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Multilingual Universities: Policies and Practices
Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to examine European higher education from the perspective of language use, that is, in view of the multilingual reconfiguration currently affecting universities in EU countries. In the first section recent developments of EU language policies are illustrated, and the notion of ‘functional multilingualism’, which informs such policies, is discussed against the background of societal, political and economic changes, determining a reconsideration of linguistic needs in Europe. The second section is devoted to the analysis of communicative practices in multilingual universities, in particular at the trilingual Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy. Different ways of handling linguistic diversity in the classroom are examined, showing how the use of more languages in teacher-student interaction cannot only enhance learning processes and participation but can also prepare professionals who can successfully act in a multilingual, multicultural Europe.
... Within the last two decades the use of major international languages in education has been gaining popularity among parents, educators and policymakers [9]. The use of more than one language for subject-matter instruction is growing [10]. Therefore, the multilingual turn makes it possible to re-conceptualize multilingualism in education and shift from the 'ideal' native speaker view to 'additive bilingualism' and a multilingual classroom or asset view with the focus on learners and their linguistic repertoires. ...
... Multilingualism is distinguished as a social phenomenon of the co-existence of language communities and, at the individual level, as a competence of language users [10] (pp. 58-59). ...
... This study revealed that even students with the additional learning experience acquired in the system of informal education, do not feel that they are prepared for being taught in English in non-language courses. This result can be viewed as a contribution to the debate about multilingual policies in higher education internationalized contexts [6,9,10,15,16,25], which definitely require thoughtful and flexible decisions, taking into consideration students' anxiety about EMI, undertaking measures to lower their fears and, at the same time, meeting their needs for a higher competence in English. ...
The wide spread of English as the dominant language in higher education around the world due to the processes of globalization and internationalization, opposed to the emerging trend for ‘nationalism’ or ‘de-globalization’, has recently led to new interest in the role of languages other than English in teaching and learning processes. This article investigates the beliefs and attitudes of Russian university students and teachers concerning the value of English language teaching and the language of instruction in ELT to explore their perceptions of ELT in a Russian monolingual university. The participants of this study were 581 students and teachers of two Russian universities. The research questions were approached from a quantitative perspective with the analysis of data obtained from a questionnaire. The main statistically significant findings include the following: the value of ELT, supported by English-medium instruction is high for all groups of respondents; translanguaging practices in ELT with the minimized use of Russian as the mother tongue are a top priority both for the students and the teachers; additional language learning experience makes students more committed to more intensive language studies and increases their confidence in their ability to study non-language subjects in English.
... Prior, 2009). It is clear that the cognitive, affective, sociolinguistic, sociocultural, and intercultural dimensions of multilingual and lingua franca contexts can enrich communication and education in profound ways (Jenkins, 2008;Kramsch, 2009;Seidlhofer, 2009), and UNIBZ is recognized internationally as an example (see, e.g., Franceschini & Veronesi, 2014;Veronesi, 2009;Veronesi, Spreafico, Varcasia, Vietti, & Franceschini, 2013;Vietti, 2009). The vast linguistic repertoire of the university community clearly enhances all forms of learning at UNIBZ. ...
This article describes how a course based on the concept of English for specific academic purposes (ESAP) was transformed into content and language integrated learning (CLIL) at a trilingual university where English serves as a lingua franca and medium of instruction, due to the application of a task-based communicative approach. The article describes how the trilingual learning context (German, Italian, English), the specific needs of the students, the teaching methodology, the course design, and the assessment procedure unintentionally resulted in CLIL. These observations may suggest that all task-based communicative language learning based on the input-interaction-output model of second language acquisition has the potential to transform into CLIL when applied to a specific academic context, especially one in which the target language serves as a medium of instruction. But a more detailed and systematic study is required to determine the effectiveness of this particular CLIL course within this unique learning environment.
The chapter focuses on the concept of linguistic pluralism as interpreted by the European Union (EU) and applied in European Studies courses. In the first part, it discusses the linguistic policy adopted by the EU on the basis of Regulation 1/1958 and the case law of the European Court of Justice. We argue that while the EU has adopted a linguistic policy for aspects dealing with persons’ and states’ relationship with their institutions, it relies on the choices of member states and universities for aspects related to teaching languages, especially in European Studies courses. In the second part, it focuses on the results of an online survey to assess how linguistic pluralism is applied in European Studies. Our research highlights the lack of courses taught in foreign languages other than English as well as the neutral attitude of the Jean Monnet Programme of the EU in promoting teaching in a foreign language, including in English. We argue that linguistic pluralism in teaching European Studies courses is intended more as a static respect for member states’ and single institutions’ linguistic policies than as an active tool. The chapter then identifies the member states which have promoted English as teaching language in European Studies courses and the role of the Jean Monnet Programme within different countries. The final part of the chapter deals with some specific disciplines in European Studies.
Gerade für kulturwissenschaftlich orientierte Forschung ist Selbstreflexivität eine der zentralen Forderungen. Ausgehend von der Prämisse, dass Kultur immer in Machtbeziehungen eingebunden ist, sollten Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler sorgfältig ihre eigenen zugrunde gelegten Kategorien und ihr gewähltes Vokabular überprüfen. Sie müssen sich fragen, inwieweit sie in eben jene Machtsysteme und Ideologien verstrickt sind, aus denen sie auszubrechen versuchen, wenn sie kulturelle Praktiken, Kategorien und Konzepte dieser Machtsysteme benutzen. Sie müssen sich auch fragen, inwieweit sie durch den Rückgriff auf eine etablierte Beschreibungssprache die bestehenden Verhältnisse bzw. den bestehenden Blick auf die zu untersuchenden Phänomene letztlich nur reproduzieren können und damit eher festschreiben als erneuern. Insbesondere diejenigen sprachlichen Konventionen, die scheinbar naturalisiert und unbewusst geworden sind – im Sinne von Norman Fairclough „Ideologien“ –, müssen mit besonderer Sorgfalt analysiert werden. Im Kontext „Hochschulentwicklung“ und „Internationalisierung von Hochschulen“ ist dies der Fall. Das Vokabular und die Konzepte, die derzeit hier verwendet werden, sind es wert, im oben genannten Sinne kritisch untersucht zu werden.
This study approaches switching in bilingual infants from a developmental perspective , using a micro-focus of conversation-a nalysis. Early switching data of two bilingual children (age 1;6 to 2;11) is analyzed in terms of pragmatic choices and constraints, and it is argued that, whilst some adult-like socially-determined switching could be observed at a very early age, the most frequently observed early switches were explained in terms of the child's psycho-social and linguistic development, in particular switching for emphasis and appeal and switching due to vocabulary gaps. The results are interpreted within a developmental perspective on codeswitching, and as such bridge an identified gap in the field of infant bilingualism between structural analyses of language alternations in bilingual infants on the one hand, and switching in older bilinguals on the other.
This article discusses findings from ongoing research into plurilingual group work interaction in a Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teacher training classroom at a university in Catalonia, Spain. We explore how participants make use of available verbal and non-verbal resources—for example, their multilingual verbal repertoires, posture, gesture, gaze—to collaboratively accomplish various activities and, specifically, to problematize linguistic and subject knowledge, to construct science teacher discourse, and to dynamically and simultaneously negotiate membership in immediate and “imagined” communities. Although the shift in European higher education toward teaching nonlanguage subjects through the medium of a foreign language would appear to favor monolingual practices and be detrimental to local languages, our data reveal that participants' plurilingual repertoires can act as a resource in classroom interaction, creating a favorable framework for performing a range of activities that would seem to enrich the collective learning process.
One of the most common phenomena of language use among bilingual speakers is language alternation. Theoretically this is impossible, both grammatically and socio-functionally. Drawing on Ethnomethodology this book addresses the crucial question of how to account for its actual possibility, and offers a critical reading of current approaches.
The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is a detailed re-writing of the regulation of capital markets. To the extent those rules permit, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) is also introducing high-level ‘principles-based regulation’. In response to this, Paul Nelson presents practical guidance on the regulation of the capital markets, ranging from new issues and IPOs to investment banking, broker-dealing and asset management. All laws and rules relevant to the regulation of the capital markets are explained and put into context within the economic operation of markets, institutions and products, the European Single Market, the FSA’s policies and objectives, the historical evolution of the regulations and the general civil and criminal law. Drawing on 30 years’ experience as a practitioner, and referring to a vast range of supporting materials, the author provides an insightful analysis and critique of the rules, the rule makers and the institutions.
Experiments in bilingual education in Europe increasingly appear under the abbreviation ‘CLIL’ (Content and Language Integrated Learning). The main concept in it seems to be that of integration, as yet little described in research and insufficiently made conscious and explicit in the teaching process. This paper aims at studying the modes of integration between language and content by identifying different types of knowledge at the crossroads between the linguistic paradigm and the subject paradigm. It is based on discourse and interaction analysis of classroom interaction sequences in various subjects. It proposes elements for a basic theoretical framework designed to sustain the view of CLIL as an alternative not only in second language didactics, but also in the didactics of non-linguistic subjects.
The aim of the paper is both to present existing research in interactional linguistics and to highlight some broader issues it raises for general linguistics. Thus, code-switching is dealt with not just as a particular phenomenon, but as a key area of study revealing important contemporary issues for linguistics.Plurilingualism has been approached from several perspectives: among them, the interactional approaches have focussed their inquiries on code-switching as it can be observed in naturally occurring interactional materials, recorded in various social settings. This empirical base has been fruitful for the exploration not only of the socio-pragmatic functionalities of code-switching but also for a redefinition of the grammatical resources involved in the organization of talk-in-interaction. In order to present these contributions, the paper will sketch some approaches coming from a broad interactional perspective, and develop more explicitly the approach inspired by conversation analysis.This leads us to formulate a series of issues to which code-switching can contribute in a powerful way :- issues dealing with the very definition of what the grammatical resources are: code-switching is not just the use of two or more codes by the speakers, but involves the active reconfiguration of what a
In which way is multilingualism a resource for knowledge construction? By analysing examples from interactions in a bilingual university lecture, this article aims to show a set of first research results concerning this issue.
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