A Comparative Study of Erasmus Students in Three Different European Contexts

This paper presents the results of a comparative study conducted among university students carrying out a mobility experience within the Erasmus programme. The aim of the study is to compare views and expectations of Erasmus students in three very different European contexts: Oulu (Finland), Bucarest (Romania) and Lleida (Catalonia, Spain). The reason why these three settings have been chosen is that they illustrate what we could consider rather representative contexts in Europe, thus exemplifying a northern European country and an Eastern European country, both with national languages that have very little prominence in the international language market, and a Southern European country with a strong and highly appealing language (Spanish), with the particularity that the particular context where the study is conducted is a bilingual area where another much less popular language is spoken  (Catalan).

The methodology used in the study is a combination of quantitative data (a survey) and qualitative data (an in-depth questionnaire), as well as a language test, which inlcudes both a written and an oral part.

The questionnaire consisted of several Likert-scale (1-5) questions dealing with the following broad topics: citizenship and identity issues, language knowledge and attitudes, interculturality, personal growth, imagined identities and the effects on employability related to the mobility experience.

Interviews were centred on the same topics, with participants being allowed freedom to elaborate their own discourses to account for their expectations and experiences related to their stay in another European country.

The results are still being analysed by now, but differences are expected to be found in the three different settings both in the qualitative and quantitative data.