Abstract:

The foreign language spoken by most of the students in Romania is English, followed by French, Spanish, Italian and German. This study aims to analyze the unique patterns of bilinguality among the students of the University of Petrosani and "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu in Romania. It seeks to compare students' proficiency in foreign languages with that of their parents, while also identifying students' expectations regarding foreign language studies. We specifically examined the manner the individuals who exhibit balanced bilinguality utilize foreign languages, and, in particular those who report using their native language to the same extent as one or more foreign languages. A total of 205 students from both universities took part in the study and were asked to complete a questionnaire. The findings show that over 80% of the students have proficiency in at least one foreign language, qualifying them as bilingual. In the case of bilingual students, 85% of them display a dominant, artificial (educational) bilinguality. In the case of the other students, bilinguality is balanced, natural. These students tend to have a broader repertoire of foreign languages than their parents and most of them express their interest in studying additional languages besides those they already know.

Keywords:

Bilinguality, mother tongue, foreign languages, comparison.