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The University of Southampton
Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Part of Humanities

''Without English this is just not possible...'': studies of language policy and practice in international universities from Europe and Asia Seminar

Time:
17:00 - 19:00
Date:
18 February 2015
Venue:
Avenue Campus - Lecture Theatre C Building 65 University of Southampton Highfield Road Southampton SO17 1BF

For more information regarding this seminar, please telephone Dr Will Baker on (023) 8059 9423 or email W.Baker@soton.ac.uk .

Event details

Part of the annual seminar series for Centre for Global Englishes (CGE).

Over the last decade there has been a huge increase in the number of English medium instruction (EMI) programmes offered in higher education institutes (HEI) in non-Anglophone settings, particularly at post-graduate level (OECD, 2010). At the same time the number of international students at HEI in Anglophone countries continues to rise at unprecedented pace (ukcisa.org). Such HEIs in both Anglophone and non-Anglophone settings can thus be viewed as part of a network of international universities facing similar issues in offering EMI programmes. While linguistic issues have been part of the EMI discussion in non-Anglophone settings (e.g. Bjorkman, 2013; Doiz et al, 2012), many questions still remain unanswered and in Anglophone settings there has generally been minimal concern with linguistic issues (Jenkins, 2014).

The data presented here draws from a comparative study of English language policy and practice in three EMI settings in the UK, continental Europe and Asia. A data set of questionnaires, student and staff interviews, classroom observations and website documentary analysis is used to provide insights into

  • the role English performs within these learning environments, including its relationship to other languages,
  • the participants’ language beliefs, attitudes and ideology towards and about English and its varieties/variation
  • the impact of language policies (formal and informal) on linguistic practices reported and observed

Findings suggest complex relationships between English and other (especially national) languages, as well as very diverse conceptualisations of the role English plays in the academic success of students. Diversities and similarities across contexts will be discussed, also in relation to type and history of the specific educational internationalisation at tertiary level.

Speaker information

Dr Will Baker ,Will joined the staff in Modern Languages in 2009. Prior to this he undertook a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the University of Southampton on the subject of intercultural awareness and intercultural communication through English. Before coming to Southampton, he taught at Silpakorn University in Thailand for 5 years. He worked as an English language teacher for over 10 years in both the UK and Thailand at all levels, but specialising in English for Academic Purposes.

Dr Julia Hüttner ,After training as a language teacher for EFL and Italian, Julia worked as a teacher in a variety of settings, many related to ESP. She completed a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and a PhD on academic writing in English as a foreign language at the University in Vienna in 2005. From 2000 to 2009 she worked at the English Department of the University of Vienna, where she taught a wide variety of linguistics and applied linguistics courses. Julia joined the School of Modern Languages as a lecturer in Applied Linguistics in October 2009.

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