This study analyzes Business Students’ perceptions on languages in the multilingual context of the Basque Autonomous Community. The study takes into account as a variable not only the L1 of the students, but their whole linguistic repertoire by defining them on different levels of multilingualism according to their language competences.
In the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC), located in the north of Spain, two official languages coexist: the majority language Spanish and the minority language Basque. Over the last decades, a strong policy has been developed to support the use of Basque alongside Spanish in different areas of society, especially in education. Additionally, also foreign languages –especially English- have gained in importance over the last decades, due to the internationalization of the workplace. The present study aims to analyze the perceptions of Business students on several languages of their future workplace. Underpinning theoretical notions for this study come from i) the Focus on Multilingualism, advocating for a holistic analysis of the multilingual speaker's linguistic repertoire in the social context, ii) the Holistic Model of Multilingualism in the Workplace, describing the factors that influence the use of languages at work, and iii) the Continua of Multilingual Education, analyzing the variables that influence multilingualism in education. Data come from a quantitative study among 194 students studying Business Administration at the University of the Basque Country, the main public university of the BAC. By means of questionnaires, information was gathered about their language learning experiences, language use, and perceptions about languages in the future workplace. Data reveal a complex linguistic situation, where perceptions on multilingualism differ strongly according to the L1 of the students. However, considering the linguistic repertoire in a more holistic way, not only the L1 but also the level of proficiency in Basque appear to influence their perceptions on languages in the future workplace.
