Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 413
Part of Session 169: Sociolinguistic perspectives on the internationalization of HE (Other abstracts in this session)
The impact of university rankings and international mobility on linguistic diversity in scientific communication
Authors: Gazzola, Michele
Submitted by: Gazzola, Michele (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)
The role of higher education in influencing economic growth has become stronger as a result of several structural changes that have taken place in the economies of developed countries during the last two decades. Information, technology, research and learning have gradually become the strongest drivers of productivity and economic growth. This phenomenon is often referred to as the “emergence of the knowledge-based economy”.
Our reflections of the emergence of the knowledge-based economy have led to the conclusion that its influence on national higher education systems has been twofold. First, it has stressed the role of evaluation. A possible strategy to improve universities’ results in research and teaching consists in introducing a certain degree of selectivity in the allocation of public funding. In other words, a given share of resources can be allocated on a competitive basis according to the outcomes achieved by universities, captured through appropriate performance indicators.
A second consequence regards the increasingly strategic importance of attracting highly-skilled individuals from other countries. This implies, among other things, the implementation of a series of immigration policies aimed at supporting the international mobility of students and researchers, or more specifically of the “brightest students and researchers”. The European Union (EU) strategy for higher education (the “Bologna Process”) provides an example of such policies.
This article analyses the system of indicators adopted in Italy to evaluate universities’ research activities. I show that it provides an implicit structure of economic incentives which de facto is likely to favour the exclusive use of English in scientific communication. This is due, among other things, to the use of bibliometric indicators and databases skewed in favour of English. This likely outcome must not be regarded as a side or unintentional effect of the reform, but, on the contrary, as the result of the incentives built into the evaluation system (and thus as a de facto language policy).
I also analyse the rising phenomenon of programmes taught entirely in English in Italian universities, and I show that the introduction of programmes in English does not seem to respond to a real demand by students or to a demand for language skills on the Italian labour 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. I conclude with some suggestions regarding language policies to support linguistic diversity and linguistic justice in scientific communication.