Language Policy and the Internationalization of Universities : : A Focus on Estonian Higher Education / / Josep Soler.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2019 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Soler, Josep ,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Mouton, , [2019]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Language and Social Life [LSL] , 15
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XVII, 175 p.)

Many universities around the world are actively engaged in the process of the internationalization of their higher education systems, trying to become more competitive in all possible respects, especially in the areas of research and teaching. Language, naturally, plays a central role in this process, but this is not always explicitly recognized as such. As a result, key sociolinguistic challenges emerge for both individuals and groups of people. Most prominently, the question of whether English constitutes an opportunity or a threat to other national languages in academic domains is a controversial one and remains unresolved. The analysis featured in this book aims at addressing this question by looking at language policy developments in the context of Estonian higher education. Adopting a discourse approach, the book emphasises the centrality of language not only as a site of struggle, but as a tool and a resource that agents in a give field utilize to orient themselves in certain positions. The book will be of interest to language policy scholars, linguistic anthropologists, and critical sociolinguists. Education scholars interested in discourse studies will also find it useful.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1. Sociolinguistic and language policy perspectives on the internationalization of higher education. An introduction to the volume -- 2. Language policy responses to the internationalization of higher education: Conceptual and material discourses in place -- 3. University language regimes in Estonia: (Re)creating discourses in place -- 4. Language ideologies and the internationalization of higher education in Estonia -- 5. A historical perspective on language choice and attitudes in academia and higher education in Estonia -- 6. Language policy discourses at the internationalizing university: Estonian perspectives on a global issue -- Bibliography -- Index