The Bilingual University - General Reflections on its Origins, Mission, and Functioning

The bilingual university is a product of certain linguistic contexts and traditions. It is also the product of the political and social conditions prevailing at the time the given institution was founded. The origins of bilingual universities are more frequently political, without excluding their social raison d'etre . Their missions are closely linked to their specific situations and to the needs of their regions. Establishing, maintaining, and developing a bilingual policy at a university is a complex and delicate matter. Although a bilingual university is more expensive than a monolingual one, it may represent an acceptable alternative in the case of a multicultural environment. Even if English is gradually becoming a lingua franca of higher education and science, universities operating in smaller regional languages stand a good chance of being multiplied. In such a context, the bilingual university might be an institutional alternative.