Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Dec 2023)
WHY SHOULD I STUDY IN ENGLISH? STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND MOTIVATION
Abstract
. In the context of globalized society, the education offer seeks to prepare young people to adapt as best as possible to the demands of the labour market. The best possible integration of young people into the labour market takes into account both opportunities on it and important decisions that they make to increase their chances of a good job. In an internationalized environment, the chances of a good job increase if the employee has a good knowledge of the concepts in an international language. The specialized literature offers various analyses and approaches regarding the motivation of young people to choose to access university studies in a second language. In order to find out what are the students’ motivations for choosing to study business administration in English, we conducted 13 interviews with first year bachelor students from the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Oradea. In our research, through semi-structured interviews applied to first year students who study in English, we aimed to highlight their opinion on the following topics: choosing the program in English, evaluating the educational offer or expectations related to the workplace and career opportunities. The students’ answers are a good indicator of the perceptions regarding the motivation to choose to study in English. The motivation to study in English starts from the knowledge of the English language and extends to the opportunities that the study of business administration in English offers in relation to the future career. They are eager to find a job in Romania, but they will not refuse an opportunity in another country, if such an opportunity arises. Students’ motivations and perceptions regarding education are an important indicator to have a more realistic picture of their expectations of the education offer as well as their integration and success on the labour market. In our future analyses regarding students’ perceptions of the choice of studies, we will seek to expand the analyses both by specializations and by years and level of studies.
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