Evolving Agendas in European English-Medium Higher Education

Interculturality, Multilingualism and Language Policy

Clive W. Earls

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781137543110
• eBook ISBN: 9781137543127
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Hochschulausbildung

English medium-of-instruction (EMI) is transforming modern-day universities across the globe, creating increasingly complex linguistic and intercultural realities which lecturers, students and decision-makers must negotiate. Teaching subject matter at higher-education level through the medium of English, in countries where English is neither an official nor national language (e.g. the Netherlands, Germany), is a highly complex phenomenon fraught with challenges and benefits. EMI programmes are capable of transforming domestic degree programmes into platforms of intercultural teaching and learning by infusing them with greater numbers of international faculty and students. Equally however, EMI programmes pose a socio-linguistic, -cultural and -economic challenge by institutionalising English at higher-education level within a country and displacing somewhat national and minority languages. This book, the first of its kind, provides an up-to-date and empirically-informed exploration of these salient themes in Europe, based on significant empirical data gathered and analysed on the German EMI context.

1

English in Contemporary German Society and English Medium-of-Instruction Programmes

Introduction

Cognisant of the importance of linking both global and local ideas about languages and their functions in any given society with connections between the English language and polities like the UK and US (Hult 2012, p. 234), this chapter provides the socio-political, -historical and -linguistic backdrop to the development of English in contemporary German society. It frames both the inception and evolution of EMI programmes in HE, and presents important perspectives on the factors underlying the growth of English as a world language, its global symbolic capital and its presence in contemporary German society. This investigation serves as a prerequisite to the discussion of the three core themes of the monograph, explored in Chapters 4, 5 and 6. Section 1.1 acts as a precursor to Chapter 3 in its exploration of the global decline of German as a language of science and of English’s concomitant rise. This process has had a strong effect not only on the development and introduction of EMI programmes in Germany and Europe at large, but also on the macro-level issues of brain drain, gain and circulation, and German implicit language policy discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. Section 1.2 traces the historical development of English in German society and outlines its roles in various domains in contemporary Germany. Section 1.3 then narrows the focus to the German HE system to identify the array of factors within compulsory and higher education that contribute to a greater role for English, ultimately culminating in the introduction of EMI programmes, which are then discussed in Section 1.4 in terms of their genesis and current state of affairs.

1.1 Changing dynamics in the linguae francae of science

In tracing the historical evolution of the linguae francae of science, a series of peaks and troughs for French, German and English emerges, with each subsequent language gradually displacing its predecessor from the domain. While Latin was progressively displaced predominantly by French as the lingua franca of science during the 17^th and 18^th centuries, German’s rise as such is recorded chiefly in the 19^th century (Ammon 2015, p. 101; Ammon 1998, pp. 1–2). In the 20^th century, however, this dynamic began to change drastically with the growth of English’s importance. Until 1919, French was the predominant language of culture and diplomacy throughout Europe (Battye et al. 2000, p. 2), with German dominating academic and scholarly fields (Hilgendorf 1996, p. 8). In particular, Ammon argues, ‘German became an international language, above all in the sciences [own translation]’ (1998, p. 2), dominating the fields of Chemistry and Biology entirely and continuing to hold a privileged position in the field of Philosophy (Mitschian 2009, p. 124). The initial stages of English’s rise in Europe can be attributed to the First World War and Germany’s weakened capacity to conduct scientific research (Ammon 2015, p. 102; Ammon 1995, p. 45). Furthermore, German was banned from all international scientific conferences, which markedly limited its status (Schroeder-Gudehus 1966 in Ammon 2004). As a result of these and other factors, German began to decline drastically as a language of science (Skudlik 1990), creating a gap that English was particularly well poised to fill, given the economic and political power of English-speaking countries, in particular the US. One can, therefore, establish a converse relationship between the two languages: ‘the decline of the German language vis-à-vis English accompanied the decline of German science vis-à-vis science in English-speaking countries, particularly the USA’ (Ammon 1995, p. 45).

The end of the First World War heralded the beginning of English’s growth in 20^th-century Europe, and indeed worldwide. Later, Germany’s scientific capacity and, consequently, its language’s international status were weakened further by the country’s political choice of Nazism, which among its atrocities expelled and murdered many of Germany’s best scientists, with those remaining being able to escape to the US (Ammon 1995, p. 45). The end of the Second World War marks the point from which English continually gained in importance throughout Europe (Truchot 2002, p. 7) and German began to decline drastically (Ammon 1998, p. 12). The perception of the Allies as liberators rather than invaders in European countries greatly bolstered positive attitudes towards English (Hagège 1996, p. 14). In addition, the reconstruction of Western Europe, funded through the Marshall Plan, initiated an Americanisation process that contributed greatly to English attaining the position of Europe’s first foreign language (Dollerup 1996, pp. 26–8). While Viereck (1996, p. 17) supports this argument, he also attributes the spread and dominance of English, and conversely the decline of German, worldwide to ‘England’s intensive participation in “Europeanisation” of the World’, a process preceding Dollerup’s Americanisation of Europe (1996, pp. 26–8), and arguably the world. One could, however, argue that British colonisation sowed the seeds that have been conducive to the reception of English worldwide in various domains through the processes of internationalisation, globalisation and Americanisation, terms synonymous with the spread of English (Hoffmann 2000).

For the German language, the direct equation of language and world dominance, exemplified in National Socialist demands to achieve the global supremacy of German by ‘overthrowing French as the global language and battling England for the coveted title [own translation]’ (Thierfelder 1938 in Stukenbrock 2005, p. 378), had precisely the opposite effect by diminishing German’s prospects as a world language in the post-war period (Mitschian 2009, p. 124). Ammon (1998, p. 14) attributes German’s decline as an important language of international communication largely to its displacement as a language of science from the world’s then scientific centre, the US, which could not be compensated by its continued strength elsewhere. Furthermore, in the second half of the 20^th century, there was increased interaction between nations and people, leading to more rapid changes in people’s linguistic needs and behaviour than was previously the case, a development from which English benefited greatly (Ammon 2015, p. 104; Hoffmann 2000, p. 7). English’s dominance as the language of international trade, owing to its position within the British Empire and later the Commonwealth, is also identified as an important factor in its displacement of other languages as media of international communication in the areas of politics, science and culture. This status was triggered and impelled by English’s centrality in international economics and global trade, and the fundamental importance of such forces to 20^th- and 21^st- century life (Mitschian 2009, p. 124). Myers-Scotton refers to this as the ‘snow-ball effect’, that is, ‘the more people learn a language, the more useful it becomes, and the more useful it is, the more people want to learn it’ (Myers-Scotton 2002, p. 80). She argues that this is visible nowadays more than ever. This assertion bears particular resonance for the role of English in education systems, which will be discussed in greater detail with regard to Germany in Sections 1.2 and 1.3.

Turning to the present day, German’s status on the world stage is becoming increasingly fragile (Clyne 2006, pp. 16–17; Gawlitta & Vilmar 2002; Meyer 2004, p. 66; Wagener 2012). Ammon (1991) and Ehlich (2000) highlight German’s marginal status as a language of importance for international communication in the domain of science, with virtually nobody outside of the German-speaking realm publishing in German in the natural sciences, and its role as a conference or organisational language in academic fields being extremely limited. Such fragility is evidenced by a strong decline in the numbers learning German internationally. In 1991, the worldwide population learning German as a foreign language (Gfl) was estimated at approximately 40 million (Mitschian 2009, p. 127). According to the most recent report from the Continuous Working Group German as a foreign language¹ (2006), this number had shrunk in 2005 to 17 million, representing a 57.5 per cent drop in just 14 years. The most recent statistics from the Goethe Institute (2012) indicate that this decline internationally is proceeding further, albeit at a slower rate than previously, with 14.5 million Gfl learners globally in 2010. Such declines certainly appear ‘enormous and cannot be down played through all possible attempts to explain this [own translation]’ (Wagener 2012, p. 116). This direct link between German’s status as an important language of international communication and the numbers learning Gfl is explained in Ammon’s statement ‘that a language, which functions as a language of science, is more likely to be learnt than a language without such a status [own translation]’ (2005, p. 83). It emerges, therefore, that the status of German internationally is unsurprisingly a direct determiner of the numbers learning Gfl, which brings with it an array of economic, political, social and cultural implications. At the EU level, although German has official status as one of the EU’s three vehicular languages (Forrest 1998; Tosi 2003; 2005; Van Els 2001; 2005), in reality only English and, to a lesser extent, French fulfil this function (Ammon 2004, p. 20; 1995, p. 49; Clyne 1995, p. 14). With German’s status at the EU level diminishing in the face of English and French’s dominance and promotion (Schloßmacher 2010), there is increasing popular demand in Germany to improve the status of German in Europe (Ammon 1995; Bundesrat 2004; 2007; Gahler 2008a; 2008b), which has yet to materialise and effectuate any change in status in German’s favour.

On an educational level, international developments also indicate a decline in demand and status for German within international compulsory and HE systems. According to the most recent Eurostat statistics (2012) for the EU27, English shows the only increase in the number of students learning the language, rising from 91.2 per cent to 92.7 per cent between 2005 and 2011, while numbers learning German in the same period fell from 29.9 per cent to 23.9 per cent. The closing of German departments at a number of British HEIs and falling student numbers learning the language in comparison to increases in French and Spanish (Guardian 2009) serve to reflect and facilitate further German’s decline as a world language. Equally, however, there is emergent evidence to suggest that this decline is being reversed in view of Germany’s economic strength and stability in the face of the world financial crisis. Latest statistics from the Goethe Institute indicate that German is beginning to boom amongst language learners, particularly in those Southern European countries most adversely affected by the world economic crisis (Financial Times Deutschland 2012). This is, however, not restricted solely to Southern Europe, evidenced by German government initiatives, administered through the DAAD and the Goethe Institute, highlighting the benefits of learning German – for example, German Connects launched in February 2013 in Ireland. Arguably, Germany’s success in weathering the financial crisis may, therefore, present an unmissable opportunity to turn the tide in favour of promoting its national language internationally.

Explicit acknowledgement of the issue of German’s waning international status and the range of political, economic and cultural implications this may have is, however, beginning to emerge in political discourse driven by organisations such as the Association for the German Language² (VDS) and the Working Group on German as a Language of Science³ (ADAWIS). On two occasions, 22 November 2010 (Bundestag 2010) and 8 November 2011 (Bundestag 2011), efforts were made to insert a clause into German Basic Law relating to the German language, under the leadership of the VDS. The driving force behind such an amendment pertains to the perceived danger posed by the growth of English in the country across a range of domains (for example educational,⁴ professional⁵ and legal⁶) and the observable decline in German internationally in terms of status and indeed learning. On both occasions, the motion was defeated, citing a discrimination of minority and immigrant groups as the primary rationale. Interestingly, this discrimination appears grounded in the global perception of Germany and fears that such a move could be negatively perceived by other nations as a potential sign of undesirable patriotism. ADAWIS cites its mandate as being responsible for maintenance and further development of German as a language of science. In view of English’s increasing permeation into high-level domains in Germany, the organisation released a circular to all decision-makers determining policy in the areas of HE, business and science, highlighting a range of important considerations in policy formulation at a time of increasing internationalisation through English (ADAWIS 2010, pp. 83–5). This circular centres on the notion that ‘language policy promoting German internationally is not just a task for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, but rather a task for science and industry [own translation]’ because ‘awareness of domestic language policy must be created and strengthened in society at large [own translation]’ (Wagener 2012, p. 191) within which science and industry play a central role. Such developments highlight increasing awareness and engagement with the issue of German’s international status but equally a concomitant reticence to commit fully to language policy, or indeed political action in general, to safeguard German’s position domestically. This safeguarding, or lack thereof, serves as an important signal internationally about the importance of the German language.

Efforts at promoting German culture, Germany’s education system and, to a lesser extent, the German language by two government-funded international agencies, the Goethe Institute and the DAAD, appear far more palatable in political circles and in society in general and are strongly supported as ‘the clearest hallmark of our linguistic culture [own translation]’, ‘a sign of clever and long-sighted cultural policy [own translation]’ and a means to reach out to and support ‘learners of German, our primary and most important partners, and often our best friends all over the world [own translation]’ (Weinrich 2001, p. 9). Despite its central role in promoting the learning of German, the Goethe Institute (2015) describes its mandate as pursuing German international cultural policy and promoting a comprehensive image of German in terms of politics, culture and society, within which the learning of German is an important component. He (2013, p. 15) asserts that cultural and educational policy, in which the Goethe Institute and the DAAD are active, comprises, alongside international security and economic policy, an important pillar of German foreign policy. As such, the Goethe Institute is not per se a language-promotion organisation. As a successor to the Deutsche Akademie,⁷ the Goethe Institute began its activities in 1951 with the training of international German teachers in Germany, but since then has continued to expand its range of activities through the establishment of 149 institutes und ten information outlets in 92 countries.

Working in parallel to the Goethe Institute, the DAAD (founded in 1925) is the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and scholars. Every year, it runs over 250 programmes, funding more than 74,000 German and international scholars worldwide. Its two core principles relate to supporting the internationalisation of German HEIs and promoting German Studies and the German language abroad (DAAD 2012). Subsumed under these core principles is the encouragement of outstanding students and academics from abroad to come to Germany for study and research and, if possible, to maintain contact with them as life-long partners. The DAAD’s role in the promotion of German is an extremely important factor, as it is the organisation also charged with responsibility for supporting and introducing EMI programmes since a pilot project in 1996. It also conducted their subsequent evaluation and supported the roll-out of EMI programmes system-wide through continuous direct financial and marketing support for HEIs wishing to develop such programmes until 2009.

Having traced the historical evolution and interplay of English and German as international languages and German’s status today, we now turn our attention to English in the contemporary world. Today, English is the most used language worldwide in lingua franca contexts (Crystal 1997; Graddol 1997), having established itself as the dominant language of international communication in various domains (Graddol 1997; Seidlhofer et al. 2006), particularly academia and business (Jenkins 2014, p. 29). While French language policy has been more successful in stemming the tide against English, German appears to be particularly susceptible to decline in the face of English (House 2005). With regard to academia, with increasing numbers of German academics switching to English to communicate their research, an ideology of ‘publish in English or perish’ (Viereck 1996, p. 20) has emerged. This increasing trend in academia has been further reflected in the last 30 years in that a large number of journals in German have switched entirely to English as the language of publication, a fact reflected in renaming journal titles from their respective original languages to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 English in Contemporary German Society and English Medium-of-Instruction Programmes
• 2 Language Policy and Planning in 21st-Century Europe
• 3 Internationalisation, Globalisation and English-Medium Higher Education
• 4 English Medium-of-Instruction Programmes as Platforms of Intercultural Teaching and Learning
• 5 English Medium-of-Instruction Programmes as a Mechanism of ‘Brain Drain, Gain and Circulation’
• 6 English Medium-of-Instruction Programmes as a Concomitant Challenge to, and Mechanism of, Implicit German Language Policy
• 7 English Medium of Instruction at Higher Education: Advancing Understanding of the Phenomenon
• Notes
• References
• Index