The influence of socio-cultural representations on the choice of study of foreign language students - Case of the University of Algiers 2 - Algeria

Abstract

Each language carries with it a particular image that is constructed and formed from the perception of the culture related to it. This image of the Other and its culture could influence our attitudes and, therefore, the interest of studying a particular language. This confirmation is, in fact, only the finding made by Castelloti and Moore (2002), which aroused our interest to expand on such a subject of research. Thus, we wanted to understand how students represent the target culture for their language of study. And to what extent can socio-cultural representations determine the choice of a specific foreign language as an object of study at the university? We country and its inhabitants); and that socio-cultural representations of each foreign language would be at the center of the factors determining the choice to study a particular language. Our descriptive survey, which is part of the scientific field of sociodidactics, is based on the data of written questionnaires submitted to first-year students. The degree of each stream taught in foreign languages at the University of Algiers 2, namely: French, English, German, Spanish and Italian.