Positioning of Spoken Language by Erasmus Exchange Students – Positivist Perspective
Positioning of Spoken Language by Erasmus Exchange Students – Positivist Perspective

Summary/Abstract: The paper presents a study based on the notion of positioning applied to examine Erasmus Exchange students’ approach to spoken language. First, two forms of positioning are discussed as constantly cooccurring, requiring different methodologies, and being needed in the realm of education. Then, one of them, namely positivist, is selected for the study and the rationale and construction of the respective tool are outlined. It is analysed how highly the respondents’ place speech in the area of beliefs, affect, actions (observable behaviours), and thinking, and how these four facets contribute to the overall approach. The results point to their limited appreciation of spoken language, to beliefs not being reflected in actions, and to different purposes of language use being placed on a similar level of recognition. The study is to be considered to present only one “side of the coin”, as findings obtained with positivist means need to be complemented and interpreted through the prism of constructivist data, with the former grasping the students’ approach as a scalable and gradable concept, and the latter implying such a treatment whereby spoken language is a multidimensional construct not falling subject to any pre-set classifications or closed hierarchisations.

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