SYSTEM

System 34 (2006) 135148 www.elsevier.com/locate/system

Learners preferences regarding types of language school: An exploratory market research

E. Cristobal, E. Llurda
*
Universitat de Lleida, Department dAngles i Linguistica, P. Victor Siurana 1, 25003 Lleida, Spain Received 12 January 2005; received in revised form 7 June 2005; accepted 7 June 2005

Abstract The use of multimedia technologies in language teaching and learning has become very popular in the last few years. In the case of countries like Spain, multimedia language schools have experienced a great boom and a dramatic fall in the last 10 years. This study applies marketing research techniques to the study of Catalan learners preferences regarding dierent types of language schools, with a particular focus on schools that use multimedia technologies, as opposed to other methods used by language learners. The study uses a k-means cluster analysis to identify four dierent groups of potential learners, and it later applies a factor analysis in order to determine the main constraints in learners choices regarding their preferred language schools. This analysis reveals that learners answers are organized around the following three factors: Accessibility, Teaching Quality, and Pragmatism. Finally, it is concluded that multimedia language schools are perceived in a rather positive way, but are also regarded as in need of more Teaching Quality and Pragmatism. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Language schools; Multimedia; Market research

1. Introduction Interest in the use of multimedia technologies in language teaching has rapidly increased in the last few decades with a growing number of resources and companies
This research was funded by the Direccion General de Investigacion of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura (SEJ2004-06723-C02-02/EDUC). * Corresponding author. E-mail address: ellurda@dal.udl.es (E. Llurda). 0346-251X/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.system.2005.06.015
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exclusively devoted to exploiting the possibilities of computer-assisted language learning. In southern European countries, the role of English as the world lingua franca has been gradually accepted by increasing numbers of people1, which has created an eager market for rapid and eective English language learning solutions. In Spain, for instance, many language learners have experienced the frustration of enrolling in traditional language courses only to eventually enlarge the number of drop-outs in the ELT business due to their incapacity to cope with the demands of regular attendance at unexciting evening classes. These potential customers experienced the contradiction of a perceived need to learn English for professional or for personal reasons and a frustrating negative experience with language learning. In this context, in the late 1990s a few entrepreneurs decided to bet on the likely expansion of the language learning business and founded language schools equipped with multimedia language laboratories, the methodology of which was based on the intensive use of computers, combined with complementary private tutoring. These schools were typically run by businesspeople rather than by language educators, and they probably lacked many of the conditions considered to be crucial in the successful implementation of computer assisted language learning technologies (Bax, 2003). Their main bait to attract customers was their avour of contemporary modernity, together with their timetable exibility, which allowed students to set up their own individualized class schedule. They could choose the times when they were going to use the multimedia resources on the premises, and they could also negotiate the day and time of private tutoring to complement multimedia lessons. Private tutoring gave these schools an added appeal, as native speakers were typically hired to ensure the commercial success of the schools, since native speakers are too often uncritically regarded as a guarantee for the higher quality of language teaching, and they are frequently hired in EFL contexts in order to attract prospective students (see Benke and Medgyes, 2005; Lasagabaster and Sierra, 2002, 2005, for recent studies concerning the status of native speaker teachers among language learners). Indeed, the formula of timetable exibility, combined with the use of the latest technological advances, and complemented with private tutoring by native speaker teachers, was an immediate success among frustrated language learners, and especially among young urban professionals with very little time to spare. Very similar schools opened in every city and town, all pursuing the bright model of success provided by pioneering enterprises, and the learning of English was considered easier and more accessible than ever. Unfortunately, the feeling of euphoria regarding the future of the sector was suddenly swept away when the rst of those proud new schools had to close down due to serious nancial trouble. A few months later, another big company followed the same path, and the nal shock came when the third and biggest company of all announced it had to close most of its schools in order to cope with its own nancial problems and thus avoid bankruptcy. The critical situation of the multimedia language school business left many wondering what was the problem with these companies, and whether the formula of multimedia language learning was not as commercially viable as it was supposed to be in the beginning. Those questions were at the origin of this study, by means of which we attempted to obtain empirical data on the degree of (dis-)satisfaction regarding traditional and multimedia
1 For further reading on English as a lingua franca, see (Modiano, 1999; Seidlhofer, 2000, 2001; James, 2000; Llurda, 2004).

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English language schools, the expectations of potential learners, and the characteristics that they valued most in a language school. 2. Methodology The data for the present study was obtained as part of a market research that looked into the preferences of potential language learners with regard to the dierent school options available in the Spanish context. 2.1. Participants In January 2003, 400 personal questionnaires were implemented by telephone to a stratied random sample of the population of Lleida, a Catalan city of over 100,000 inhabitants. Sampling was based on age (only people who were over 18 and under 65 years old were questioned) and their positive response to question 3 (Do you think knowing English is important for your professional future?). Sampling error was 5% for an innite population, with a 95.5% condence degree. A majority of respondents (59.1%) were between 18 and 35 years old. Forty-eight percent had university studies, 33% had reached a secondary school level, and only 14% had stopped their education after primary studies. As for sex distribution, 46% were men, and 54% women. 2.2. Instrument After some preliminary interviews and focus-group sessions with professionals and language school administrators, a 20-item questionnaire was designed, including a combination of questions ranging from open-ended and multiple choice to 10-point Likert scales (see Appendix A). The questionnaire was designed in a way that provided ample information about respondents views, but also included a most central question on learners expectations regarding their ideal language school (question 12). This question embodied the essential purpose of this study and was therefore used as the basis of subsequent analyses. 2.3. Procedure The participants responses, obtained through telephone conversations with experienced interviewers, were all written down, and a multivariate analysis was applied to results in question 12 (What should your ideal language school be like?), which allowed us to establish a market segmentation and to conduct a subsequent factor analysis leading to the identication of the prominent factors in determining the ideal language school. 3. Results and discussion 3.1. Clustering of potential language schools users Responses to question 12 in which participants were asked to assess from 1 to 10 a list of characteristics of an ideal language school were used to classify respondents in groups

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by means of a k-means cluster analysis. The segmentation produced four groups, the largest one incorporating 36.4% of the sample, and 13.7% the smallest. Some common features were found in the four segments, as all participants valued the quality of the teachers in the rst place as a reason to choose a particular language programme. Most respondents in all segments did also consider that a good command of English was important in our society and that such an education needed to be complemented outside school, in the case of children. Tables 1 and 2 show the age and sex distribution of subjects among the four groups, whereas Tables 3 and 4 show occupational and educational distributions among groups. Finally, Tables 5 and 6 show the distribution among groups of previous experiences of subjects as English language learners and frequency of use of the internet, as a representation of their exposure and accommodation to new technologies. The following group-by-group analysis will help visualize the characterisation of the dierent groups of English language learners to be found in the city of Lleida. Additionally, each group will be given a tentative label that captures their essential treats. 3.1.1. Group 1 This group, which represented 21.3% of the sample (85 subjects), had the lowest level of satisfaction in their past experiences as students in language schools. Characteristically, a

Table 1 Age distribution of subjects among groups, in percent Group 1 1825 2635 3645 4655 5665 8.3 35.7 17.9 21.4 16.7 Group 2 21.5 29.9 18.1 18.8 11.8 Group 3 38.9 35.4 13.3 8.8 3.5 Group 4 35.2 37.0 14.8 9.3 3.7

Table 2 Sex distribution of subjects among groups, in percent Group 1 Male Female 51.2 48.8 Group 2 34 66 Group 3 46.9 53.1 Group 4 64.8 35.2

Table 3 Occupational distribution of subjects among groups, in percent Group 1 Worker Student Worker and student Unemployed Unemployed and student Housewife Retired 67.9 7.1 2.4 0 0 14.3 7.1 Group 2 51.8 17.3 4.3 5 0.7 15.1 5.8 Group 3 40.7 28.3 16.8 4.4 0 8 1.8 Group 4 55.6 20.4 13 1.9 0 3.7 5.6

E. Cristobal, E. Llurda / System 34 (2006) 135148 Table 4 Educational distribution of subjects among groups, in percent Group 1 No studies Primary Secondary Intermediate college degree Superior college degree 6 17.9 26.2 31 19 Group 2 5.6 18.1 37.5 18.8 20.1 Group 3 3.5 10.6 37.2 18.6 30.1

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Group 4 1.9 5.6 24.1 25.9 42.6

Table 5 Past experience as learners of English, in percent Group 1 Yes No 28.1 71.9 Group 2 28.3 71.7 Group 3 44.2 55.8 Group 4 32.4 67.6

Table 6 Regular use of internet, in percent Group 1 Yes No 61.9 38.1 Group 2 48.6 51.4 Group 3 54.9 45.1 Group 4 68.5 31.5

great dierence between perceptions and expectations was found. In principle, they shared with other groups an expectation for high-quality teachers. Next, they pointed out the need for a exible schedule, as they probably had strong time restrictions due to their working conditions. Private tutors were their preferred choice, followed by traditional language schools. They greatly valued personalised attention and direct contact with teachers, and did not care much for ocially recognized certicates, as their main goal was to learn in order to communicate rather than to obtain a certication. This group included 68.7% of the working population represented in the sample. Their education level was intermediate, although it had the highest proportion of uneducated people (23.8%). A majority said they were regular internet users. As for their self-ascribed command of English, they were at the lowest end of the continuum. This group included people with less experience as language learners but higher declared expectations regarding future English classes, as a good deal of them claimed they needed English in their jobs. For all the above descriptive parameters, this group could tentatively be labelled as Working adults with little command of English who need to learn the language. 3.1.2. Group 2 The 145 subjects that made up this group (36.5% of the total) tended to have great expectations regarding language schools. However, they also expressed rather positive appreciation for past experiences as language learners, although this group had a fairly low percentage of subjects with previous experience as learners of English. Still, what those participants with past experiences valued the most was the quality of teaching and classtime exibility. In opposition to group 1, they also valued a personalised attention, and they tended to disregard the prestige (or lack of) that a given school may enjoy. As for

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the preferred methodology, they preferred traditional schools, followed by study-abroad stays. Contrary to logical inferencing based on their low percentage of use of the internet (below 50%), this group was also the one which attached a higher value to multimedia systems, due to the exibility they allowed, the personalized contact with teachers, the opportunities for oral practice, and the individualized rhythm of progression. This group could be rightfully labelled as Working women with little interest for language learning. 3.1.3. Group 3 This group was the second largest (114 participants, 28.6% of the sample), and its members underscored the need for good oral teaching, in addition to shared aspects with groups 1 and 2, like teaching quality and classtime exibility. These people opted for traditional schools, followed by private tutoring and study abroad stays, due to reasons that ranged from class exibility to direct contact with teachers, and oral practice. The prototypical individual in this group was a young person who was either studying or had recently graduated from university, and who had a reasonable good command of English. A likely name for this group would be Young university students and recent graduates with a good command of English. 3.1.4. Group 4 This was the smallest group (55 respondents), as it only represented 13.7% of the sample. It was the most critical with previous experiences as language learners, and at the same time was the one with lower expectations for their likely future participation in English language classes. It additionally had the highest percentage of people who claimed to regularly surf the internet. Similar to the other three groups, one of the most highly valued aspects was the quality of teachers, although emphasis on oral skills and individual attention were factors that also appeared in a top position. Their preferences were inclined towards traditional language schools, study abroad stays, and private tutoring, due to the likelihood of a higher exibility of classes, a closer contact with teachers, and a perceived higher speed in language learning over other methodologies. An original reason put forward to support their preference for traditional schools was that these are a very good way to know new people and establish new relationships. The general prole of this group is represented by a young man with a job, graduated from university, and with a good level of prociency in English and regular use of computers with internet access. The label that could best describe this group is Young professional men, with a good command of English, which they use but are no longer learning it. 3.2. Factors aecting the characteristics of ideal language schools Once the four groups were identied, a principal component factor analysis was conducted on responses to question 12 on the ideal language school. This method reduced the number of correlated variables to a smaller set of interrelated components. The correlations calculated among the variables showed a commonality in their explanatory power. Two tests were conducted: the Bartletts Test of Sphericity, which determines the relationship among variables, and the KaiserMeyerOlkin (KMO) measure, which tests the partial correlations among variables. The Bartlett statistic, which takes the value v2 = 1022.17 with a critical signicance level of 0.000, makes it possible to reject the null hypothesis of

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non-correlation between the observed variables. The Bartlett test conrmed the existence of lineal dependence between the variables and justied continuing with the procedure (Table 7). It was therefore appropriate to apply factorial analysis. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out and three factors or components were obtained. The Kaiser criterion was used in their elaboration in such a way as to conserve only those factors that presented eigen values of one or greater. The rst three factors retained 48.58% of the initial variance which represents that each of the new components provided independent (and therefore unrepeated) information. With the rotated component matrix (Varimax rotation method) it was possible to obtain weightings for each factor in each of the variables (see Table 8). Each factor had a high correlation with one group of variables and a low correlation with the restthereby providing a more appropriate interpretation of the initial factors. Factor 1 Accessibility: This is related to such features as geographical location, the look and conditions of the premises, a friendly and individualised attention by sta, and the possibility to make up for unattended sessions. Factor 2 Teaching quality: This is dened by aspects related to the quality of the teachers, the methodology of teaching, and the exibility of schedules. It many respects, it can be associated to aspects of intrinsic motivation, as opposed to integrative, instrumental, extrinsic or resultative (Ellis, 1994; Dornyei, 2003).

Table 7 KMO and Barlett test of sphericity KaiserMeyerOlkin Sampling adequacy measure Barlett test of Sphericity v2 Gl Sig. 0.836 1022.170 78 0.000

Table 8 Factor 1 Individualized attention Sta likeability Location accessibility Possibility to make up for missed classes Conditions of premises Teaching quality Eciency in written skills development Eciency in oral skills development Class-time exibility Prestige of the school or company Preparation for a recognized certication Payment conditions Value for money 0.674 0.662 0.647 0.570 0.515 0.513 0.116 0.218 0.418 0.212 0.262 0.236 0.330 Factor 2 0.239 Factor 3 0.218 0.252 0.140 0.474 0.296 0.166 0.311 0.686 0.641 0.481 0.331

0.360 0.433 0.764 0.761 0.537

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Factor 3 Pragmatism: This is related to the possibility that the school prepares students for an ocially recognized certicate. This factor also includes the prestige enjoyed by the school both at the local level, and at the national level (in the case of franchises), as well as the school fees. This factor can be associated to aspects of what in second language acquisition research has been traditionally labelled instrumental motivation (Ellis, 1994; Gardner, 1985). The mean results corresponding to each factor in responses to question 11 on past experiences with language schools can be appreciated in Fig. 1. Mean results associated to all three factors were above 7 (in a scale of 1 to 10), which indicates that participants were quite satised by the services provided by those schools. However, there is still a margin for improvement, specially with regard to the pragmatism factor. This can be interpreted as indicating that there is room for an increased presence of multimedia schools in the future, provided they can match the perceived higher quality of traditional schools. 3.3. Preferences on teaching methodologies One of the most important questions in the study was number 6, which enquired about participants preferences with regard to the best way to learn English. Results indicate that the Catalan population were somehow reluctant to accept innovative systems such as those provided by multimedia-based language schools. As Fig. 2 shows, respondents in groups 24 preferred traditional language schools over any other option, and participants in group 1 preferred a private tutor over traditional language schools, leaving multimediabased schools in third place. 3.4. Preferred language education options Even though the language teaching methodology of a given class is not necessarily determined by the use of technology, and accepting that the use of technology is not necessarily synonymous to modern up-to-date teaching methodology, multimedia technology provides great opportunities to incorporate innovative practices and materials in the

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Accessibility Teaching Quality Pragmatism 7.97 8.78 7. 45

Fig. 1. Mean results of the three factors.

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Fig. 2. Preferred teaching methodology by groups of participants (in percent).

language classroom. Besides, the vast majority of potential language learners do not really distinguish among dierent methodologies used in a particular school, whereas they can base their decision regarding which school to attend based on the technological resources available. For the purposes of the present study, we have dierentiated two major language education options, embodied by the separation drawn by the use or lack of use of multimedia technology. Additionally, we have deemed convenient to include three further options: study-abroad stays, private tutoring, and distance learning (see item 6 in the questionnaire). When we placed the four groups of participants against the three factors identied above, namely, Accessibility, Quality of Teaching, and Pragmatism, we discovered each group of subjects preference for the three factors. If we look at Figs. 35 we can observe that all groups occupy dierent positions with regard to the other elements. Group 2 (Working women with little interest in language learning) is the one which more greatly valued aspects related to the three dierent factors they are on the top area of the three

Fig. 3. Positioning of factors 1 (accessibility) and 2 (teaching quality).

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+
G2
Private tutoring Multimedia Study-abroad

G3

Distance learning

PRAGMATISM
G1

Tradit ional learning

G4

TEACHING QUALITY

Fig. 4. Positioning of factors 2 (teaching quality) and 3 (pragmatism).

+
G2
Private tutoring

G3
Study-abroad

Multimedia Distance learning Tradit ional learning

PRAGMATISM
G1

G4

ACCESSIBILITY

Fig. 5. Positioning of factors 1 (accessibility) and 3 (pragmatism).

gures, whereas group 4 (Young professional men, with a good command of English, which they use but are no longer learning it) tends to be more cautious with regard to the importance of the three factors in an eventually successful language learning experience. It can therefore be claimed that language naivity is playing a role in determining the expectations of prospective learners those who have been successful may be more aware of the complexities of the language learning process, and may also be less willing to place all the emphasis on external factors, priming instead their own learning aptitude and eort. By way of contrast, people with little successful language learning experience are more eager to place the responsibility for the learning experience on external elements, such as those described by the three factors identied above. The other big dierence that appears with regard to the four groups, is between group 1 (Working adults with little command of English, who need to learn the language) and group 3 (Young university students and recent graduates with a good command of English). They both have similar results in Quality of teaching, but clear dierences appear

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in Pragmatism, and an even bigger distance can be observed with regard to Accessibility, suggesting university students and graduates tend to be more favourable towards the instrumental benets of learning a language, regardless of the proximity and accessibility of the premises. So, they appear to be more willing to go longer distances provided the benets accomplished are higher. This can be explained by the greater time pressure on working adults, who need easy access to the language school, and the more critical approach to aspects of quality and pragmatism taken by university students and graduates, due to their greater experience in academic contexts. It is remarkable, though, that the group comprising university students and graduates is still toppled by group 2 (Working women with little interest in language learning) in their responses to Pragmatism items. Even though it is in principle rather dicult to account for the results of group 2, with the highest results in the three factors, a plausible explanation that can be given at this point has to do with this groups limited experience as language learners and their low expectations of becoming language learners in the near future. It is as though those people with the greatest academic experience (group 3) and those with the lowest (group 2) are the ones who more strongly believe in the need for a school to oer high quality teaching and institutional prestige, which is possibly due to dierent reasons, one based on experience in the case of group 3, and another based on a kind of mythication of the language learning process in group 2. This is consistent with ndings in a study by Llurda and Huguet (2003) among non-native language teachers (who, logically, are language learners, as well) suggesting that less sophisticated and less experienced teachers/ learners tend to fall more easily into a mythication of the language learning process. If we look at how the dierent language learning options (Multimedia, Traditional language schools, Study-abroad, Private tutoring, and Distance learning) fare in relation to the three factors (Accessibility, Quality of teaching, Pragmatism), the most striking observation is the top positions occupied by Distance learning and Private tutoring, and the low ranking of Multimedia schools with regard to Quality of teaching. Traditional language schools appear to be the least adequate for those students with pragmatic reasons to study, such as class-time exibility, prestige of the school company, or preparation for a widely recognized certicate. The above positioning can be partially explained by the participants responses to question 7 (What reasons do you have to choose one particular type of school/method?). Here, one third of respondents chose class-time exibility as their primary election, which was followed by oral practice (14%), contact with teachers (13%), and learning speed (10%). Flexibility appears to be a very relevant aspect conditioning learners preferences, which may help explain why traditional schools do not do so well in connection with the Pragmatism factor. Besides, the primary importance attached to Oral practice and Contact with teachers by a combined total of 24% of learners may account for the low results of multimedia schools in the Quality of teaching factor. 4. Conclusions The prevailing condition of Spain as one of the European countries with the lowest percentage of foreign language speakers (INRA, 2001) should be enough reason to try to further understand the attitudes and perceptions of Spanish potential language learners, and should suciently justify the present research. Besides, the type of study that has been here developed brings some methods regularly employed in the area of market research into the

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eld of applied linguistics and language learning. In this study, by means of a questionnaire implemented onto a representative sample of the population of Lleida, we have been able to identify 4 dierent groups of potential language learners, and their identifying traits, together with a set of three factors that will guide their choices when they decide to become language students. In this study, we have been able to observe that multimedia language schools are perceived in a rather positive way, but are also regarded as falling short of what other options can oer to potential customers, especially with regard to Teaching quality and Pragmatism, interpreted as a series of attributes ranging from exibility, prestige, and ocial certication, the latter being a rather characteristic feature of the Spanish context, in which paper certication is often more valued than actual knowledge. Finally, we have attempted to relate these factors interaction with the dierent types of language schools currently available in EFL contexts. It is time for educators, politicians, and school administrators to join forces in order to change the current situation of linguistic underdevelopment in some southern European countries, like Spain, and there is no doubt that a further understanding of the subjects of the learning process, as well as their needs and wants, is a preliminary stage for nally arriving at a solution to this seemingly endemic educational problem. As Bax (2003) rightfully notes, multimedia technologies may be part of the solution, but they need to be correctly implemented.

Appendix A. The questionnaire 1. Age 2. Sex 3. Do you think knowing English is important for your professional future? 4. Current job 5. What ways of learning English are you aware of?  Private lessons  Traditional language schools  Multimedia schools  Distance learning  Stays abroad  Others 6. If you had to learn English, what method would you choose?  Private lessons  Traditional language schools  Multimedia schools  Distance learning  Stays abroad  Others 7. What reasons do you have to choose one particular type of shcool/method?  Class-time exibility  Stable time-table  Pricing  Course specialization

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Individualized rhythm of learning Learning speed Amusement Socializing Proximity Oral practice Written practice Contact with teachers Payment method

8. Are you presently studying English? 9. Have you studied English in the last 5 years? 10. Do you plan to study English during the next year? 11. Can you assess your past experience at a language school from 1 (very bad) to 10 (very good) in each of the following elements?  Time exibility  Method of teaching oral eciency  Method of teaching written eciency  Quality for money  The premises  Preparation for ocially recognized language certicates  Ubication/accessibility  Make-up for untaught classes  Teaching quality  Amability and likeability of the school sta  Image/prestige of the school  Payment conditions  Personalised attention 12. What should your ideal language school be like? Please, assess the importance you attach to the following aspects, from 1 (not very important) to 10 (very important).  Time exibility  Method of teaching oral eciency  Method of teaching written eciency  Quality for money  The premises  Preparation for ocially recognized language certicates  Ubication/accessibility  Make-up for untaught classes  Teaching quality  Amability and likeability of the school sta  Image/prestige of the school  Payment conditions  Personalised attention 13. Do you think that knowing English is important for children in general, and for your own children, if you have any? 14. Do you think children should complement their English learning attending evening (out of school) classes?

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15. What method or type of school would you choose for your own children? 16. Can you assess your own level of English prociency (0 = null; 1 = very low; 2 = low; 3 = intermediate; 4 = high; 5 = very high) Oral: Written: 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5

17. Do you currently use English? 18. In what context: private, professional, or both?  Only private  Only professional  Both 19. Are you regularly Internet user? 20. What is the highest educational level you have reached?  No studies at all  Primary education  Secondary education  University degree (including Masters and PhD)

References
Bax, S., 2003. CALL past, present and future. System 31, 1328. Benke, E., Medgyes, P., 2005. Dierences in teaching behaviour teaching behavior between native and non-native speaker teachers: as seen by the learners. In: Llurda, E. (Ed.), Non-Native Language Teachers. Perceptions, Challenges, and Contributions to the Profession. Springer. Dornyei, Z., 2003. Attitudes, Orientations, and Motivations in Language Learning: Advances in Theory, Research, and Applications. Blackwell, Oxford. Ellis, R., 1994. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Gardner, R., 1985. Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitude and Motivation. Edward Arnold, London. INRA, 2001. Europeans and Languages. Eurobarometer 54 Special Report. The Education and Culture Directorate-General. James, A., 2000. English as a European lingua franca. Current realities and existing dichotomies. In: Cenoz, J., Jessner, U. (Eds.), English in Europe. The acquisition of a Third Language. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, pp. 2238. Lasagabaster, D., Sierra, J.M., 2002. University students perceptions of native and non-native speaker teachers of English. Language Awareness 11 (3), 132142. Lasagabaster, D., Sierra, J.M., 2005. What do students think about the pros and cons of having a native speaker teacher? In: Llurda, E. (Ed.), Non-Native Language Teachers. Perceptions, Challenges, and Contributions to the Profession. Springer, New York; pp. 217241. Llurda, E., 2004. Non-native teachers and English as an international language. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 14 (3), 314323. Llurda, E., Huguet, A., 2003. Self-awareness in NNS EFL primary and secondary school teachers. Language Awareness 12 (34), 220233. Modiano, M., 1999. International English in the global village. English Today 15 (2), 2228. Seidlhofer, B., 2000. Mind the gap: English as a mother tongue vs. English as a lingua franca. Views (Vienna English Working Papers) 9 (1), 5168. Seidlhofer, B., 2001. Closing a conceptual gap: the case for a description of English as a lingua franca. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11 (2), 133158.