A profile of the English spoken by Bulgarian nationals living in Malta : a case study

Abstract

One of the most impressive statistics in the industry of English Language Teaching (ELT) is David Crystal's estimate that there were around two billion speakers of English on the planet in 2008 (Crystal, 2008, p. 30). This, coupled with the fact that only about a quarter of these individuals are native speakers, has opened up some fascinating venues for research when it comes to the qualities of English spoken by non-native speakers. Malta is a small country with a large number of foreigners, many of whom learn English while they live, study and work on the island.

Based on this frequently seen linguistic situation in Malta, the goals of this study, which comprises of three distinct stages, are threefold: to define the characteristics of the English spoken by the Bulgarian population in Malta, if that is possible; to analyze the attitudes and feelings towards English of Bulgarian nationals; and to investigate whether the English spoken by Bulgarians in Malta could be qualified as being English as a Lingua Franca, or "English used as a common means of communication among speakers from different first-language backgrounds" (VOICE, 2001).