TEACHING OF SPANISH LANGUAGE AT VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY: MAIN TENDENCIES

Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.7220/2335-2027.1.8

Spanish language is among the most popular languages in the world. This language is one of the first most spoken languages according to the number of people who consider it to be their first language and the second most popular language studied as a foreign one. The number of people studying Spanish has been increasing in Lithuania. Since the resestablishment of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) in 1989, the Spanish language has favoured increasing populiarity: every year more than 10% of the student population who choose to study foreign languages as their optional subjects enrol in Spanish as a foreign language courses. The article presents the situation of the Spanish language at VMU during the last decade (from the foundation of the Centre of Foreign Languages in 2001) in the context of the European Union and Lithuanian language policies. The present situation is compared with the situation of studying Spanish as a foreign language in Europe; the reasons of popularity of Spanish are also analysed. The data of the student survey employed in the research revealed that the main reasons for the choice of Spanish as a language of study are its expansion in the world and benefits related to the ability to speak this language as well as a favourable image of Spain, its culture and language in our country.