Journal of Education and Humanities

3-15

Authors: Edda Polz

This study investigates criteria that influence the development of students’ mobility at the University College of Teacher Education in Lower Austria over the last 12 years. Generally, there is an increase on the number of incoming students while there is a decrease on the number of outgoing students. To identify reasons for this development, a total of 223 learning agreements have been analysed. In order to help interpret results, interviews with students engaging in an Erasmus programme aiming at spending a term studying abroad and a person in charge of coordinating Erasmus programmes have been held. In accordance with other studies on student mobility, this research identifies aspects that are generally conducive and others which are unfavourable for study abroad. The analyses of the outcomes show that the prospect of gaining intercultural experience, the interest in further developing soft skills, the language of instruction at the university and country of destination on the one hand, and the conditions at the home university including the amount of credits recognised by the sending institution on students’ return, as well as the probability of time loss on the other hand are the main criteria that are influential on a teacher trainee’s decision whether to spend a semester studying in a foreign country. Moreover, strategies for encouraging student mobility such as the organisation of information events, the provision of language courses, and a more extensive credit transfer system for outgoing students are identified.

39-48

Authors: Armela Ćeman, Vildana Dubravac

The aim of this paper is to discuss the importance of feedback in the learning process. It focuses particularly on the relation between different types of feedback and language development. The definition of feedback is given in the introductory part, and the importance of differentiation between error, mistake and attempt is highlighted. The roles of input and output are being argued in the chapter that follows, with emphasis on the significance of output. The theory of corrective feedback focuses on the types of negative feedback, the role of implicit and explicit negative feedback in the second language classroom, and the importance of interaction in order to increase the knowledge and acquisition of the target language. The aim of this paper is to review different approaches and provide a conclusion accordingly.

64-72

Authors: Sead Zolota

The world has become a huge marketplace wherein trade between various cultures and nations is taking place, thus leading to an overwhelming need for one common language used worldwide among speakers of various native languages. Historically, this role has been occupied by different languages, even though the use of none of them can be compared to the current omnipresence of English. Thus, the aim of the present paper is to discuss the notion of English as a global language, global lingua franca with a major focus on the development of Business English as lingua franca (BELF), which has been embraced as a common language in multilingual and multicultural companies. Furthermore, this paper examines general characteristics of BELF and compares it to other similar concepts such as Business English (BE) and English as Lingua Franca (ELF). With the growing importance and presence of BELF worldwide, the teaching aspect has arisen as an important issue, so this paper touches upon it as well.