The Effects of Bilingualism and Language Attitudes on Algerian Students’ Academic Proficiency in Medical Sciences

Abstract

This study examines learners’ Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency and Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills in L2 in order to determine the accuracy level of French oral language proficiency and academic achievement of students in Medical sciences (Tlemcen University). Adopting a few sociolinguistic research tools, the researcher has obtained some results confirming that students often lag behind in academic performance due to the delay in the development of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) and to the complexity of bilingual language acquisition despite their apparent language fluency which reflects their achievement in Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills interpreted as communicative success. Another important aim in this research was to analyze the effects of students’ attitudes towards French.