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Language policy and language choice at European Universities: Is there really a ‘choice’?

  • David Lasagabaster EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 11, 2015
European Journal of Applied Linguistics
From the journal European Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 3 Issue 2

Abstract

Internationalization has become a sort of mantra in higher education. European universities strive to foster the internationalization process in which English as the current lingua franca and English-medium instruction play a paramount role. This paper examines the effect of internationalization on language policies and the degree of freedom universities enjoy when it comes to making their own decisions. The analysis is carried out at four different levels: the macro level (European institutions’ initiatives), the meso level (at the state level), the micro level (at university level) and the nano level (personified by the university stakeholders). Taking Spolsky’s (2004) language policy definition as a framework, the example of one particular multilingual higher education institution, namely the University of the Basque Country in Spain, will be under scrutiny in order to examine the impact of language policy and its three main components (language ideologies, language practices and language management) on the different university bodies.

Zusamenfassung

Das Wort Internationalisierung hat sich zu einem Mantra in der tertiären Bildung entwickelt. Die europäischen Universitäten befinden sich in einem immer stärker werdenden Internationalisierungsprozess. Dabei spielt Englisch als derzeitige Lingua Franca und damit als Unterrichtssprache eine entscheidende Rolle. In diesem Artikel wird analysiert, wie diese Internationalisierung die Sprachenpolitik als auch den Entscheidungsspielraum der Universitäten beeinflusst. Die Untersuchung findet auf vier Ebenen statt: auf der Makroebene (die Initiativen der europäischen Institutionen), auf einer mittleren Ebene (die Rolle der einzelnen Staaten), auf einer Mikroebene (die Universität als Institution) und schließlich auf einer Nanoebene (Studenten, Dozenten und administratives Personal). Ausgehend von der Definition von Sprachenpolitik nach Spolsky (2004) soll am Beispiel der Universität des Baskenlandes in Spanien der Einfluss der multilingualen Sprachenpolitik und seiner drei Komponenten (der ideologischen, der praxisbezogenen und der auf Eingriffen beruhenden) auf die gennanten Gruppen innerhalb der Universität untersucht werden.

Resumen

La palabra internacionalización se ha convertido en una especie de mantra en la educación terciaria. Las universidades europeas se encuentran enfrascadas en un proceso de internacionalización en el que el inglés como lengua franca actual y su uso como lengua de instrucción desempeñan un papel fundamental. En este artículo se analiza el impacto de la internacionalización en las políticas lingüísticas y en el grado de libertad del que disfrutan las universidades a la hora de tomar sus propias decisiones. Dicho análisis se aborda desde cuatro niveles: el nivel macro (las iniciativas de las instituciones europeas), el nivel meso (el papel de los Estados), el nivel micro (la universidad como institución) y el nivel nano (personificado por los miembros de la comunidad universitaria). Tomando la definición de política lingüística propuesta por Spolsky (2004) como marco de referencia, la Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea en España nos servirá de ejemplo para estudiar el impacto de las políticas lingüísticas multilingües y sus tres componentes (ideologías lingüísticas, prácticas lingüísticas y planificación lingüística) en los diferentes estamentos universitarios.

Keywords: language policy; internationalization; English; language choice; university.
Stichworte: Sprachenpolitik; Internationalisierung; Englisch; Sprachenauswahl; Universität.
Palabras clave: política lingüística; internacionalización; inglés; elección lingüística; universidad.

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Published Online: 2015-7-11
Published in Print: 2015-9-1

© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/eujal-2014-0024
Keywords for this article
language policy; internationalization; English; language choice; university.

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Frontmatter
  3. Editorial
  4. Editorial
  5. Articles
  6. L1 use in EFL task-based interaction: a matter of gender?
  7. The interface between grammar and pragmatics in EFL measurement and development
  8. PhD supervisor-PhD student interactions in an English-medium Higher Education (HE) setting: Expressing disagreement
  9. Linguistic practice of knowledge mediation at German and Italian universities
  10. Language policy and language choice at European Universities: Is there really a ‘choice’?
  11. Project Report
  12. European perspectives on security: Positioning in political discourses on the introduction of body scanners in Germany, France and the UK (2008–2012)
  13. Interview
  14. The Foundations of Cognitive Linguistics
  15. On AILA Europe
  16. VERBAL: The Austrian Association of Applied Linguistics
  17. Research Projects for Europe
  18. The interpersonal function of language in CLIL secondary education: analysis of a spoken and written corpus (INTER-CLIL)
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