English takes over Europe's lecture halls

[Francis Hult]

Via lgpolicy...
 

English takes over Europe's lecture halls

Published on September 16 2009  |   El País

 Ja, whatever. German students attending a lecture. | Erasmus, makers
of Europeans since 1987


Ost in translationThe European Higher Education Area arrives is
officially launched at the start of 2010, with the aim to harmonise
studies across the European space. But in what language? With European
universities offering more and more university degree programmes in
English, their British counterparts are beginning to worry about
losing their "competitive edge", notes El País.


What language can a Spanish student in Poland do his studies in? What
about a Polish student in Spain? And a German in Sweden? A French
student in Lithuania? The plethora of EU languages is actually an
obstacle to the realisation of the European Higher Education Area,
which is supposed to promote student mobility. As a result, everything
suggests that English is going to serve as the lingua franca of
European academia. But achieving that goal will require medium- and
long-term investment (not only economic, but above all organisational
- as well as plenty of political impetus), and will not be without
complications.

Full story:
http://www.presseurop.eu/content/article/97931-english-takes-over-europes-lecture-halls


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