What are the English language needs and priorities of young adults in Europe? What kinds of English do 18-24 year olds want to speak, and why? Has the development of new technologies and online communication affected the ways in which young adults use English, and if so, how? Has the emergence of English as an international Lingua Franca affected people’s sense of their own identity? And what might this mean for English language teaching and learning?

Northumbria University and King’s College London (both UK), supported by the British Council, are surveying student and teacher perceptions of the English language needs of young adults in Europe, and the implications of this for English language teaching.

This survey asks teachers their views about how and why young adults learn and use English, the kinds of English they want to speak, and what this might mean for English language teaching. In the survey, the term ‘young adult’ refers to 18-24 year olds.

The survey is therefore for all English language teachers working in Europe. It should take approximately 20 minutes to complete and answers are completely confidential. (Note: Although the focus is on young adult learners, aged between 18-24 years old, teachers working with learners of all ages are invited to participate. ‘English language teachers’ is a deliberately broad criteria for taking part in the project and includes, for example, those who teach EFL, ESL, ESOL, EIL, ESP, EAP and so on, those who both teach language and train teachers, who teach and manage etc.).

The survey is available online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/youngadultsEnglishneedsEurope

For further information about the project, visit: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/sass/about/humanities/linguistics/linguisticsstaff/g_hall/englishlanguageneeds/?view=Standard

And, of course, if you have any comments or queries, just get in touch (g.hall@northumbria.ac.uk)

Many thanks

Graham (Hall)