Language Perceptions and Practices in Multilingual Universities

Abstract

This chapter investigates the ways in which various discursive processes within and about Swedish Higher Education (HE) are rendering some value-laden linguistic practices and processes invisible. Previous studies in the field of Language Policy and Planning (LPP) have focused on the 'internationalisation' of HE with a preoccupation for opposing linguistic systems, for example, Swedish and English. However, this study reveals how such dualistic thinking can (re)produce essentialising and highly ideologized monolingual and monocultural categories, oversimplifying what is understood by the 'international' and 'national' in contemporary HE. Drawing on data from an interview-based study carried out in a sciences department at a major Swedish university, this chapter demonstrates the potential in taking a multilingual approach when seeking to better understand the affordances and constraints of internationalisation.

Repositioning English-Medium Instruction in a Broader International Agenda: Insights from a Survey on Teacher Professional Development

“…What these comments generally suggest is that, in addition to English, some lecturers believe that other languages are also needed in the TPD courses offered in order to adapt to the new global and multilingual realities of HEIs (Kuteeva et al 2020). Such a multilingual approach was indeed at the core of the European Union, when it officially devised a 2+1 linguistic landscape where all European citizens should master their L1 + two other languages.…”

“…In other words, one could argue that while a multilingual stance may be spreading slowly across the student population of the European continent, it is still not extensive at the lecturer level. Despite the current and general absence of TPD programmes in other foreign languages, what is quite noticeable is the presence of some multilingual practices in the classroom, namely, reading published material in different languages or encouraging the use of students' multilingual repertoires (Kuteeva et al 2020;Palfreyman and van der Walt 2017). Given these practices, it may be the case that in a not too distant future a new generation of lecturers may approach their teaching and learning with a greater appreciation of multilingual repertoires and practices in accordance with the diverse student profiles that populate our 21 st century classrooms (Dafouz et al 2016;Doiz et al 2019;Rubio-Cuenca and Moore 2018).…”

“…While the nature of these skills and competences is largely contingent on what type of IoHE is implemented (see section 2) and the particular context of the HEI, the principles proposed by Hudzik (2011Hudzik ( , 2015 in his comprehensive internationalization (CI) framework, along with those by Leask (2015, 96-103) on internationalization of the curriculum, provide a valuable departure point for Repositioning English-Medium Instruction in a Broader International Agenda… Alicante Journal of English Studies, Issue 34, 2021, pages 15-38 examination. Furthermore, and given the applied linguistic focus of this paper, recent sociolinguistic and ecolinguistic conceptualizations of present-day HEIs and their resulting multilingual teaching and learning practices are, clearly, of great importance (see for example, Soler and Gallego-Balsà 2019; Dafouz andSmit 2016, 2020;Kuteeva et al 2020), especially as language issues are often invisible (Saarinen and Nikula 2013), to the point that language 'is not in and of itself a constitutive factor of internationalization' (Lauridsen 2017, 28).…”

Crossing disciplinary boundaries: English-medium education (EME) meets English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

“…While not explicit in the ESP acronym, but an essential component of EMEMuS, the role of multilingualism in the learning process cannot be ignored any longer (e.g. Cenoz & gorter, 2010;Kuteeva et al, 2020;llurda et al, 2014). The available literature advocates for a multilingual turn in education, although for that to truly occur, crucial changes need to take place with regard to language ideologies in the classroom.…”

“…Altinyelken et al, 2014;Bonancina-Pugh, 2012), to describing its implications at the classroom level, or exploring participant attitudes (e.g. lecturers', students' or managers') and their beliefs and perceptions of this phenomenon (Aguilar, 2017;Arnbjörnsdóttir, 2020;Kuteeva et al, 2020;llurda et al, 2014). By and large, it can be said that the diverse research findings have adopted either a positive tone, underlining the opportunities of EME for teaching and learning in present day higher education, or, in contrast, a discouraging tone, emphasising the loss of quality in education as a result, amongst other factors, of teachers' and learners' poor (academic) English language skills.…”