Italian Undergraduate Students Comprehending Economics And Business Texts In English As A Foreign Language A Case Study Of Language-Conceptual Transfer Strategies Used In Reading Domain-Speci

ABSTRACT

Italian Undergraduate Students Comprehending Economics and Business Texts in English

as a Foreign Language. A Case Study of Language-Conceptual Transfer and Strategies

used in Reading Domain-Specific Texts.

Christina Muriel Samson (February 2009)

This study, within the Vygotskyian constructivist socio-cultural developmental framework,

investigates the interdependence of general and domain-specific conceptual knowledge,

cognitive and metacognitive strategies, attitude, motivation and context in the process of

bidirectional Italian↔English transfer in Italian undergraduates comprehending domain-specific

texts in the Faculty of Economics, University of Florence, Italy. The method adopted is primarily

qualitative, with quantitative support.

From October 2004 to April 2005, subjects wrote pilot multiple choice question tests on basic

and advanced Italian economics texts. The same subjects underwent tests in Italian and English,

containing translation equivalent or similar concepts in English economics and business texts.

Descriptive and non-parametric statistics, sensitive to monotonic relationships between

performance and proficiency test scores as variables, measured the differences between tests

taken under matched circumstances. Using an item difficulty analysis, the scores were

interpreted qualitatively by textual analysis, using Geeian and Hallidayian approaches. Their

purpose was to investigate construal and derivation of meaning in different genres and texts

types. In April 2005, the subjects answered a cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies

questionnaire; in May 2005, they completed a attitude and motivation questionnaire. The data

were triangulated with information from interviews of Faculty members in May 2005.

The findings show undergraduate level transfer is not an automatic process. It is influenced by

several variables operating synchronically and synergistically, calling for a multi-perspective

view of transfer which I have defined as contextual syncretism. Within syncretism, variation in

any of the variables impacts significantly on reading performance and proficiency. The data

show transfer is affected by the undergraduates‘ capacity to reframe domain-specific concepts

when applying them to novel domains in Italian and in English. Hence transfer is interrelated

with learning strategies and pedagogy, as well as the Italian and English curricula. All these

issues are linked to contextual factors regarding Faculty management and planning decisions

impacting on the Faculty of Economics‘ EFL course. Due to its small size, this study cannot

provide generalisations. It provides, however, opportunities for further research.