English for professional purposes : english for footballers

Abstract

Communication in football is key. Football professionals not only have to understand and be understood by their teammates, they also have to confront several TV and press interviews during their football careers. Lots of Spanish football players and coaches have travelled in the recent past to participate in one of the most important leagues in Europe, the English Premier League, and the most important issue they encounter is the language. They have to communicate, both with their teammates and the press, through the use of English. This document focuses on the analysis of several interviews conducted with the aforementioned professional footballers and will prove that they have different levels of communicative competence. The results show that most of them have problems when communicating in English, whether due to lack of language training or because they seem to not give importance to having an appropriate level to perform in their frame work. Additionally, through the analysis of interviews, there is a possibility of the creation of English for Specific Purposes courses dedicated to communication performance for those football professionals, in which they will have the opportunity to observe their mistakes and improve their communication skills.