Band 2012, Heft 216 - Language and the International University

The interconnection between globalization and multilingualism in the evolution of European societies has become an undeniable fact. On the one hand, there seems to be a greater need for lingua francas that can facilitate understanding among individuals from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and, ultimately, allow them to increase their chances of geographical and socio-economic mobility. On the other hand, in a world that tends to be perceived as increasingly homogeneous, speakers of minority languages may see their identities threatened by the dominance of those lingua francas and stand up for the right to use their languages. This tension is especially felt in the university context. This article discusses some of the tensions and ambiguities related to the management of multilingualism which may arise in bilingual universities in the process of designing and implementing internationalization policies. The study focuses on three universities which are located in the European bilingual regions of Catalonia (University of Lleida), the Basque Country (University of the Basque Country) and Wales (Cardiff University) respectively. The article gives an overview of (i) the sociolinguistic situation of each university and (ii) the main elements of their internationalization policy with an emphasis on its impact on language policy.

Language policies and the management of national and international multilingualism have always concerned educational institutions. Many modern European universities are facing the challenge of paying attention to regional multilingualism, which may involve majority and minority languages, at the same time when the market for higher education demands investment in widely used world languages. This article reports an analysis of outcomes of university language policies, as they are experienced at the grass-roots level by students and staff. The bilingual University of Helsinki in Finland serves as an example of an institution that must deal with national languages (Finnish and Swedish), of which one is in a minority position, as well as with English as the main language of internationalization. The analysis reveals tensions between overt and covert policies and discusses motivations for the policies and their impact. Focus group discussions with students and staff are analyzed to measure the participants' capacities, opportunities and desires to use a language in the university setting. The heterogeneity of a multilingual university is reflected by the different priorities and needs which members of different language groups expressed regarding language policies and practices.

Scandinavian and Dutch institutions top the list of European universities outside Britain that increasingly promote English as an academic language. Inevitably, this linguistic change has taken place at the expense of the national languages. The present article deals with two exceptions to this otherwise overwhelming trend, Sámi allaskuvla , the Sámi University College in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, Norway, and Fróðskaparsetur Føroya , the University of the Faroe Islands. The official languages of these institutions are Sámi (primarily North Sámi) and Faroese respectively. My main objective is to try to explain these two exceptions to the academic mainstream. Why do these two higher education institutions have a different language policy and different linguistic practices than the majority of Nordic institutions? The article argues that explanations may be found in the self-conception and identity of the institutions in question, basically in their rationale for legitimizing their existence as a university or university-like institution.

This article presents a critical examination of how the Norwegian University of Science and Technology attempts to recruit transnational students through the use of bilingual information on its website. The nature of the translational relationship between a Norwegian web text directed at local students and its comparable English version directed at international students is discussed, and it is suggested that this relationship could be characterized as one of “transadaptation”. Nevertheless, it is argued that prospective students are likely to perceive the relationship as one of “proper” translation and it is suggested that this may impede the recruitment process since students with no interest and/or possibility of accessing the local version might believe that the international version gives a faithful portrayal of the University and the cultural context it is situated in. The elements of the Norwegian web text that point to aspects of the local culture are systematically downplayed in the English version and it is claimed that this contributes to what may be termed “cultural suppression”. In the long run, this might drive off students who are looking for a university based on cultural specificity, and not simply yet another Anglophone/Anglocultural university.

As part of the internationalization of higher education, more and more European university courses are being taught in English. Exchanges between universities have grown, and students from different parts of the world now often study together. What does this international environment look like in linguistic terms? Do students and teaching staff speak only the course language English, or are other languages also used, and if so, in what situations and contexts? These questions are discussed on the basis of an ethnographic study of an English-medium university course in Sweden. Extended examples of interaction show that participants adapt their use of languages to place-bound needs and conditions, giving rise to local norms. The national language Swedish holds a special position, as the first language of the majority and the lecturer. The course language English is dominant as a de facto lingua franca, but local social and linguistic needs and conditions leave room for other languages as well. Overall, course participants orient to three competing principles of language use: (a) English as a lingua franca, (b) the speaker's orientation to her or his own language and (c) the special position of Swedish, as the first language of the majority and the lecturer.

This article presents a framework for the analysis of language hierarchies at the international university. Taking into consideration that more than 50 different languages may be present among the language resources of students and staff, the article approaches the problem of how one can analyze practices of hierarchization, inclusion and exclusion of languages in a de facto multilingual setting such as a university. The major analytical categories are those of language hierarchization in practice and in representations, as well as distinctions of language hierarchies at different levels: the global, the regional, the state and the institutional levels. The article positions universities in this complex linguistic landscape and presents a case in which a multilingual policy has been implemented: Cultural Encounters at Roskilde University, an educational program that deals with issues of multicultural and multilingual society in a global and postcolonial perspective.

This article analyzes the new system of indicators adopted in Italy to evaluate universities' research activities, and it shows that this system provides an implicit structure of economic incentives which de facto is likely to favor the use of English in scientific communication. This is due, among other things, to the use of bibliometric indicators and databases skewed in favor of English. This article also analyzes the rising phenomenon of programs taught entirely in English in Italian universities, showing that the introduction of programs in English does not seem to respond to a real demand by students or to a demand for language skills in the Italian labor market. Rather, it is related to the use of the number of foreign students as an indicator of university performance. The focus of the article is on the respective use of Italian and English in Italian universities, but general remarks are also relevant to other countries and the European Union as a whole. This article emphasizes the effects of academic performance indicators on linguistic diversity and thus their role as a language policy tool. In addition, it addresses the question of the quality of indicators currently employed.

Finland is among the countries with the highest amount of English-taught programs in higher education in Europe (Wächter and Maiworm 2008). This article analyzes how the higher education language situation of a small country with a marginal majority language (Finnish) and an official bilingual status (Finnish and Swedish) has historically developed from the setting of “drawing the line” between Finland and Sweden or Finland and Russia (Harle and Moisio 2000) in the 19th century and the early 20th century ( nationalism ), towards drawing the line between Finnish/Swedish and English in the late 20th century ( globalization ). It then continues to present a case of foreign language (in practice English) programs in higher education as an example of the globalization development in Finnish higher education. The data for the article consists of the internationalization strategies for Finnish higher education, The Finnish International Study Programme Database, and introductory texts from four universities' and four polytechnics' International BA and MA programs.

In recent discussions about the increased use of English at European universities, English is often referred to as the “the new Latin”. The current article puts this comparison to the test by presenting a critical historical overview of the use of Latin, Danish, English and other languages at Danish universities from 1479 to the present day. The article argues that the current use of English in Danish academia cannot, despite some apparent similarities, be compared to the use of Latin at earlier stages of Danish university history. Most importantly, the article argues that the motivation for using English today is radically different from the motivation behind the use of Latin at the early stages of Danish university history as well as the motivation for the use of Danish in more recent history.