English-Medium Instruction in European Higher Education

Slobodanka Dimova, Anna Kristina Hultgren, Christian Jensen

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781614517252
• eBook ISBN: 9781501500961
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This volume provides a focused account of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in European higher education, considering issues of ideologies, policies, and practices. This is an essential book for academics, students, policy makers, and educators directly or indirectly implicated in the internationalization of European higher education.

II Before, During, and After EMI

Hafdís Ingvarsdóttir and Birna Arnbjörnsdóttir

6 English in a new linguistic context: Implications for higher education

Abstract: This chapter describes how the extensive use of English has changed the linguistic ecology of Iceland strongly impacting higher education. This view is based on the findings of a recent five-year study that revealed how English permeates all levels of Icelandic society, effectively creating a new linguistic environment. Extensive exposure to conversational English has led to receptive rather than productive proficiency of Icelanders, and familiarity with informal rather than formal registers. The increased presence of English affects education in dramatic ways, especially tertiary education. Official language- and educational policies in Iceland still define English as a foreign language and English is categorized with other foreign languages for the number of allotted hours in the National Curriculum. The same is true for proficiency benchmarks. The chapter describes how the discrepancy between The National Curriculum and the linguistic context in which Icelandic children grow up affects their academic preparation in primary and secondary school, and especially at university level. While Icelandic is the official national language and the spoken and written language of the University of Iceland, over 90% of textbooks are written in English, and there is pressure on faculty and graduate students to write in English. The pressure to use academic English has significant implications for students and faculty who have received their prior academic training in Icelandic. More than a third of students struggle with English academic texts and with using two languages simultaneously in their studies. Faculty support is haphazard as some instructors do not see it as their role to assist students with their language struggles. In order to meet the English proficiency needs of Icelandic students and faculty, new thinking is required. Such reevaluation includes the development of new language- and educational policies that better reflect the new linguistic reality and which includes a more systematic English academic language support.

Keywords: Linguistics ecology, English as a utility language, higher education, educational policy

1 Introduction

The dominance of English as a language of popular culture, business and education in the world has created a new, previously undefined, linguistic context. This new linguistic environment is generated through high exposure to English in addition to the local language where English has no previous or official status. In the Nordic countries, which have fully-fledged national languages, there is increased pressure to adopt English as a language of science, higher education and business, and Anglo-Saxon cultural influences are high. English is defined as a foreign language in these countries even though English use has become an integral part of daily life. The use of English is sometimes described as parallel to the local language especially in science and education (Centre for Internationalisation and Parallel Language Use 2014). The notion of parallel language use is based on a prevailing view that everyone in the Nordic countries is able to use English along with their first language in various domains including in educational and scientific pursuits. This is reflected in a common Nordic language policy implemented in 2004 which states: “Nordic residents, … internationally speaking, have good English skills” (Declaration on a Nordic Language Policy, Art. 2.1, p. 94). The common declaration then urges business and labor-market organizations “to develop strategies for the parallel use of language and that it be possible to use both the languages of the Nordic countries essential to society and English as languages of science” (p. 94). Subsequently, English is increasingly being used as language of instruction and communication in Nordic universities (Destination 2012; Brock-Utne 2001; Hellekjær 2009; Ljosland 2008). The common view is that increased use of English will strengthen universities’ academic and scientific standing by attracting the best students and researchers. Nordic scholars are under pressure to publish in international journals, encouraged by academic advancement and financial incentives. Studies from all five Nordic countries; Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, show that English has gained a firm position within academia (Brock-Utne 2001; Ljosland 2008; Ingvarsdóttir and Arnbjörnsdóttir 2010, 2013).

At the same time that pressure to use English mounts at Nordic universities, studies on English use and proficiency at tertiary level suggest that the good English skills among Nordic peoples stated in the common Nordic policy may be overestimated. This is especially true for English proficiency levels of university students and faculty, many of whom struggle with English academic reading and writing (Hellekjær 2009; Pecorari et al. 2012; Pilkinton-Pihko 2010; Ljosland 2008; Swerts and Westbrook 2013). This has also been the case in Iceland for the last three decades where English use has increased with unprecedented speed, but where recent studies have found that a substantial number of students struggle with simultaneous use of two languages at tertiary level.

This chapter first describes the level of English exposure in Iceland, in order to provide a backdrop for the amount and type of input to which Icelandic students are exposed, and to show how it affects their academic preparation. The next section outlines how Icelandic language policy is at odds with the new situation and how this discrepancy creates a dissonance between primary and secondary students’ education needs and official guidelines and instructional practices. The main focus of the chapter will be to discuss the impact of this dissonance on university students’ ability to access the curriculum, and on faculty members’ struggle to use English in their academic pursuits. Finally, the chapter discusses the specific challenges students face while working with two languages simultaneously, since input is largely in English while output and evaluation are in Icelandic.

2 The status of English in Iceland and official language and education policies

Clearly the spread of English throughout the post war world has prompted a whole new field of research (Garcia 2011). A recent five-year comprehensive study of the status of English in Iceland has enabled us to construct a picture of the impact of the spread of English at the national level with clear implications for teaching and learning at the tertiary level. Within the last two decades, Icelanders have begun to experience daily exposure to English from pre-school and onwards (Arnbjörnsdóttir 2011). Today no one can cope either in higher education or in the workforce without a fair command of English, and English has become indispensable as a utility language. The daily use of another language in addition to Icelandic has taken place without official support or the backing of official language policy. The reason for this development is most likely that speakers of small languages, like Icelandic, who profess strong attachments to their national language, see an advantage and, increasingly, a need to learn an additional language, in this case English, to gain access to recreation, information, education, and professional advancement (Canagarajah 2013). The participants in our studies, from primary school children to university professors, identified strongly with Icelandic while recognizing the practical need to know English as part of being an educated global citizen (Jóhannsdóttir 2010; Jeeves 2013; Ingvarsdóttir and Arnbjörnsdóttir 2013).

Although exposure to English in Iceland is extensive, this exposure is largely receptive. Recently, a study of 750 Icelanders, forming a representative sample of the population, revealed that 86% hear English every day while over 95% of respondents between 18–29 years of age hear English daily (Arnbjörnsdóttir 2011). Almost half of the respondents, or 43%, read English every day. The survey also revealed that most of this input is in the form of highly contextualized language supported by visual media, i.e. most Icelanders hear English when it is supported by pictures and Icelandic subtitles. Productive use of English is much less common among Icelanders as only 19% overall say they speak English daily. This figure rises to over 30% among the youngest age group (18–29 years). Twenty-one percent of all respondents say they write in English daily. The important aspect of these findings is the pervasiveness of English at all levels of Icelandic society, the clear and overarching predominance of receptive English exposure over productive use, and of exposure to informal rather than formal registers of English among the population (Arnbjörnsdóttir 2011).

These studies provide empirical evidence for previous claims advanced by the authors that due to its high exposure, English can no longer be considered a foreign language in Iceland (Arnbjörnsdóttir and Ingvarsdóttir 2007). Instead it rather serves an instrumental purpose as a utility language, a role that does not fit easily into the traditional definitions used for foreign vs. second languages.

The project also examined the level of English proficiency as perceived by Icelanders and the extent to which that proficiency served them in the execution of the linguistic tasks they were required to perform in English. This has particular relevance in higher education. Over 3,000 Icelanders were asked to evaluate their English proficiency. Of those, 386 were primary school children at the onset of English instruction, 703 respondents were in year 10, or the last year of their compulsory education, another 300 participants were near the end of their English studies in the secondary school, 1,028 were university students, 240 were faculty at the University of Iceland, and 547 were people in different work sectors. Additionally, the primary school children and secondary school students were tested for lexical proficiency.

The results of the surveys show that Icelanders are on the whole satisfied with their English skills. In our survey amongst students in grade ten, 50% of the girls felt their English was good or very good and 59% of the boys felt the same. Almost 90% of university students and faculty surveyed reported that their general English skills were good or very good, although slightly fewer said that their writing was good or very good. Participants in national surveys were slightly less confident as about 64% felt that their English was good or very good (Arnbjörnsdóttir 2009; Ar...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Series preface
• Anna Kristina Hultgren, Christian Jensen and Slobodanka Dimova: Introduction: English-medium instruction in European higher education: From the north to the south
• I Opportunity or Threat
• II Before, During, and After EMI
• III Policy and Ideology
• Endnotes
• Index