Keeping up with ELF: An Analysis of Erasmus Students’ Attitudes

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to give an insight into the perspectives of Erasmus students. The focus is on their experience, in particular, and how and to what degree ELF speakers in the study became accustomed to a new educational environment, and whether any obstacles materialised in the process. The goal is to demonstrate the significance of ELF-awareness and the role of English in this particular speech community. Qualitative methods were deployed to obtain the research results i.e. semi-structured, informal ELF conversations between Erasmus exchange students at a university in Austria were tape-recorded and transcribed accordingly. During the interviews, students were asked questions about English as spoken at the university, and were instructed to compare and contrast the experiences gained at a university in Austria with those at their primary universities of instruction. The analysis will show the extent to which a new surrounding can influence the attitudes of Erasmus students.