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In today’s world, internationalisation is the key to survival for higher education institutions (HEIs). Many argue that English has become the most used language worldwide, the international language of wider communication in a variety of domains ranging from the professional to everyday life. Consequently, non-English speaking countries have entered into a process of introducing English-medium higher education as a means of overcoming any competitive disadvantage associated with their particular linguistic situation. As a result, an ideology has emerged amongst HEIs in non-English-speaking countries that internationalisation is synonymous with the introduction of English-medium degree programmes. This development has implications for the position of national languages in their higher education systems, and consequently as international languages of communication. It is, therefore, necessary to investigate the extent to which the adoption of such language-in-education reforms may potentially act as an impetus to a wider language shift in the countries comprising Kachru’s “expanding circle.” This paper explores the current process of “Englishization” within the German higher education system. By means of Strubell’s “Catherine Wheel” conceptual model, a potential language shift from German to English is postulated and its ramifications for German’s status and role as an international language are discussed.

English proficiency is viewed across societal levels as a necessary commodity for accessing the best educational and professional prospects. The high value associated with English as symbolic capital may be seen to impact negatively upon the promotion of individual and societal multilingualism beyond an emergent dominant pattern of L1+English. To date, few empirical studies have been conducted into the ecology and ideologies that prevail within European English‐medium degree programmes regarding English and the concomitant acquisition of additional languages. On the basis of empirical data generated from questionnaires and semi‐structured interviews, this paper explores the experiences of students and lecturers within English‐medium degree programmes in Germany as they negotiate their English‐speaking environments and explores their practices of multilingualism beyond their L1 and English.