Do our students have an attitude problem towards english? : a sociolinguistic study

Abstract

Language learning is not a merely individualistic act but is strongly related to social attitudes prevailing in the learner's community. Throughout its journey towards becoming a bilingual country, Malta has been bestowed with a rich linguistic inheritance, charged with social implications related to particular languages. This study is a quantitative investigation of language attitudes towards English existing among Form 3 students attending six Secondary Schools. Attitudes were elicited during face-to-face interviews, using direct methods of inquiry and these were contrasted along four major variables: gender, type of school attended, locality and socio-economic status. The results indicate that there are some significant attitudinal differences in relation to specific contexts. Generally, students show a positive inclination towards learning English because they are well aware of the opportunities that such knowledge will provide them with. Thus, respondents indicate a general positive attitude towards instrumental orientation as they value English as a key for economic success. On the other hand participants do not feel the need to use the English language in their most intimate domains, thus indicating a negative integrative motive. Contrary to what was predicted, students attending the private schools do not use English more than their counterparts, nor do they show a more positive integrative outlook towards the English language. Females harbour positive attitudes more than males. Despite these general positive instrumental attitudes, the conclusion drawn by this study was that there is no inclination from these students to accept English as pait of their bilingual identity. Thus, there is a marked division between utilitarian value and the question of identity.