Spoken Academic L2 English. Dutch University Lecturers' English

This thesis examines spoken academic L2 English. It looks at the spoken language of Dutch university lecturers in their L2 English spoken lectures, against the background of the internationalisation of higher education, high ambitions of Dutch universities, and the emergence of the English language as the common academic spoken language, the quality of which receives criticism and is under-researched. The study focuses on the differences in linguistic richness between the L1 Dutch spoken language and the L2 English spoken language of nine Dutch university lecturers, lecturing in the Humanities and in the Social Sciences. Three methods are applied: a corpus analysis focused on the linguistic variety of the L2 English lecture language compared to the linguistic variety of the L1 Dutch lecture language, interviews with the participating lecturers aimed at complementing the corpus analysis data, and an expert analysis focused on the non-L1 English features of the L2 English spoken...Show moreThis thesis examines spoken academic L2 English. It looks at the spoken language of Dutch university lecturers in their L2 English spoken lectures, against the background of the internationalisation of higher education, high ambitions of Dutch universities, and the emergence of the English language as the common academic spoken language, the quality of which receives criticism and is under-researched. The study focuses on the differences in linguistic richness between the L1 Dutch spoken language and the L2 English spoken language of nine Dutch university lecturers, lecturing in the Humanities and in the Social Sciences. Three methods are applied: a corpus analysis focused on the linguistic variety of the L2 English lecture language compared to the linguistic variety of the L1 Dutch lecture language, interviews with the participating lecturers aimed at complementing the corpus analysis data, and an expert analysis focused on the non-L1 English features of the L2 English spoken lecture language. Both quantitative and qualitative data are presented. Special attention is paid to the adjectives and the verbs used, i.e., their variety, frequency of usage, sophistication, and correct or incorrect usage specifically in the L2 English lecture language. The study shows the linguistic complexities of studying L2 English academic lecture language. In the epilogue it is argued that L2 English academic lecture language deserves more attention.Show less

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Spoken Academic L2 English. Dutch University Lecturers' English