Azerbaijani and Ukrainian students on their English skills

Abstract

Since the number of school leavers in Lithuanian high schools decreases every year, local universities receive fewer and fewer Lithuanian students who enter their study programmes. This is the reason that the universities try to enter the international student market and take a share of it by attracting students from other countries. Consequently, more study programmes at all study cycles are offered in English, which is considered to be the main language of business and education worldwide. The present pilot study (carried out in May 2018) focuses on first year Azerbaijani and Ukrainian students at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in Kaunas, Lithuania, and their attitudes towards their English skills, for at the time of the research they were studying English as a foreign language (EFL) and English was also used as a medium of instruction (EMI) in their study programmes at the same time. This qualitative research was based on a questionnaire that the students filled out. The research participants were critical towards their English skills: they thought that they had not had enough knowledge of English before their studies at VMU and also were dissatisfied with the level of English they had nine months after the beginning of their studies. Naturally, they found it challenging to study in English. They also emphasized that good English skills were necessary for communication and important for their future careers.