LINGUIST List 33.2217
Wed Jul 06 2022
Diss: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics: Özge Özoğul: '' Foreign Academic Researchers in the Basque Country with a Focus on Multilingualism: Language and Intercultural Competences, Beliefs, and Practices''
Editor for this issue: Sarah Goldfinch <sgoldfinchlinguistlist.org>
Date: 04-Jul-2022
From: Özge Özoğul <ozge.ozogul
gmail.com>
Subject: Foreign Academic Researchers in the Basque Country with a Focus on Multilingualism: Language and Intercultural Competences, Beliefs, and Practices
E-mail this message to a friend Institution: Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU)
Program: Education: School, Language and Society
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2021
Author: Özge Özoğul
Dissertation Title: Foreign Academic Researchers in the Basque Country with a Focus on Multilingualism: Language and Intercultural Competences, Beliefs, and Practices
Dissertation URL:
https://addi.ehu.es/handle/10810/51116 Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
Discourse Analysis
Sociolinguistics
Dissertation Director:
Jasone Cenoz
Durk Gorter
Dissertation Abstract:
This thesis focuses on the multilingualism of foreign academic researchers in academic workplaces and in the wider Basque society. Academic workplaces are by default international and multilingual, and languages and cultures brought to the Basque Country by foreign researchers add further to the richness of this bilingual region. Although English is used as lingua franca in academia, other languages are used by academics depending on who they interact with, the context, and the activities.
The cultural and linguistic diversity in academic workplaces mirrors diversity in increasingly multilingual and multicultural societies. The aim is to investigate foreign researchers’ languages, and how foreign researchers, use their languages, how mobility, language learning and intercultural encounters shape their intercultural competences, their opinions about languages, and to learn about their cultural experiences in the Basque Country. In order to study a group of foreign researchers as multilinguals, the ‘Focus on Multilingualism’ approach developed by Cenoz and Gorter (2011, 2017) has been adapted as the principal framework.
The data for this thesis were collected through an online questionnaire and semi- structured interviews. The questionnaire concerned language competence, language use, language attitudes about multilingualism as well as questions regarding different cultures. The interviews were carried out to gain in-depth knowledge about language use practices and language and cultural experiences in the wider social context.
The thesis demonstrates the relationships between multilingualism and intercultural competence. The profile of the foreign researchers shows that they are all thoroughly multilingual speakers, who also are highly intercultural competent, who in general have positive attitudes towards various languages. In the academic work place, English dominates, but there is some space for other languages as well. The situation in private life is more diverse and different languages are used, although English often has a presence. These foreign researchers use their whole multilingual repertoire and apply flexible language practices. The relationships these researchers maintain with the local work context of the Basque Country can be characterised as in general positive, although they also are confronted with some challenges related to their adaptation and integration in society.
Page Updated: 06-Jul-2022