Grammatical Competence of Business Language Students with a C1 Language Exam
Abstract
As members of BBU FIMB, Department of International Business Languages, in the 2nd semester of the 022/23 academic year we conducted a survey among our Business English students with the aim of assessing their grammatical competence. The investigation was motivated by the observation that our students’ grammar knowledge is less and less systematic, it lags behind their knowledge of vocabulary, and its low level considerably affects their communicative competence.
We contacted more than 200 students with our questionnaire, the first part of which enquired about the students' general attitude regarding grammatical competence, whereas the second part examined the respondents’ familiarity with some frequently used B2-level grammatical structures.
Our sample, which is not representative, included 50 students who already held C1-level complex language exams. The present study focuses on the characteristics of this subgroup. We found that significant grammatical deficiencies can be observed in their case as well, and we must take this into account when designing our curricula and courses.
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