EFL majors' knowledge of metalinguistic terminology: a comparative study

Abstract

Two hundred and ninety-six English majors at universities in Poland, Austria and Hong Kong were given a 50-item questionnaire designed to evaluate their knowledge of grammatical terminology. The main aim was to identify whether the three populations were subject to differing ‘terminological cultures’. This was found to be substantially the case; for example, the term indefinite article was known by 95% of Polish students but only 29% of the Hong Kong ones, whereas imperative was known by 71% of the Austrians but only 5% of the Hong Kongers. Some differences were attributed to a lack of use of the related concept in teaching; others were explained by the use of a synonymous term (e.g. reported speech was preferred in Poland and Hong Kong but indirect speech in Austria). A significant correlation between terminological knowledge and language proficiency was found for the Hong Kong students. Qualitative findings included confusion between pairs of complementary terms and those with similar forms; unknown terms being treated as transparent with functional reference where possible; and the prototypical use of words as examples of grammatical categories (e.g. ‘beautiful’ for adjective). Implications for teachers, writers and researchers are discussed.

Keywords:

• terminology
• metalanguage
• explicit knowledge

Notes

1. The choice of the three locations, though opportunistic to some extent, was not entirely without purpose. The closer linguistic, geographical and cultural bond between two (Poland and Austria), while still retaining some difference (Eastern vs. Western Europe), could be contrasted with the third, Hong Kong.

2. In the teaching of writing for L1 learners the advisability of having terminology seems uncontested (Cajkler & Hislam, 2002; Robinson, 2005).

3. Ellis is using ‘metalanguage’, as some others do, to refer to metalinguistic terminology. See Berry (2005) for a discussion of this. Here it can be argued that the very act of verbalising entails the use of metalanguage.

4. Ignoring for this purpose the rare scientific use of the term reported speech as a cover term for direct and indirect speech.

5. The Polish students were tested in autumn 2002, the Austrian ones in 2005 and the Hong Kong ones in two cohorts (2005, 2006). Eventually, after incomplete forms were removed, a total of 296 questionnaires was analysed.

6. It is the author's subjective impression that the students at the Polish institution, where entrance is highly competitive, were more proficient in English than the other two groups.

7. One possible factor in this is the use of its German cognate in mother-tongue education in Austria.