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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1191

Part of Session 113: "Medium-sized" languages and the city (Other abstracts in this session)

Languages at the top. A comparative approach to current language policies in higher education (LPHE) in medium-size language communities (MSLC)

Authors: Vila i Moreno, F. Xavier
Submitted by: Vila i Moreno, F. Xavier (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)

Gaining the domain of higher education became a crucial goal for MSLC in Europe since the second ecolinguistic revolution (1800-1918) (Baggioni 1997). Since then, gaining control over this domain remained a first-order goal for most MSLC aspiring at a status of stability and security, as shown by histories of Finnish, Dutch in Flanders, Modern Hebrew, or Catalan, among many others. The changing roles of universities in the informational society, the increased pressures towards globalization, the spread of English as the academic and scientific lingua franca, and regional processes such as the Bologna process in Europe have nevertheless significantly modified the parameters under which language policy used to operate in higher education (Blommaert 2010, Castells 2000, Ostler 2010; van Parijs 2011). Today, MSLCs see themselves in the need to redefine their language policies in a domain that is simultaneously regarded as critical to attract foreign talent and creativity, but also vital to maintain the long-term viability of any given language as an instrument of culture.

The reactions in front of these LPHE challenges are not always coincidental, depending on a multitude of factors. In this paper we will be presenting the results of a project focussed on the comparison of these policies as developed and implemented in several MSLCs. Using an extended model based on Cooper’s (1989) and Baetens Beardsmore’s (2009) models of LPs analysis, we will review how some MSLCs adopt an apparently non-interventionist stance vis-à-vis language practices at their universities, while others adopt explicit LPHE. Some of these have protectionist goals, while others actively encourage the introduction of English, or both goals at the same time. The main language policy actors vary substantially from one country to another: in some cases it is central authorities, while in others it substate authorities, universities themselves or even faculties or departments who take policies in charge. And we will review not only the main goals, but also some of the major outcomes of each model, trying to connect policies with actual results.
References:
Baetens Beardsmore, Hugo. 2009. 'Bilingual education: factors and variables.' Pp. 137-158 in Bilingual education in the 21st century. A global perspective  O. García. Malden, USA; Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Blommaert, Jan. 2010. The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge: Cambrige University Press.
Castells, Manuel. 2003. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volume II: The Power of Identity. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
Cooper, Robert L. 1989. Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ostler, Nicholas. 2010. The last lingua franca. English until the return of Babel. London; New York: Allen Lane.
Phillipson, Robert. 2009. 'English in higher education: Panacea or pandemic?' Pp. 29-54 in Angles on the English speaking world. English in Denmark: Language Policy, Internationalization and University Teaching edited by P. Harder. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press; University of Copenhagen.
van Parijs, Philippe. 2011. Linguistic Justice for Europe and for the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.