English as a teaching language

The use of English as a teaching language in primary and secondary education is still quite limited in Western Europe, except in the international schools. It is much more frequent in central and Eastern Europe, where it is to be found in highly selective bilingual courses which admit pupils on the basis of competitive examinations. Such courses also exist for other languages (French, German, Italian) but those involving English are generally the most sought after.

This function of English is developing particularly in higher education. We have the example of institutions which issue higher-level qualifications of international repute (eg the European University Institute, Florence) and of others specialising in commerce and business (among them those delivering the Master of Business Administration (MBA) qualification). These bodies want to attract foreign students willing to pay large sums for such training and to persuade them not to prefer American or British universities.

In northern European countries, the Netherlands and more recently Germany, university courses open to foreign students make broader use of English as a teaching language. These courses compete not only with those of American and British universities and those offered by on-line education, a sector dominated by the American electronic campuses, but also with those provided by European universities which use the more widely spoken languages. This is particularly the case in the exchange programmes.

The universities taking part in the European Union's Socrates programme like their students to be able to acquire additional training abroad but as those programmes take place on a basis of reciprocity they turn to English when they consider that their language forms a barrier to attracting foreign students.

We are witnessing a general process of internationalisation of higher education. In a context of competition, English represents a selling point, an inducement. This trend will probably become more pronounced with the creation of a common European higher education area – the Bologna process, which has been embraced by a number of European governments.

Common diplomas will be introduced under this process. Users of English will probably be more highly prized than those using the national language as they will be considered better adapted to the globalisation context. Universities may consequently fear that by making an effort to make the usual teaching language accessible to foreign students they will appear outdated and backward-looking.

The laws of the market also encourage the use of English for publishing textbooks and other books used in universities. The major international groups which control the sector are tending to abandon uneconomic linguistic markets.

In the countries concerned the only works available in a number of educational fields are in English. This is another factor that increases inequalities between linguistic communities.

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<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
English and other languages	\|	English in the sciences

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