Attitudes Toward English in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Comparative Study

Larger comparative studies into Europeans' attitudes toward English are scarce particularly those researching southern-eastern European countries. Thus, the present study explores attitudes toward English among 1,179 respondents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrasting two emerging attitudinal clusters. Moreover, the study also compares Bosnians' attitudes with the attitudes of two other national groups, that is, German and Dutch, from Edwards and Fuchs study. The findings show that younger and better educated Bosnian respondents with higher English proficiency are more favorably inclined toward English, whereas older, less educated Bosnian respondents with lower English proficiency are not as well-disposed toward English and express concerns over its consistent presence. Compared to German and Dutch respondents, Bosnians are less confident about the status of their L1, more deeply engrossed in English and like and prefer using it significantly more than two other national groups. They are exonormatively oriented and aim toward native-like pronunciation. The current study explores attitudes toward English in Bosnia and Herzegovina by contrasting two attitudinal groups, that is, English-positive and English-negative groups. Moreover, the study also compares Bosnians' attitudes with the attitudes of two other national groups, that is, German and Dutch, from Edwards and Fuchs (2018) study. The findings indicate that younger and better educated Bosnian respondents with higher English proficiency are better-disposed toward English, whereas older, less educated Bosnian respondents with lower English proficiency are less favorably inclined toward English and express concerns over its consistent presence. In comparison to German and Dutch respondents, Bosnians are less confident about the status of their L1 and like and prefer using it significantly more than two other national groups. They are exonormatively oriented and aim toward native-like pronunciation. The study's importance lies in its potential to uncover some hidden language ideologies, reveal a range of English-related identities present in the Bosnian context and establish a link between English-related and national identity.