but also from L1, despite the distance between Polish and Portuguese and the special status of the native language. However, the amount of interference and/or negative transfer often depended on the sentence rather than on the language combination. The diversity of the observed interactions also supports Herdina and Jessner’s (2002) claim of the dynamic and unpredictable nature of cross-linguistic interaction.
Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie badań na temat przetwarzania czterech jednocześnie aktywowanych języków, polskiego jako L1, niemieckiego jako L2, angielskiego jako L3 i szwedzkiego jako L4, w pisemnej produkcji językowej w języku czwartym. Analizowane są błędy, których źródło można przypisać transferowi negatywnemu lub interferencjom, jak również umiejętność uczestników wykorzystywania podobieństw między językami, która odzwierciedla ich świadomość językową. Jak pokazują wyniki, rzeczywiście następuje aktywacja wszystkich czterech języków i biorą one udział w procesie przetwarzania danych językowych, choć równocześnie można zaobserwować wiele interakcji wewnątrzjęzykowych między szwedzkimi słowami i strukturami gramatycznymi, a pomimo odległości typologicznej, język ojczysty również pozostaje znaczącym źródłem transferu i interferencji.
EN
The study aims to investigate the processing of four simultaneously activated languages, that is, Polish as L1, German as L2, English as L3 and Swedish as L4, in written L4 production. Errors which can be attributed to negative transfer and interference, as well as the participants’ ability to exploit the similarities between the languages, which reflects their language awareness, are analysed here. As the results show, all the four languages are indeed activated and participate in the processing, but at the same time a lot of intralingual interaction between Swedish words and structures can be observed, and despite the language distance, the native language also remains an important source of transfer and interference.
DE
Die Studie hat zum Zweck, eine Untersuchung der Verarbeitung von vier gleichzeitig aktivierten Sprachen, d.h. des Polnischen als L1, des Deutschen als L2, des Englischen als L3 und des Schwedischen als L4, in der schriftlichen Produktion der L4 zu präsentieren. Es werden auf den negativen Transfer und Interferenzen zurückführbare Fehler analysiert, aber auch die Fähigkeit der ProbandInnen, Ähnlichkeiten zwischen den Sprachen zu nutzen, was ihr Sprachbewusstsein widerspiegelt. Wie die Ergebnisse zeigen, werden tatsächlich alle vier Sprachen aktiviert, aber gleichzeitig lassen sich viele intralinguale Interaktionen zwischen schwedischen Wörtern und Strukturen beobachten, und trotz der Sprachdistanz bleibt auch die Muttersprache eine wichtige Transfer- bzw. Interferenzquelle.
Celem artykułu było zbadanie postaw studentów wobec nauczania korespondencji biznesowej w języku angielskim z użyciem wyobraźni i humoru, wyrażonych w kwestionariuszu i odzwierciedlonych w pracach pisemnych. Zakładano, że wykorzystanie wyobraźni, kreatywności i humoru będzie motywować studentów do ćwiczenia korespondencji biznesowej i rozwoju umiejętności. Badanie oparte jest zarówno na analizie prac pisemnych studentów, jak i na kwestionariuszu dotyczącym symulacji i humoru w ćwiczeniu korespondencji biznesowej. Jak wskazują wyniki, prace studentów znacznie różnią się od standardowego listu, którego wzór znajdziemy w podręczniku. Również kwestionariusz pokazuje różnorodne postawy: jedni studenci uważają tego typu symulacje za ciekawe i motywujące, natomiast inni odbierają je jako sztuczne. Studenci wolą uczyć się poważnej korespondencji, która jest bliższa ich przyszłej pracy zawodowej. Można wyciągnąć wniosek, że chociaż używanie wyobraźni i humoru ma pewne zalety, takie jak motywowanie studentów i rozwijanie ich kreatywności, to nauczanie powinno skupiać się na autentycznej korespondencji biznesowej, jaką będą prowadzić w przyszłości pracownicy.
EN
The purpose of the study has been an investigation of students’ attitudes towards the teaching of business correspondence in English with the use of imagination and humour, as expressed in the questionnaire and reflected in the students’ writing. It was assumed that the use of imagination, creativity and humour would motivate the students to practise business writing and develop their skills. The study is based on both an analysis of students’ actual writing as well as a questionnaire regarding their attitudes towards simulation and humour in practising business correspondence. As the results show, the students’ writing varies considerably, ranging from standard letters modelled on textbook examples, up to humorous letters from and to imaginary companies. Similarly, the questionnaire reveals a variety of attitudes: some students regard simulations of this kind as interesting and motivating, while others find them artificial. They also tend to prefer learning serious correspondence, which is closer to their future professional work. It can thus be concluded that, while using imagination and even humour has some benefits, such as motivating students and developing their creativity, the focus of teaching should be on more authentic business correspondence, closer to that which they will use in the future.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.