OVERESTIMATION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE LEVELBY RUSSIAN-SPEAKING STUDENTS AND GRADUATES

Abstract

It has been noted by foreign researchers that many foreign language learners mastering this language at universities tend to overestimate their proficiency, supposing they know it better than it really is. Moreover, those possessing less knowledge estimate their competences higher than those whose level is quite high (the so called Dunning-Kruger effect). As the majority of the research regarding overestimation was concentrated on the learners from western countries, in contrast to this, our study was aimed at establishing whether the above given gap exists among Russian leaners with the help of two experiments: Experiment 1 compared the claimed level of the English language proficiency with the level demonstrated by the candidates during the job interview at the recruitment agency. In Experiment 2, with the help of a specifically devised questionnaire, we obtained the data on the final tests results expected by the university undergraduates, with these results later compared to the actual outcomes of the test. Comparative analysis of the information received throughout both experiments gave us the opportunity to establish certain degree of overestimation of the experiment participants’ English language knowledge level. As a result, we concluded that such overestimation is inherent to Russian learners, with those students and graduates having better knowledge of English assessing themselves much higher than those ones who spoke English more proficiently. Both theoretical and practical value of this study lies in the fact that such overestimation should be definitely taken into consideration in the process of the English language acquisition by those who teach this language, trying to adjust learners’ proficiency level, bringing it closer to the actual level. The article also suggests certain ways of minimizing this kind of overestimation.