The impact of studying English language and literature at universities on cultural development: Cultural intelligence or home culture detachment?

One of the by-products of globalization is the need of English spread as a lingua franca. According to the linguistic relativism and World Englishes theories, one expects then, a certain proportion of Anglo-American cultural values and viewpoints will be projected to the outer circle societies. While this transmission could enhance the cultural quotient (CQ) of the learners, it can also bear negative side effects like cultural alienation or home culture detachment (HCD). This study is one of the earliest attempts to study the CQ and HCD of university students studying English Language and Literature (ELL) compared against those of other fields of study. Upon data collection via administering CQ and HCD measures to 517 students and data analysis using MANOVA, ELL students were found significantly different from the contrast group in metacognitive and motivational competencies, as subscales of CQ, and in western culture and literary-artistic orientations, as subscales of HCD. Based on the findings, linguistic imperialism, acquiredness of cultural identity, and trainability of CQ propositions were approved while the political quietism hypothesis was called into question. The study concludes with a number of suggestions for language policy makers, materials developers, syllabus designers, as well as the university teachers.