The first survey was conducted in May 2008, based on an online
questionnaire with the Sphinx Millennium software (2003), with 300 UPAEP
(Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla) students in A1 and A2
English classes, as per language levels based on the Common European Frame
of Reference for language learning and teaching . They represented 8% of the
total number of undergraduate students studying English at the UPAEP at that
time, and the survey shows a 95% of reliability based on a quota sampling
method (Despagne, 2008). Over 90% of these students are situated between their
2nd and 4th semester of studies. Students had to answer the questionnaire during
one of their daily English classes. The results of this survey on individual
attitudes may not reveal attitudes exactly because some of the students may
respond “in a way that makes them appear more prestigious, more good than in
reality. “Consciously, and unconsciously, people tend to give socially desirable
answers, and put themselves in the best light” (Baker, 1992:19). These results
will nevertheless show a general attitude towards English in the context of a
middle class private university setting in Mexico