and dynamic scenario related to identity construction and language ideologies which has individual, group, and societal dimensions. Nowadays there is no doubt that the political dimension of language motivation has to be considered (Lasagabaster, 2017).
Foreign Languages: Global English
Education departments the world over are attaching increasing importance to the implementation of bilingual programs in foreign languages, since there is a widespread desire to educate multilingual and multicultural citizens in a context where the linguistic consequences of globalization are more and more evident. Consequently, an ever‐increasing number of schools and universities are offering courses taught in foreign languages, exposing students to teaching through the medium of a foreign language. Since World War II, a global trend has seen English gain importance and replace other foreign languages. In most parts of the world when bilingual education includes the English language, there is generally a consensus support for bilingual education—this is not always the case if the language concerned is a minority language.
In fact, many fear that this hegemony of English will make people lazy about learning other languages or simply make all the other languages unnecessary; it may also hasten the disappearance of minority languages and could cause widespread language death. The study carried out by Dörnyei, Csizér, and Németh (2006) highlights this. These authors examined motivation and language attitudes among 13,000 teenage language learners on three successive occasions (1993, 1999, and 2004). The objective was to describe the impact of sociopolitical changes on the various language attitudes prevailing among Hungarian students and their motivation to learn five foreign languages: English, German, Italian, French, and Russian. The authors state that, despite having a small country as their target, the results are not confined to Hungary but have worldwide implications, as their data can provide valuable information into the actual operation of language globalization.
There was a consistent rank order of the five target languages in the three survey phases, in which English always appeared at the top and Russian at the bottom of the participants' preferences. However, the most outstanding finding was the general decline over time. While English maintained its high educational profile, the remaining languages became less and less appreciated. The authors conclude that the learning of languages other than English is impeded by what they label as the “Englishization” process.
Conclusions
The multifaceted nature of attitudes and motivation has precluded the different theories from representing and tackling them in their total complexity. Many questions have been raised by researchers and educators about their role in second language education, and, in this brief overview, there are several important issues that have not been tackled: the relationship between these concepts and different variables such as gender (Lasagabaster, 2016), the need for greater interdisciplinarity in their study, the need to combine quantitative (self‐report surveys still reign supreme) and qualitative approaches in research, the recent trend to analyze attitudes to multilingualism, or the need to track changes over time (Dörnyei et al., 2015). Attitudes and motivation are not static and they therefore vary due to the influence of people, learning experiences, and the different contexts.
The study of different language‐teaching types of provision and the tasks undertaken presents itself as a potentially very promising field of research regarding the development of motivation. By focusing on different approaches, the researcher can probe their diverse effects and this will certainly be of interest in bilingual contexts, as the presence of different linguistic models is usually the norm. Similarly, the burgeoning presence of bilingual programs in the current lingua franca, English, demands motivational studies focused on the characteristics of the manifold and different contexts where they are being implemented (Lasagabaster, 2016, 2018).
If education authorities intend to implement coherent language policies, it is necessary to know how the different languages in contact are used in the diverse social contexts and how their functions are being extended or restricted. In order to understand this question, we have to know what the linguistic situation of the different languages is, what the existing motivation to learn them is, and which favorable or unfavorable attitudes are held. In this vein, bilingual education programs have much to say in the development of the dynamic nature of attitudes and motivation.
SEE ALSO: English in Asian and European Higher Education; Heritage Languages and Language Policy; Identities and Language Teaching in Classrooms; Motivation in Second Language Acquisition; Teacher Education for Multilingual Education; World Englishes and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
References
1 Ajzen, I. (1988). Attitudes, personality and behaviour. Milton Keynes, England: Open University Press.
2 Basque Government. (2016). Sixth sociolinguistic survey 2016. Vitoria‐Gasteiz, Spain: Basque Government.
3 Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah, NY: Erlbaum.
4 Dörnyei, Z., & Al‐Hoorie, A. (2017). The motivational foundation of learning languages other than global English: Theoretical issues and research directions. Modern Language Journal, 101, 455–68.
5 Dörnyei, Z., Csizér, K., & Németh, N. (2006). Motivation, language attitudes and globalisation: A Hungarian perspective. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.
6 Dörnyei, Z., Henry, A., & Muir, C. (2016). Motivational currents in language learning: Frameworks for focused interventions. New York, NY: Routledge.
7 Dörnyei, Z., MacIntyre, P., & Henry, A. (Eds.) (2015). Motivational dynamics in language learning. Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.
8 Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London, England: Edward Arnold.
9 Lasagabaster, D. (2016). The relationship between motivation, gender, L1 and possible selves in English‐medium instruction. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13, 315–32.
10 Lasagabaster, D. (2017). Language learning motivation and language attitudes in multilingual Spain from an international perspective. Modern Language Journal, 101, 583–96.
11 Lasagabaster, D. (2018). Fostering team teaching: Mapping out a research agenda for English‐medium instruction at university level. Language Teaching, 51, 400–16.
12 Ushioda, E. (2009). A person‐in‐context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. In Z. Dörnyei & E. Ushioda (Eds.), Motivation, language identity and the L2 self (pp. 215–28). Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.
Suggested Readings
1 Dörnyei, Z., & Ushioda, E. (Eds.). (2009). Motivation, language identity and the L2 self. Bristol, England: Multilingual Matters.
2 Garrett, P. (2010). Attitudes to language. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Audiovisual Translation
DELIA CHIARO
Audiovisual translation (AVT) is the term used to refer to the transfer from one language to another of the verbal components contained in audiovisual works and products. Feature films, television programs, theatrical plays, musicals, opera, Web pages, and video games are just some examples of the vast array of audiovisual products available and that require translation. As the word suggests, audiovisuals are made to be both heard (audio)
