Anna Kristina Hultgren

Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies

Abstract This paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about language to constitute positioning for or against a particular social, moral or political order (Cameron 2012), the paper contrasts state- and institution-authored university language policies. The overall aim is to understand what the different actors mean when they invoke ‘parallellingualism’. Supplementary data consist of a corpus of newspaper articles on the topic of the use of English and Danish at Danish universities published in the same period as the university language policies. It is argued that while both state and institution-authored policies overtly advocate ‘parallellingualism’ as a guiding principle for managing multilingualism at Danish universities, in the state-authored policies, this seems to mean ‘more Danish’, while in the institution-authored policies it seems to mean ‘more English’. Some underlying ideologies of each of these positions are proposed before the implications for workplace discourse are discussed.

English Language Use at the Internationalised Universities of Northern Europe: Is There a Correlation between Englishisation and World Rank?.

Abstract European universities have, since the late 1990s, undergone dramatic changes centred on internationalisation, harmonisation and competition. This paper is concerned with two specific consequences of these changes and their interrelationship: rankings and Englishisation, the latter defined as an increase in the use of English at universities of nation states where English is not the official language. Despite a recent surge in research into Englishisation, it is not yet clear to what extent current organisational changes inevitably entail an orientation towards both rankings and Englishisation or whether a high rank can be attained without the use of English being increased and vice versa. Using as a case study Denmark’s eight universities, this paper examines the relationship between the combined rank on seven well-known ranking lists of each of Denmark’s eight universities and the extent to which English is used in them, drawing on recently compiled government statistics. The findings suggest that while there is some evidence in support of a correlation, in that lower-ranked universities are, on the whole, less likely to use English than higher-ranked ones, there are some notable exceptions. It is suggested that the findings may shed light on whether Englishisation at the universities of Northern Europe is best explained in terms of unintended consequences or rational choices.

Medium of instruction policies in Ghanaian and Indian primary schools: an overview of key issues and recommendations

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a rigorous literature review of research into medium of instruction in Ghana and India, whose language-in-education policies represent two contrasting models of use of local languages and the development of competence in English. The paper begins by briefly overviewing the language-in-education policy in these two countries and sets out the methodological approach underpinning this review. It then turns to the initial findings, which are discussed in two parts: the first categorises the three areas of research explored in the empirical studies reviewed, namely the effectiveness of language-in-education policies, problems hindering the implementation of these policies, and attitudes to these policies. The second provides an overview of the recommendations for how, given the obstacles in implementing the current policies, to better ensure the effectiveness of language-in-education policies in Ghana and India. Together these findings show that similar issues arise that contribute to challenges of providing equitable, quality education, and similar recommendations have been put forward as a result. This paper thus provides a valuable overview of key issues in the role of language-in-education policies in improving equity and quality in education in LMICs.

New perspectives on language and gender: Linguistic prescription and compliance in call centres

Despite a shift to service-based economies, male-dominated, high-status workplaces have been the predominant focus of research into language and gender in the workplace. This study redresses this shortcoming by considering one female-dominated, low-status, highly regimented workplace that is emblematic of the globalized service economy: call centres. Drawing on 187 call centre service interactions, institutional documents, interviews, and observations from call centres in two national contexts, the study employs an innovative combination of quantitative and qualitative discourse-analytic techniques to compare rule compliance of male and female workers. Female agents in both national contexts are found to comply more with the linguistic prescriptions despite managers and agents emphatically denying the relevance of gender. The study offers a new perspective on language and gender, pointing to the need to expand the methodologies and theories currently favoured to understand how language perpetuates occupational segregation in twenty-first-century workplaces.

The Role of Policy in Shaping English as a University Subject in Denmark

This chapter focuses on how education policy plays a role in what constitutes the subject of English in university. It explores how and to what extent contemporary policies, devised in the context of an ongoing massification of higher education (Altbach et al., 2009), are reflected in an English Studies curriculum, using the University of Copenhagen in Denmark as a case study. As far as English Studies is concerned, the massification of higher education has fuelled anxieties, in the USA at least, that ‘real English studies: the novel, the sonnet’ are going to be replaced by more vocationally relevant subjects such as ‘programs in ESL [English as a second language], remedial writing, business English, Anglophone area studies, rhetoric and composition, practical communication, applied linguistics, media arts, and so on’ (English, 2012, p. 109). There is concern, in other words, about what might be called a ‘vocationalization’ of English Studies, in which its practical and utilitarian dimensions are prioritized over its intrinsic value.

Linguistic normation in call centres and universities - how and why?

denne artikel bygger pa min forskning i sprogpolitik og sprogpraksis pa arbejdspladser i den globaliserede service- og vidensokonomi, hvor der i stigende grad udoves diverse former for sproglig normering1. i ar-tiklen vil jeg se naermere pa den sproglige normering der finder sted i callcentre og pa universiteter, to arbejdspladser som her repraesenterer henholdsvis service- og vidensokonomien. Selvom den sproglige nor-mering der udoves pa callcentre, er mere omfattende og detaljeret end den der foregar pa danmarks otte internationaliserede universiteter, er der ogsa en del ligheder. Begge typer af sproglig normering finder fx sted som et forsog pa at lose en raekke modstridende behov der karakteriserer dagens globaliserede arbejdspladser. i callcentre handler det om behovet for at rationalisere og effektivisere uden at det gar ud over kundeservicen, og pa universiteterne handler det om at interna-tionalisere uden at det gar ud over nationale behov. og i begge typer af institutioner fokuserer man pa sproget frem for pa de underliggende politiske, okonomiske, organisatoriske og paedagogiske faktorer som spaendingerne i virkeligheden skyldes. Formalet med artiklen er at sam-menholde forskelle og ligheder mellem den sproglige normering der foregar i disse i ovrigt meget forskellige typer af institutioner for pa den made at opna en dybere forstaelse af begrebet sproglig normering: hvad den bestar i og hvorfor den finder sted