English for research purposes at the University of Santiago de Compostela: a survey

Although much research has now accumulated on the dominance of English in world science, attention to the specific reality of Southern European countries has been comparatively scarce. This paper intends to partly redress this imbalance by reporting on survey data gathered at the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Data were collected by means of a 25-item postal questionnaire sent to the research staff of 25 (1/3) of the University's departments. A total of 213 questionnaires were returned (24.94% return rate). Generally, findings indicate that English clearly plays a lesser role than in other institutions previously investigated, that the local languages are still the default choice for most functions and that there is a localized but significant demand for other foreign languages as well. While some groups of respondents already estimate their current English writing competence to be sufficient, most staff are keenly aware of an increasing pressure to improve their English-speaking skills and of their deficits in this area. Finally, means available in the institution to meet the staff's English needs are comparatively scarce, which is likely to place them in a difficult position vis-à-vis other more ‘privileged’ groups of NNS scholars, particularly in Europe.