Section 1. Guidelines for reading texts on the use of English in European education

Why is it that English is now so popular and other major European languages (German, French, Spanish) are losing ground to it like never before? The answer is globalization, and the European Union certainly is part of it. In fact, from a European point of view, the most direct and obvious sign that we now live in a wider, more internationalized world than a few decades ago is the EU. Borders were scrapped, national currencies merged, and people can look for work in anywhere in the single market area without worrying about visa or work permit. Because Europeans are travelling and migrating more, getting in touch and working with a greater number of other Europeans with different native languages, it is only natural that a single common language of communication should arise.

In the global debates on English as international lingua franca or as ‘killer language’, the adoption of English as medium of instruction in Higher Education is raising increasing concern. Plurilingualism and multilingualism are embedded in the official policies of the European Union and Council of Europe, and the Bologna Process for harmonizing Higher Education promises ‘proper provision for linguistic diversity’. But even enthusiasts acknowledge the problems of implementing such policies in the face of an inexorable increase in the use of English.

Claude Truchot’s survey draws on the most recent and sometimes disparate sources in an attempt to paint a comprehensive and up-to-date picture of the spread of English-medium teaching in Europe’s universities. The article sets the changes in the context of accelerating globalization and marketization, and analyses the forces which are driving the adoption of English, and some of the problems which accelerating ‘Englishization’ of European Higher Education might create.

Text 1-13. KEY ASPECTS OF THE USE OF ENGLISH IN EUROPE

(After Professor Claude Truchot, Marc Bloch University, Strasbourg)

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