the language of higher education jim coleman the open university

The Language of Higher Education

Jim Coleman

The Open University


The End of Modern Languages

(Graddol 2004: 1329)


Global dominance of English (Brutt-Giffler 2000, Crystal 2003, Graddol 1997) • undesirable (European Commission 2003, Roy 2004)• imperialism, marginalisation, individual rights (Canagarajah 1999, 2002, Dalby 2003, Kachru 1982, 1992a, 1992b, Pennycook 1994, Phillipson 1992, Skutnabb-Kangas 2001, Widdowson 1993)• environmentalism and biodiversity (Abley 2003, Graddol 2004, Nettle and Romain 2002)


Not new:‘English will be the most respectable language in the world and the most universally read and spoken in the next century, if not before the close of this one’ (Adams 1780)‘English is widely used on the European continent as an international language. Frequently conferences are conducted in English (and their proceedings published in English) when only a few of the participants are native speakers.’ (Ferguson 1981)


Q31 Sollte man sich im Rahmen der europäischen Einigung auf eine gemeinsame Amtssprache einigen?

61.7% (valid 69.1%) Ja

Q32 Falls ja: Welche sollte die internationale Amtssprache für Europa sein?

84% Englisch

(Schröder & Macht 1983; N = 1916 German, Belgian, Finnish university students)


Not always negative:‘For the first time a natural language has attained the status of an international (universal) language, essentially for cross-cultural communication. Whatever the reasons for the earlier spread of English, we should now consider it a positive development.’ (Kachru 1992b: 67)


Not always negative in formal international scientific settings:• global academic exchange• advancement of knowledge• career advancement and mobility

(Montgomery 2004: 1334)

‘English is the language of science. That is the language we have to use if we wish to prepare our students for an international career in a globalizing world’ (Kruseman 2003).


Not necessarily a conspiracy:‘by happenstance rather than planning’ (Brumfit 2004: 165)‘the process of globalizing English seems a rather wild and woolly affair, a cumulative effect of myriad decisions by editors, teachers, students, parents, writers, publishers, translators, officials, scholarly associations, corporations, schools, and so on, with an equally wide array of motives’ (Montgomery 2004: 1334)


English as a lingua franca (Seidlhofer 2001, Wright 2000):‘the academic lingua franca’ (C. van Leeuwen 2003: 20) vs. the ‘lingua franca trap’ (Breidbach 2003).

‘At some stage, the EU will have to face the mismatch between its support for diversity within the foreign language curriculum […] and the reality of a dominant lingua franca.’ (Wright 2001)


European Union, Council of Europe, Bologna Process: ‘proper provision for linguistic diversity’.

But problematic against increase in use of English in higher education (Béacco & Byram 2003, Brock-Utne 2001, Phillipson 2001) .


‘For the first time in recorded history, all the known world has a shared second language of advanced education’ (Brumfit 2004: 166)


English is the language of European higher educationGraddol: up-to-date books & articles > English-medium teaching > English-speaking graduates > social use, children’s education. • ‘English-medium higher education is thus one of the drivers of language shift, from L2 to L1 English-speaking status’ (1997:45)• social privilege• internationalisation of education, global trade in higher education


Academic Cooperation Association Survey 2001/02 (Maiworm & Wächter 2002):• 1558 HEIs in SOCRATES-ERASMUS• 30% at least one English-medium programme (25+%)• 2-4% of HEI’s programmes, 1% overall• new phenomenon: most since 1998, 8% pre-1990, huge expansion• Alps watershed (Finland, Netherlands, Germany)• Larger internationalised universities• Business and Engineering• Postgraduate level


Why? (Hellekjaer & Westergaard 2002,Maiworm & Wächter 2002, Tella, Räsänen & Vähäpassi 1999, Räsänen 2000) • European exchange programmes• International recruitment• International staff• Prestige• International graduate employability• not language learning


Snapshot: Maastricht• English-medium since 1987• Economics Faculty English-only• Probably > English-only university• Studies, Conference in October 2003 (Bob Wilkinson)


Snapshot: Hungary 1993-1999 (Dörnyei & Csizér 2002):• study of globalisation, motivation, language choice• Russian gone, German traditional regional lingua franca• cultural interest down for all languages• contact with native speakers down for all languages despite increased opportunities• integrativeness: English stable, others way down• instrumentality: German stable, English up, others down


Snapshot: Hungary 1993-1999 (Dörnyei & Csizér 2002):‘Our results point to the conclusion that the declining interest in foreign languages only applies to non-world languages, whereas world language learning has maintained its high popularity’ (437-8).Very high scores reflect ‘almost unanimous and unqualified endorsement’ (438) of global English.Enyedi & Medgyes (1998): HE students learning English 20% in 1988/89, 50% in 1996/97


Snapshot: English-medium universities in Turkey (at least one Faculty) – private sector:

Bilkent University, AnkaraBaskent University, AnkaraCankaya University, AnkaraAtalim University, Ankara

Koc University, IstanbulSabanci University, IstanbulBilgi University, IstanbulBahcesehir University, Istanbul

Izmir University of Economics, Izmir…


Snapshot: English-medium universities in Turkey (at least one Faculty) – public sector: ODTU (Orta Dogu Teknik University) (METU - Middle East Technical University in English) , AnkaraBogazaci University, AnkaraIstanbul Teknik University (ITU), IstanbulYildiz Technical University, IstanbulHacatepe University, Ankara (some faculties in English)Ataturk University, Eskisehir


Snapshot: France• acceptance of lingua franca: ‘La langue

commune de l’Europe ne peut pas être autre, dans un schéma réaliste, que l’anglais. C’est le langage technique de la communication, la langue de travail commune’ (Alfred Mahadavy, conseiller du commerce extérieur de la France, janvier 2004)

• acceptance of need for more English-medium university courses


Need for data > survey

• European Language Council

• CercleS


Bilingual and bicultural identity?Graddol (2004: 1330): ‘major impact [of English] will be in creating new generations of bilingual and multilingual speakers across the world’Arnett (‘The Psychology of Globalization’ 2002: 777): ‘Most people in the world now develop a bicultural identity, in which part of their identity is rooted in their local culture while another part stems from an awareness of their relation to the global culture’.Wright (2004: 249): One language for identity (culture), one language for communication (utility): ‘many might come to choose this differentiated bilingualism’.

the language of higher education jim coleman the open university

Documents

higher education slide

international language

language learning slide

natural language

respectable language

language of science

higher education bacco

use of english