Language Policy in Higher Education (2014)
Edited by: F. Xavier Vila, Vanessa Bretxa, Universitat de Barcelona
This book seeks to fill a gap in the study of higher education language policies. It is a well-researched, well-documented, and thoughtful comparative consideration of the challenge of internationalisation for ‘linguae academicae’ other than English. Vila and Bretxa’s edited volume will definitively help decision-makers, language activists and scholars to understand the complexities and to identify the opportunities for universities under the current process of internationalisation, and to reduce the anxieties it sometimes produces.
This volume deals with multilingualism in higher education by focusing on a number of medium-sized languages that have become solidly established in this field. The book explores how these languages achieved the status of lingua academica, reviews the social functions they serve as means of instruction, research and administration, and analyses the challenges posed to them by globalisation.