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Introduction: language management, ideologies and practices in scientific research
Abstract
The several challenges posed to Higher Education Institutions by
globalisation and internationalisation have been highlighting
language issues within scientific research that are related to the
naturalisation of English-only policies. Over the last years, this
naturalisation has been questioned by some researchers in the
area of social sciences, arts and humanities who have discussed
the constraints of monolingualism versus the potential of
multilingualism in knowledge production, dissemination and
circulation. This special issue aims at contributing to a growing
debate on language policy and planning within research, by
addressing language management, ideologies and practices in
diverse key dimensions of scientific research (knowledge
construction and dissemination, research assessment, multilingual
collaborative research and doctoral education), and bringing
together contributors from diversified academic contexts (Brazil,
France, Germany, Portugal and Switzerland).
A publicação de artigos científicos em revistas especializadas é, atualmente, o veículo privilegiado para a disseminação da investigação científica. Ainda assim, muitos investigadores sentem receio e insegurança quando são solicitados a redigir artigos em inglês, principalmente os mais inexperientes no uso desta língua na escrita. Este artigo destina-se a investigadores, sobretudo das áreas da psicologia e da educação, que pretendam iniciar ou consolidar a sua escrita científica em inglês, e tem como objetivos centrais, por um lado, sensibilizá-los para a pertinência e a importância de publicarem os seus trabalhos em língua inglesa e, por outro, fornecer-lhes algumas orientações práticas e dicas úteis para serem bem-sucedidos nessa demanda. Para tal, iremos procurar desconstruir alguns mitos relacionados com a escrita científica em inglês e, posteriormente, iremos apresentar alguns exemplos de expressões frequentemente utilizadas em textos científicos naquelas áreas.
In recent years, interest in the study of language policy issues in the context of universities has grown considerably. One reason for this is the coexistence of two apparently contradictory discourses, centring around nationalising and globalising orientations. Universities are seen by many as the key institutions for safeguarding the sustainability of national languages, while in order to operate on a global scale, an increasing use of foreign languages (particularly English) is necessary in those same institutions. In our paper, we explore the tensions and ambiguities provoked by this scenario in the context of Estonian higher education (HE), focusing on the University of Tartu. More specifically, we look at how different stakeholders orient themselves towards the language question at the university: university officials, members of the university (staff and students), and members of society outside the university. Using discourse analytical tools, we map the ideological constructs with which these different stakeholders take a stance towards the two dominating discourses. In our analysis, we show that these different groups re-create and shape both the nationalising and the globalising discourses currently present in the field of HE by strategically mobilising a set of semiotic resources available to them.
The expansion of English worldwide tends to be both seen and marketed uncritically, as a universally relevant lingua franca and medium of education. The post-1945 expansion of English was a deliberate policy of the US and UK governments, foreseen in a speech by Churchill. Elsewhere Churchill endorsed university academic freedom and autonomy, which neoliberal forces currently constrain. Imperial languages are promoted by means of linguicism, which many contemporary policies exemplify. Increased use of English results in a macro-sociolinguistic tension between national linguistic capital accumulation or dispossession. European colonisation was legitimated by the fraudulent myth of terra nullius. Americanisation worldwide is furthered by projecting US norms and lifestyle as a cultura nullius for all. English is marketed as a lingua nullius, for instance in British promotion of English worldwide, as though English is a universal ‘basic skill’. This is false argumentation that echoes colonial discourse. Privileging English intensifies the gaps between the world’s haves and have-nots. This is also now in effect in the countries of the European Union. Critical scholarship is needed to connect macro-level analysis with micro-level conceptual myth-making promoting global English.
Full text at www.hamel.com.mx This article starts with an overview of the sociolinguistic situation in Latin America as a context for language policy and planning (LPP) decisions in the academic field. Then it gives a brief overview of the language policy challenges faced by universities to cope with neoliberal internationalisation. A conceptualisation of the domain as a sociological (Bourdieu) and communicational (Gumperz) field is sketched to interpret LPP activities in a comprehensive framework. Next the text
turns to the micro-level to give a more detailed account of two specific universities,
Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria en Ingeniería y Tecnologías Avanzadas
(UPIITA), a technology unit in the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico
City, and the University of Latin American Integration (UNILA) in southern Brazil.
The analysis of both universities reveals the emergence of exceptional plurilingual
LPP frameworks: The Mexican UPIITA fosters the learning of more than one
foreign language to cope with research and study abroad activities. The Brazilian
UNILA integrates students from all over South American through teaching in
Portuguese and Spanish as equal languages of instruction. English and other
international languages come third as access languages to the international
academia. Finally, the article relates its findings to the more general picture of
university LPP in Latin America.
Keywords: Language policy; plurilingual universities; science; higher education; Latin
America
The term "epistemicide" was coined by the sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos to describe the systematic eradication of Third World knowledges by "Western" science. However, even within Europe there are various epistemo-logical traditions encoded into different discourses in different languages that are now being threatened by the inexorable expansion of English academic discourse (EAD) as the only acceptable vehicle for knowledge in the modern world. This chapter examines the way that epistemicide operates in the current academic context. It suggests that the primary mechanism is discursive - implicit in the translation, revision and editing procedures used to bring academic papers into line with the dominant norms - but that this is backed up by a series of non-discursive mechanisms that reinforce the hegemony of EAD and, by extension, the empiricist paradigm, through "quality-control" and, crucially, resource allocation procedures. The result, it is argued, will be an epistemological monoculture of global proportions in which alternative knowledges are systematically eliminated in the interests of "quality".
This article is a review of the literature concerned with transnational, offshore, cross-border, and borderless higher education, which together form a new thematic field within higher education research from the early 2000s onwards. The review places emphasis on the development of this field as well as its most cited contributions. The literature derives from the Database of Research on International Education, while the citation data comes from Google Scholar. The first section describes the growth of the field and its cognitive and institutional structure in terms of keywords, publication types, journals, and topic clusters. The second section provides a review of the most recognized work of this thematic area. Research related to the main themes studied under the label of transnational higher education is discussed. Finally, future directions for research, including methodological issues and substantive concerns, are addressed.
Five major themes are often addressed in the discourse of mobility in science: the definition and classification of the persons in mind (scholars, academics, researchers, etc); the frequency and the configuration of mobility; the roles mobility and migration play for the individuals; the roles they play for institutions (universities, research institutes, enterprises, etc); and finally the relevance of mobility and migration for the overall international activities within higher education and research in a ‘globalized world’. This article summarizes the concepts and findings presented as regards these themes in all of the articles in this special issue of
European Review
. The discourse both on concepts and findings suggests that mobility and migration are often viewed in isolation rather than in a wider context of features of internationalization. Moreover, attention often focuses on mobility and migration at the apex of the prestige and quality pyramid, notably in the countries most strongly involved; differences by country, sector and position in the reputational hierarchy would be viewed as more relevant if European policies aimed at a balance between market developments and cohesion across Europe and for keeping inequalities between European countries within limits.
O texto, que corresponde à transcrição da palestra proferida no Porto, no Congresso Europeu de Pesquisa Educacional (4 de setembro de 2014), inicia-se com quatro histórias que são sintomas da corrosão atual das universidades e da pesquisa. Depois, na parte central, a partir de três palavras começadas por E e mais uma, criticam-se as ideologias de “modernização” que estão a dominar as universidades: excelência, empreendedorismo, empregabilidade, mais europeização. Na parte final, tiram-se conclusões para a pesquisa educacional, defendendo-se a necessidade de reforçar: a) práticas de debate e culturas de colegialidade; b) lógicas de diversidade e de convergência; c) processos de desenvolvimento de uma educação plena num quadro de abertura e de compromisso social. A primeira e a última palavra deste texto é liberdade, pois, sem ela, não há pensamento, nem ciência, nem educação, isto é, não há universidade.
Our paper discusses trends and challenges faced by Lithuanian Higher Education (HE) internationalisation policy processes in the context of European and global internationalisation tendencies. Using 2001–2011 EU mobility statistics and data from recent HE Lithuanian strategic programmes aimed at promoting the internationalisation of university education (for 2009–2010 and 2011–2012), we discuss implications of these developments for the country's language (education) policy and its practical implementation. The officially practiced policy approach that aims to strengthen the national language and culture (as is visible throughout the post-Soviet space) faces challenges with the development of societal multilingualism. This contrasts with Western policy practices, where common/mutual rationales and approaches seek to support multilingualism and multiculturalism. In the Baltic region, protectionist national political instruments have had to address dilemmas that have arisen in connection with Western-mediated HE internationalisation processes. This has led to the deployment of different internationalisation policy rationales that promote global and regional cooperation. New approaches focused on linking Baltic language studies centres with departments of Baltistics and Indo-European studies have worked to establish stronger bonds with structures at foreign universities. As a consequence common interests in the study, research, development and promotion of the languages in the Baltic are now more widely shared, both regionally and internationally.
Disciplinary differences in the use of English in higher education: reflections on recent language policy developments
Maria Kuteeva • John Airey
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
Abstract
In post-Bologna Europe, there has been a noticeable increase in English- medium instruction. In this article we take the case of Sweden as an illustrative example of the wider disciplinary issues involved in changing the teaching language in this way. By 2008 the use of English in Swedish higher education had risen to such an extent that it had to be regulated at the governmental level and through university language policies. Such policies have attempted to provide generalised pragmatic guidelines for language use across educational programmes. In this paper we argue that such general policies fail to take into consideration fundamental disciplinary differences and their potential impact on language use. We present a theoretical argument about the knowledge structures of dis- ciplines, relating these to the disciplinary literacy goals of educational programmes. We then illustrate our argument using data from an extensive survey carried out at a major Swedish university. We conclude that the disciplinary variation in the use of English can be seen as a product of different knowledge-making practices and educational goals. This conclusion problematises ‘‘one-size-fits-all’’ language policies which only deal with gen- eral features of language use and do not allow for discipline-specific adjustments.
Keywords
Disciplinary differences Disciplinary literacy Disciplinary knowledge structures Teaching in English Language choice Language policies Parallel language use
Language planning for international scientific communication needs to be understood in the context of some general language policy for the larger field of science and higher education. The academic field is a sociological and sociolinguistic field of production and circulation of science. This field contains monolingual and bi- or multilingual activities and subfields. Careful policy-decisions and language planning activities are needed to organise the coexistence of different languages in shared territories from a plurilingual enrichment perspective. This paper sketches elements of a heuristic language policy for the academic field in the Spanish language community that is taken as a collective actor, stakeholder and addressee.
Abstract and Key Results
In this article, we examine the effects of language on the transfer of knowledge within multinational companies. We unbundle language from the culture box and use the basic communication model to show how language affects all stages.
We also examine a range of influences — cost, transfer medium, teams, networks, trust, staff movements and motivation — on international knowledge transfer to demonstrate how language effects their operation.
We develop the concept of language as a “reconfiguration agent” to explain its extensive, pervasive, on-going and system-altering characteristics.
This paper reports on a study that looked at Portuguese public universities setting out to identify and discuss institutional stakeholders’ social representations concerning the use of languages in scientific research and the development of institutional language policies within this area of higher education activity. In order to do so, institutional stakeholders responsible for research activities at six Portuguese public universities completed a questionnaire and participated in in-depth interviews. The findings indicate there are common tendencies regarding the identified social representations that point, mainly, to a tension between, on one hand, the existence of reported practices that centre on “English-mainly” research language policies, reflecting the current monolingual scenario of global science and, on the other hand, the need for a more plurilingual science and the privileging of Portuguese as a science language.
This paper reports on a study that looked at Portuguese public universities setting out to identify and discuss institutional stakeholders’ social representations
concerning the use of languages in scientific research and the development of institutional language policies within this area of higher education activity. In order to do so, institutional stakeholders responsible for research activities at six Portuguese public universities completed a questionnaire and participated in in-depth interviews. The findings indicate there are common tendencies regarding the identified social representations that point, mainly, to a tension between, on one hand, the existence of reported practices that centre on “English-mainly” research language policies,
reflecting the current monolingual scenario of global science and, on
the other hand, the need for a more plurilingual science and the privileging of Portuguese as a science language.
https://benjamins.com/catalog/lplp.00054.pin
Higher education institutions have been progressively dealing with issues related to the internationalization of their faculties, in order to increase their position in rankings and their attractiveness in a high competitive market. In such a context, institutions are expected to recruit international students and teachers. This special issue focus on the roles and the impacts of plurilingual expatriate teachers in Higher Education as perceived and described by institutions, colleagues and students, in different contexts (Canada, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland). Under the label ‘international’, synonymous with modernity and attractiveness, English is often portrayed as ‘the language of internationalization’. The aim of this special issue is to pay a closer look not only on the policy of English as academia lingua franca, but also on other linguistic contexts and constellations.
English-medium instruction (EMI) has been growing rapidly in higher education institutions worldwide as one of the chief language policy initiatives related to internationalisation. Acknowledging the centrality of teachers in EMI implementation and their role as micro-level actors in language policy and planning, this paper sets out to identify, compare and discuss expatriate and home teachers’ beliefs concerning the benefits and challenges of EMI. To address these aims, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted at a Portuguese higher education institution. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire, which included closed and open-ended questions and submitted to statistical and content analysis. Results suggest that expatriate and home teachers have similar beliefs concerning the challenges of EMI. Still, regarding benefits, expatriate teachers seem to have a more ‘educationalist’ perspective of EMI, whereas home teachers seem to focus on its economic benefits. Implications of these findings for institutional language policy and planning are discussed.
Acknowledging the importance of the ideological language component in language policy and planning within a micro-level language-planning framework, this paper sets out to identify and discuss the social representations of Portuguese higher education institution (HEI) stakeholders concerning: (i) language teaching and learning in HEIs and (ii) the development of language education policies in this particular context. Based on a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders responsible for the pedagogical strategy, specifically five Vice-Rectors for Education at their respective Portuguese public universities, their common perspective points to tension between, on one hand, the value they attribute to a diversified language teaching and learning in terms of the quantity of languages offered and to the strategic development of multilingual language education policies and, on the other hand, the prominence of institutional initiatives and actions relying primarily on English.
This paper examines the intellectual and social context surrounding research on alternatives to western epistemologies. The paper outlines the challenges facing the western critical tradition - the old and the new; the loss of critical terms; the ghostly relation between critical theory and social change; the end of endless capitalism; the end of endless colonialism. The paper contrasts "the sociology of emergence", i.e. the increase of knowledge, practices and agents, with "the sociology of absences", i.e. forms of non-existence (e.g. "the ignored", "the residual", "the inferior", "the local", "the unproductive"). Finally, in considering new epistemological perspectives, the paper suggests that the epistemologies of the South are based on "the ecology of knowledge" and "intercultural translation".
The general perception that a good command of English is enough to gain access and to be successful in higher education hides the complexity of learning and teaching in multilingual environments, and this book shows that all higher education environments are multilingual to some extent. Strategies like translation, interpreting and switching from one language to another not only support learning but also build competence for multilingual professional environments. Whether institutions focus on widening access to minoritised communities or whether they want to attract more international students, the book argues that a multilingual pedagogy is needed to improve student access and success. Building on work by Nancy Hornberger, Colin Baker and Ofelia García, the book extends strategies and techniques from bilingual education at school level to multilingual higher education.
This paper will show, on the basis of valid and reasonably representative data, that even in applied linguistics (where it might be expected least of all) the predominance of a single language, English, in international scientific communication excludes contributions from various non-Anglophone quarters and, consequently, contributes to skewed scientific development, especially neglecting Japanese and Chinese, but also French, German, Italian and Russian approaches (because of serious linguistic barriers and refusal to participate in linguistically “unfair” scientific communication, respectively). The paper will also submit proposals on how the situation could be improved and problems be mitigated such as, among others, regular linguistic support offered by publishers and conference organizers.
This paper proposes a range of improvements to international science communication. It pictures the contemporary language situation in international scientific communication as well as its recent history with the rise of English as its most notable feature and offers explanations for this development. It discusses in which sciences languages other than English still play an international role and analyses problems and advantages which different scientists encounter as a consequence of the preferred language choices in today’s scientific communication. Problems appear severe for the scientists of recently declined international languages, while for Anglophones and for small language communities advantages predominate. The paper also discusses whether the reduction to one single international language of science may have downsides for scientific progress altogether but arrives at a contrary conclusion as long as other languages continue to function as additional languages of science on the national level. Suggestions for language planning comprise, among others, a campaign for raising awareness among Anglophones of the difficulties faced by non-Anglophones using correct English and the idea of a gradual change in the norms of the international language of science, which should, in the long run, even give rise to a new language (‘Globalish’) with a pluricentric structure.
The number of non-native students studying in English-medium universities has increased over the past decade. Paralleling this growth is the interest in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). No one research-based volume has yet investigated the theoretical issues and pedagogical concerns of the area. This wide-ranging volume of specially commissioned articles from leading scholars in the field aims to bring to the wider community current research in the field and its implications for pedagogy. It offers a state-of-the-art representation of research in EAP and will help define the field in the coming years.
Within a global trend of the anglicization of academic publishing, in the humanities and social sciences (HSS) publication in indigenous languages, nevertheless, in many contexts, continues to thrive. Given that the overall anglicization of academic publishing tends to be negotiated at the local level, this study seeks to discover how a potentially competing relationship between English and Chinese might be manifested in the context of China. Focused on the praxis of Chinese HSS academics writing for scholarly publication, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 academics across a range of HSS disciplines at an elite research-based university in China. The study sought to find out, firstly, how and to what extent English is used among these participants, and, secondly, what their attitudes are towards the official policy of encouraging more international publication (in English). The findings, based on this limited sample, suggest that Chinese will most likely retain its dominant position as the language of research and publication for Chinese HSS scholars, but that international publication in English will nevertheless increase. The paper concludes by suggesting that, to facilitate visibility of peripheral scholarship on the part of scholars such as the participants in this study, efforts can be made from both the periphery and the center.
The use of English as an international language of science (EILS) is by now well documented; depending on one’s orientation, English may be seen as a neutral lingua franca or it may be seen more insidiously as a dominating and overpowering force. This paper explores these co-existing roles of EILS through various perspectives. It begins by outlining conversations regarding EILS found in the literature of applied linguistics and the scientific community. The paper then turns to the perspective of international graduate students studying at an American university through a small-scale questionnaire and focus group interview study that attempts to understand these students’ attitudes toward English and its role in scientific communication. Findings from the study are discussed in light of published conversations of EILS and implications for an EAP classroom that aims to recognize the dual roles of English in scientific communication.
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