The world we live in is made up of multilingual people with English generally considered the Lingua Franca. This research wants to discover whether Italian society is welcoming or rejecting this phenomenon.

I created a brief survey composed of 15 questions about the use and perception of the English language by native speakers of Italian:

N° 1 – 5 are about people’s personal information and their use/learning of English;

N° 6 – 10 are about people’s understanding of the English language in advertisement, music and daily conversations;

N° 11 – 15 are about people’s opinion in regard to the spread of English in Italy and in their culture.

I collected 48 responses from Italian native speakers of different ages and background. The majority is studying (at the University or at high school), the rest is working or is unemployed.

AGE

69% 20 - 30

15% 41 - 50

8% 31 - 40

6% <19

2% >50

GENDER

20 MALE

26 FEMALE

WHERE DID YOU LEARN ENGLISH? (Multiple choice) CONSIDERING THE COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES (CEFR), WHAT DO

YOU THINK IS YOUR LEVEL OF ENGLISH?

HOW USEFUL DO YOU THINK THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COULD BE FOR

YOU? (Multiple choice)

English & Advertisement

NOWADAYS A LOT OF ITALIAN ADVERTISEMENT SLOGANS ARE IN

ENGLISH: ARE YOU ALWAYS ABLE TO TRANSLATE THEM AND UNDERSTAND

THE MESSAGE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltLxhxcujaA

English & Music

ARE THE MAJORITY OF THE SONGS YOU LISTEN TO IN ENGLISH OR ITALIAN?

IF YOU MAINLY LISTEN TO ENGLISH SONGS, HOW OFTEN CAN YOU

UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS WITHOUT USING TRANSLATIONS?

English & Conversation

HOW OFTEN IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE DO YOU USE ENGLISH TERMS DURING YOUR

CONVERSATIONS?

OK

Beautiful

Oh My God

Fuck

Creepy

Don’t Worry

Thanks

Bye Bye

Sorry

Love

Easy

Hardcore

Kiss

WhateverBaby

Weekend

Awesome

Cool

Hello

FROM 2014 THE POLITECNICO OF MILAN WAS TO TEACH ALL ITS 34 MA COURSES IN ENGLISH. THE PROPOSAL HAS BEEN REJECTED THIS YEAR AFTER THAT 134 PROFESSORS HAD RECOURSE TO THE

REGIONAL COURT. DO YOU AGREE WITH A COMPLETE SWITCH IN COMMUNICATION MODE FROM ITALIAN TO ENGLISH?

(SCALE: 1 DISAGREE - 5 AGREE)

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT A TOTAL SWITCHING OF A UNIVERSITY FROM ITALIAN TO ENGLISH? (Multiple choice)

"We strongly believe our classes should be international classes - and the only way to have international classes is to use the English language."

 "It's very important for our students not only to have very good technical skills, but also to work in an international

environment." 

“It's a more affordable way for Italian students to learn in an international environment, without the cost of studying overseas.”

Giovanni Rezzone, Rector of Politecnico of Milan

WITH THE SWITCHING OF UNIVERSITIES FROM ITALIAN TO ENGLISH, A LOT OF FOREIGN STUDENTS WOULD BE ATTRACTED TO OUR COURSES. DO YOU AGREE WITH THE FACT THAT THEY WOULD GIVE PRESTIGE TO OUR

UNIVERSITIES AND WOULD IMPROVE OUR POSITION IN WORLD RANKS?

(SCALE: 1 DISAGREE - 5 AGREE)

THINKING ABOUT YOUR ENGLISH LEVEL (OR THE ONE YOU COULD REACH), YOUR DREAM JOB, THE ITALIAN CRISIS etc., IF YOU COULD STUDY IN ENGLISH OR IN

ITALIAN, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

DO YOU CONSIDER ENGLISH AS A THREAT TO OUR LANGUAGE AND CULTURE?

Validity• Although there were 48 responses, the results of this survey are

limited by the features of this popuation.

• All of the respondents had a knowledge of English, however It’s questionable how well the subjects judged their own level of English.

• The subjects could have felt encourged to answer in favor of the use of English in Italy.

Results of the Survey• Very few people of the survey group claimed to be beginners in English and most of

them have practised it during their experience abroad.

• The majority of the subjects thinks that English would be of use to them.

• The majority supports a complete switch in communication mode from Italian to English at the University and only a little part can see negative aspects of this changing.

• The majority of the subjects claims to understand easily English advertisements and songs’ lyrics and to use very often English terms during conversations.

General Comments• Although Italy boasts centuries of an ancient and untouched history, the responses to

the questionnaire suggest that may be a growing preference for using English in Academia.

• In addition there may well be little objection to using English in an attempt to take part in the global society.

Main References

• Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes. London (UK): Routledge

• Pulcini, V. (1997). Attitudes Toward the Spread of English in Italy. World Englishes, 16: 77–85.